WellSpring SoulCARE

In part 4 of the "Lies Pastors Believe" series, Richard and Chris discuss deconstruction.

This is part three of our new “mini-series” on our podcast around “Lies Pastors Believe”. We're surfacing some of the flawed ideas that we've found in ourselves and other pastors, and we believe that naming and exploring these flawed stories will help us gain clarity about our calling and point us in a healthier direction.

Three recent SoulCARE alum share their experiences and gratitude for the program.

This is part two of our new “mini-series” on our podcast around “Lies Pastors Believe”. We're surfacing some of the flawed ideas that we've found in ourselves and other pastors, and we believe that naming and exploring these flawed stories will help us gain clarity about our calling and point us in a healthier direction.

We're starting a new “mini-series” on our podcast around “Lies Pastors Believe”. We're surfacing some of the flawed ideas that we've found in ourselves and other pastors, and we believe that naming and exploring these flawed stories will help us gain clarity about our calling and point us in a healthier direction.

Pre-order How to Walk into a RoomOrder The Next Right ThingEmily P. Freeman is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of five books, including The Next Right Thing: A Simple Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions. With a masters degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership from Friends University where she serves as a Residency Lecturer, her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue.Emily has been a featured speaker for Renovaré, Anglican Mission in the Americas, Faith and Culture Writers Conference, and The Apprentice Gathering. Her writing has been featured in Today Parents, Christianity Today, and Patheos.Her nationally ranked podcast, The Next Right Thing, has more than 24 million downloads and she regularly offers perspective and clarity for her more than 120K followers on Instagram. Emily lives in North Carolina with her husband and three teenagers.

Curtis Chang bridges the worlds of secular institutions and theology. In the former world, he is the founder and CEO of Consulting Within Reach (CWR), a firm serving nonprofits and government agencies. His consulting work has won an award in social innovation from the Obama White House, and he teaches strategic planning as a faculty member of American University's School of International Service.In the Christian world, he is a consulting professor at Duke Divinity School and a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. Curtis is also a former senior pastor of an Evangelical Covenant Church in San Jose, California.The Anxiety Opportunity BookRedeeming Babel

Andy has lived in Santa Cruz, California, for over 25 years. He has an MA in Theology from Western Seminary and served as a youth pastor, college speaker, and college pastor before he became Lead Pastor at Faith Community. He's also a woodworker and plays in a Johnny Cash cover band called “Man In Black.” He's been married to his wife Aleta for 30 years, and they have three amazing children: Cassidy, Michael, and Josh.

What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad ReligionTodd Hunter is the founding bishop of The Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others and the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, CA. He is past President of Alpha USA and former National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches. He is author of Christianity Beyond Belief, Giving Church Another Chance, The Outsider Interviews, The Accidental Anglican and Our Favorite Sins. Todd has been an adjunct professor of evangelism, leadership in contemporary culture and spiritual formation at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary, Vanguard University, Azusa Pacific University, Biblical Seminary and Wheaton College. In addition, he has been a Distinguished Lecturer at several institutions of higher learning. Todd and his family live in Costa Mesa, California.

Get A Different Way: Recentering the Christian Life Around Following Jesus. Christopher A. Hall is a member of the Renovaré Ministry Team. He served as president of Renovaré from 2015-2022.Hall is author of a four volume set on the Church Fathers: Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, Learning Theology with the Church Fathers, Worshiping with the Church Fathers, and Living Wisely with the Church Fathers, all published by IVP Academic. He also was associate editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (29 volumes: published by IVP Academic).Chris previously served at Eastern University for twenty-four years in several roles, including chancellor, provost, dean of Palmer Theological Seminary, dean of the Templeton Honors College, distinguished professor of theology, and director of academic spiritual formation.Dr. Hall possesses a B.A. from UCLA in history, an M.A. in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from Regent College, and a Ph.D. from Drew University. He has served in the pastorate overseas (France, 5 years) and in Canada (British Columbia, 2 years). He has also served as Director of Pastoral Care at New Jersey's only state gero-psychiatric hospital.Dr. Hall has ministered in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, the Middle-East, Canada, and the United States. He served on the editorial board of Christianity Today. He has published articles and book reviews in Christianity Today, Catalyst, Christian History, inMinistry, Books and Culture, Christian Scholars Review, Modern Theology, and Crux.He and his wife Debbie reside in Philadelphia and have three children and two grandchildren.

Four recent SoulCARE alum share their experiences and gratitude for the program.

Trevor Hudson returns to discuss his latest book, Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard

SoulCARE alum, discipleship pastor at Westgate Church, and author of A Kids Book About Change, David Kim joins us again to discuss his latest book, Made to Belong: Five Practices for Cultivating Community in a Disconnected World.

Dr. Alison Cook is a psychologist and the author of two books, including her new book, The Best of You (Thomas Nelson 2022) and Boundaries for Your Soul (Thomas Nelson, 2018). For 20 years, Alison has helped women, ministry leaders, couples, and families learn how to heal painful emotions, develop confidence from the inside out, forge healthy relationships, and fully live out their God-given potential.Order Alison Cook's latest, The Best of You here.

Watch the movie | Learn MoreChuck serves as Professor of Counseling and Christian Spirituality and Interim D.Min. Director at Western Theological Seminary Holland MI. He is also a faculty member for the Soul Care Institute.A licensed therapist, a spiritual director, author, and speaker, Chuck is also a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America. His experience includes training clergy in issues of abuse and trauma, pastor and planter assessments, church consultations, and investigations of abuse among pastors and within congregations.

