How does a pastor guide a community facing real threats, real fear, and real need?

In this powerful continuation, Pastor Paco Amador joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to share how his congregation in Chicago’s Little Village is responding to the immigration crisis with courage, compassion, and prophetic witness. From offering tamales and prayer outside a migrant shelter to confronting the fear of deportation in his pews, Paco embodies the gospel as both resistance and hope.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• The harrowing journey of migrants through the Darién Gap
• How the church in Chicago became a sanctuary of love and welcome
• The rise of fear and persecution amid ICE detentions
• How Paco’s preaching has changed to meet a scattered and suffering flock
• The unbreakable hope of a church that refuses despair

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – What it means to be a Hispanic pastor in Chicago today

04:00 – The migrant journey through the Darién Gap

07:00 – Prayers, tamales, and the birth of a street-side church

13:00 – Organizing mercy: how the church met the need

17:00 – Stories of separation and injustice

21:00 – Fear, invisibility, and the immigrant experience

28:00 – The church as prophetic resistance

34:00 – Preaching for a scattered people

38:00 – Seeds of the gospel in persecution

In a city divided by politics and fear, Pastor Paco Amador reminds us that the Church’s truest power is love.

When systems fail and families are torn apart, the gospel still takes root on sidewalks, in shelters, and through the songs of a people who refuse to lose hope.

What happens when the story of migration becomes the story of calling?

In this episode, Pastor Paco Amador joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to share his journey from Mexico to North Carolina to Chicago’s Little Village. With honesty and humor, Paco reflects on his encounter with Jesus as a teenager, the grief and beauty of leaving home, and the long road toward discovering where he truly belongs.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Leaving home at fourteen and encountering Jesus on a North Carolina bench
• How immigration shapes faith, identity, and dependence on God
• The unlikely path from Mexico to Moody Bible Institute
• Planting a church in college that became his lifelong ministry
• Building a multicultural congregation in Chicago’s Little Village

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Introducing Pastor Paco Amador

04:00 – Leaving Mexico at 14 and learning to start over

08:00 – An unmistakable encounter with Jesus

11:00 – A teacher’s nudge, a missionary’s challenge, and the call to Moody

15:00 – Starting a church in college and learning by failing forward

20:00 – Two years in Spain and an unexpected love story

24:00 – Planting roots in Little Village, Chicago

28:00 – Preaching in Spanish, English, and Mayan

31:00 – God’s quiet work in a vibrant immigrant community

The call of God often begins in disorientation.

Paco’s story reminds us that in every language, every journey, and every act of leaving, God is already at work turning exile into belonging.

What does it look like to live a life formed by grace and resistant to the pressures of the world?

In this second conversation, Pastor Nathan Hoff returns to unpack the theology and practice behind The Rule of Life at Trinity Lutheran Church in San Pedro. He joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to explore how intentional rhythms of prayer, reconciliation, and presence can shape both pastors and congregations for a non-anxious, deeply human way of life.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• The rhythms of prayer that anchor Nathan’s community—morning and evening
• Why reconciliation is harder (and holier) than routine
• How “formation as resistance” counters cultural conformity
• What technology, resources, and even our bodies reveal about our formation
• The invitation to stay rooted in a transient world

⏱️ Timestamps:

04:30 – The challenge and beauty of reconciliation

09:45 – The gift of rootedness through the Rule of Life

15:00 – Formation as resistance to conformity

19:00 – Practicing grace in technology, money, and relationships

24:30 – A pastoral reflection on the hard work of community

🔗 Resources & Links:

• Learn more about Trinity Lutheran Church → trinitysanpedro.org
• Explore The Rule of Life → trinitysanpedro.org/ruleoflife
• Listen to Low in the Water from the Eugene Peterson Center → petersoncenter.org/low-in-the-water-podcast
• Follow Nathan Hoff’s writing → nathanhoff.substack.com
• Explore reflections on pastoral life → practicingbenediction.substack.com

Spiritual formation isn’t about escaping the world; it’s about being reshaped within it.

Pastor Nathan Hoff reminds us that resisting conformity begins with prayer, reconciliation, and the courage to stay rooted in community.

What if the cure for modern ministry restlessness is staying put?

In this episode, Pastor Nathan Hoff joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to share his story of 20 years at Trinity Lutheran Church in San Pedro, California. From a childhood marked by constant moves to forming a residential community in an unrooted city, Nathan reflects on the beauty of long obedience, shared rhythms, and a “rule of life” shaped by prayer and presence.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Growing up in a pastor’s family that moved 15 times before he turned 30
• The call to ministry at age eight—and how grace reshaped his vocation
• How generational faith shaped Nathan’s theology of rootedness
• Creating a parish community with shared rhythms of prayer and life
• Why stability is countercultural—and deeply spiritual—in urban ministry

⏱️ Timestamps:

04:00 – From constant moving to a life of rooted ministry

07:00 – A childhood call to ministry and early formation

10:00 – Discovering Trinity Lutheran Church in San Pedro

13:00 – The influence of charismatic and sacramental renewal movements

17:00 – Generational faith and the grace that carries through families

20:00 – “On the block”: creating a shared residential community

24:00 – Rule of life, rhythms of prayer, and the call to rootedness

🔗 Resources & Links:

• Learn more about Trinity Lutheran Church → trinitysanpedro.org
• Explore The Rule of Life and the Common Way → trinitysanpedro.org/ruleoflife
• Listen to Low in the Water (from the Eugene Peterson Center) → petersoncenter.org/low-in-the-water-podcast
• Follow Nathan Hoff’s writing → nathanhoff.substack.com
• Explore reflections on pastoral life → practicingbenediction.substack.com

In a world that prizes movement and novelty, Pastor Nathan Hoff reminds us that faithfulness often looks like staying put—rooting deeply in a place, a people, and the daily rhythms of grace.

What happens when grace rewrites your story from the inside out?

In this second conversation, Pastor Katie Langston joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to share how the gospel of grace led her from Mormonism to the waters of baptism and into the freedom of ministry. Katie opens up about her conversion, her calling as a Lutheran pastor, and why she now preaches grace as the Church’s most radical gift in an anxious world.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• How Katie’s baptism became a moment of real deliverance
• Why law and gospel must be preached together—but not confused
• The tangible grace of communion for weary believers
• The temptation to prove worthiness—even in ministry
• How pastors can rest in being “sealed” by Christ’s finished work

⏱️ Timestamps:

03:00 – Discovering grace as a lived reality, not a doctrine

08:00 – Luther Seminary and finding home in the Lutheran story

11:00 – Baptism as exorcism and renewal

15:00 – Learning to preach grace in a law-driven world

18:00 – Pastoral care and the non-anxious presence of the gospel

20:00 – Communion as Christ given “for you”

24:00 – Why every culture worships worthiness

26:00 – “You are sealed to Christ forever.”

Grace doesn’t ask for your worthiness; it gives it.

Katie’s story reminds pastors and believers alike that baptism marks us with the promise of a God who will never, ever let us go.

What happens when religion becomes a system for proving your worth?

In this powerful conversation, Pastor Katie Langston shares her journey from growing up Mormon to discovering the freeing power of grace. With honesty and humor, she describes life in a worthiness-based system, her battle with scrupulosity, and the moment she first heard the gospel of grace through a Wheaton professor’s words: “I know enough of my deficiencies to be devastated.”

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Growing up in a loving but rule-bound Mormon home
• The weight of worthiness interviews and religious anxiety
• Battling scrupulosity and finding a name for her struggle
• Hearing the gospel for the first time—and believing it
• Why grace and Mormon theology can’t coexist

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Introducing Pastor Katie Langston

02:00 – Growing up in a faithful Mormon home

05:00 – Worthiness interviews and the burden of perfection

09:00 – Temple rituals, baptism for the dead, and Mormon theology

13:00 – Missionary life in Bulgaria and early cracks in the system

18:00 – Marriage, motherhood, and the onset of despair

21:00 – OCD, scrupulosity, and the search for help

23:00 – Hearing Jerry Root’s message on grace

24:00 – “What if Christ has made me worthy?”

26:00 – Ten years of wrestling between Mormonism and grace

Grace is not another rule to keep; it’s the end of the "worthiness" game. Katie’s story invites weary pastors and believers alike to rest in the gospel that declares: you are already enough in Christ.

What if you didn’t get to choose where you served, but trusted the Spirit and the Church to send you?

In Part 2 of this conversation, Pastor Benji Van Fleet joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to unpack the Methodist system of itinerancy and what it teaches us about obedience, humility, and trust. From matchmaker bishops to Methodist “March Madness,” Benji shares a vision of ministry rooted in submission rather than self-promotion, and a faith that follows wherever God leads.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• What the Methodist itinerant system teaches about calling and surrender
• How being sent shapes a pastor’s humility and courage
• The dangers of “pastor as CEO” and the freedom of not owning your church
• How diversity flourishes through a Spirit-led appointment process
• Why obedience to the Church’s discernment can deepen faith

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – The theology behind being sent rather than hired

03:00 – Contextualizing mission: unity without uniformity

07:00 – The “matchmaker” role of bishops and discernment in appointments

11:00 – Fresh eyes and prophetic courage in short tenures

15:00 – Undermining the “pastor as CEO” model

20:00 – Methodist March Madness and the beauty of discernment

24:00 – Diversity and the Kingdom of God in appointment systems

32:00 – A phone call on Holy Week that changed everything

36:00 – Saying yes when it could’ve only been six months

38:00 – Submission, humility, and the Spirit’s surprising work

Ministry is not a career we climb; it’s a call we receive. Benji’s story reminds us that when we live as sent ones rather than stationed ones, we find the freedom to trust God’s wisdom over our own plans.

What happens when your theology of calling collides with your understanding of ownership in the church?

In this episode, Pastor Benji Van Fleet joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom from Abilene, Texas, to talk about his journey from architecture student to Methodist pastor, how cancer and heartbreak became catalysts for his call, and why he describes himself not as a shepherd—but a sheepdog.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• How a broken engagement and a tumor redirected Benji’s life toward ministry
• The moment God spoke when everything else fell apart
• What it means to be a “sent” pastor in the Methodist itinerant system
• Why Benji refuses to call St. Paul “his” church—and what that means for pastoral health

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – The world of Abilene and Texas-sized hospitality

04:00 – The story of St. Paul UMC and its 100-year legacy

07:00 – Benji’s faith upbringing and the “zebra” of denominations

10:00 – Losing everything—and hearing God’s voice for the first time

13:00 – “Exactly. Now we can start again.” A calling moment

15:00 – Sharing the gospel in Russia and being called as God’s diplomat

20:00 – Seminary, marriage, and the Methodist call system

23:00 – Going where you’re sent: the theology of itinerancy

26:00 – Why Benji says, “I’m not the shepherd—I’m the sheepdog.”

29:00 – The cult of personality and pointing people to Jesus

Pastors are not owners of the church; they’re guides pointing the flock toward the Good Shepherd. Benji’s story reminds us that calling often begins in surrender, and ministry flourishes when we lead with open hands.

What happens when personal pain becomes public platform?

In this candid conversation, Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom reflect on Tara Beth’s widely shared Substack essay, When the Wounded Take the Mic. They explore the rise of “wounded influencers,” the temptation for pastors to preach from fresh wounds rather than healed scars, and how leaders can discern the difference between prophetic truth-telling and reactive venting.

Read the article here: https://tarabethleach.substack.com/p/when-the-wounded-take-the-mic

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Why woundedness has become a new form of credibility in the church
• The danger of confusing deconstruction with discipleship
• Lessons Tara Beth learned from preaching with fresh wounds
• How pastors can lead from scars instead of unhealed pain
• Why the church—flawed and fallen—remains God’s chosen place of healing

⏱️ Timestamps:

02:00 – The rise of wounded influencers and the pull of platform

06:00 – When honesty and rawness aren’t the same as holiness and wisdom

10:00 – Tara Beth’s personal reflections on preaching while wounded

15:00 – How the church itself became a place of healing

20:00 – The danger of binary thinking: victim vs. villain

24:00 – Family systems theory and the culture of shared anger

27:00 – Mark’s reflection: preaching while angry and what changed

28:00 – Pastors will always lead while wounded—the question is how

Every pastor carries wounds, but not every wound should be amplified. Ministry rooted in healing scars—rather than raw pain—creates space for true discipleship, renewal, and hope in the body of Christ.

What happens when ministry wounds you so deeply that you wonder if you’ll ever serve again?

In this conversation, Sarah Hinlicky Wilson joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to share how a decade away from the pastorate became a season of theological reflection, healing, and rediscovery of God’s mercy. From the theology of the cross to the false lure of utopian church ideals, Sarah offers hard-won wisdom for pastors whose hearts are broken.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Why stepping away from the pastorate was necessary for recovery
• The dangers of chasing validation in ministry
• How churches confuse the theology of the cross with glory
• Facing sin in the church without losing hope
• Returning to your first love as a pastor

⏱️ Timestamps:

01:05 Sarah’s season away from ministry

05:00 Wrestling with anger and recovery

09:30 Lessons from failure and immaturity

13:50 Roots vs. fruits: pursuing word and sacrament

16:20 Cross and resurrection held together

20:00 The church’s sins and the call to confession

28:00 American utopianism in church life

30:30 A word for pastors with broken hearts

Healing after ministry wounds is slow, but it is holy work. By returning to our first love in Christ and trusting God’s mercy, pastors can find hope beyond anger and rediscover the joy of serving God’s people.