James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin University, where he holds the Gary & Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview. Trained as a philosopher with a focus on contemporary French thought, Smith has expanded on that scholarly platform to become an engaged public intellectual and cultural critic. An award-winning author and a widely traveled speaker, he has emerged as a thought leader with a unique gift of translation, building bridges between the academy, society, and the church.

Brian is one of our teaching pastors at PBC Cupertino when it opened in 1985, and has a special love for Hebrew, Psalms, poetry and Romania. With his wife Emily they have three daughters, two son-in-laws, and six grandchildren.

Prayer Walks https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D-mxCEDnEXm3jNDzsbNmQbM99CSB-sN6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117264295106123035000&rtpof=true&sd=true (Breath Prayer Walk) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IsMRKKeErH4Mm72_Agpd7516tkyCLf5s/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117264295106123035000&rtpof=true&sd=true (Life Lesson Walk) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OrXDFFqXHzxcFUNEnfKSlO_9Mb98nahy/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117264295106123035000&rtpof=true&sd=true (Six Step Prayer Walking Exercise) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jDKTKqOMhuzouFiJrEZrNiM_9w0jzWN1/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117264295106123035000&rtpof=true&sd=true (Personal Encounter Prayer Walk) Adam Peacocke is a lifelong Santa Rosa, CA resident who has been a passionate leader in the recovery efforts from the 2017 October wildfires that devastated Santa Rosa and surrounding Sonoma County. Out of the devastation, Adam saw the potential for his county to find new, more effective ways of providing disaster relief. After pastoring for 15 years, Adam resigned to found Rebuilding Our Community Sonoma County, a 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry designed to help local churches increase the effectiveness of their service and giving to their community and connect non-profits and faith community groups to offer practical assistance and hope. ROC Sonoma County has established and maintained a collaborative network connecting faith-based, non-profit, governmental, business, and other organizations to provide coordinated disaster recovery efforts. Adam and his wife, Jo, have four children.

Three vignettes into the gift of the SoulCARE experience.

Daniel Stid is the former Program Director of U.S. Democracy at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, leading the foundation's grantmaking to support the key values and institutions of U.S. democracy–in particular Congress, the first branch of government–in our polarized age. Previously, Daniel was a partner at The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consultancy, where he helped coordinate the organization's work with federal, state, and local government agencies and advised nonprofit and foundation clients supporting children, youth, and families. Daniel began his career as a political scientist teaching at Wabash College and served as a Congressional Fellow on the staff of the House Majority Leader. He is the author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution. A graduate of Hope College, he holds an MPhil in politics from Oxford University and a doctorate in government from Harvard University. Daniel is proud to have been commissioned an honorary Kentucky Colonel for his service to the Commonwealth. Additional Resources/Reading https://oneamericamovement.org (One America Movement) https://braverangels.org (Braver Angels Organization) https://breakingground.us/we-need-more-christian-partisanship-not-less/ (Daniel Stid Article): https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/06/evangelical-church-pastors-political-radicalization/629631 (Upcoming Article from the Atlantic) https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041916-020727#_i11 (Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum article on partisanship )

Andrea Coli serves as the Executive Director of Lead Bold, and she is passionate about affirming and activating female ministry leaders. She has been in ministry for over 25 years and currently serves as the Teaching Pastor at CrossWinds Church in California's Bay Area. Andrea is part of the teaching team for Preacher Chicks United, an incubator for women of color to cultivate their gifts of preaching and teaching. She loves connecting with women leaders. You can find her on https://www.facebook.com/andreacolispeaks/ (Facebook )or https://www.instagram.com/andreacolispeaks/ (Instagram). https://www.leadingbold.org/events (Register for Lead Bold's Inspired to Lead Virtual Event) on Saturday 4/30 at 9:00am -12:00pm PT. Use promo code WELLSPRING for $15 off your ticket. Inspired to Lead is a virtual gathering of ministry leaders eager to connect and learn together. Most of us have figured out how to muster up some confidence…or even fake it when needed. But how do we authentically nurture leadership confidence and lead boldly wherever God has called us?  

For the past 11 years, Anthony was the Executive Director and Pastor for the Center Ministries at Peninsula Covenant Church (PCC) in Redwood City. Prior to joining the PCC staff, he spent nearly 21 years in high tech as an enterprise software sales executive and as a marketing executive. Anthony joins the Wellspring team as the new executive director. This is his SoulCARE story.

Celebrated Christian author Philip Yancey discusses his latest release, a book he calls a "kind of prequel to everything else I've written," — his memoir, Where the Light Fell.

Bishop Hunter has expressed his kingdom-Spirit-formation-church-culture focus in various settings. He the founding bishop of http://www.c4so.org/ (The Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others), a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. Bishop Hunter is past President of Alpha USA, former National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches, and retired founding pastor of http://myholytrinitychurch.com/ (Holy Trinity Anglican Church) in Costa Mesa, California. He is the author of https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Beyond-Belief-Following-Others/dp/0830832564 (Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others), https://www.amazon.com/Giving-Church-Another-Chance-Spiritual/dp/0830837485/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Giving+Church+Another+Chance&qid=1568493687&s=gateway&sr=8-1 (Giving Church Another Chance), https://www.amazon.com/Outsider-Interviews-Generation-Speaks-Christianity/dp/0801013453/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481664414&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Outsider+Interviews (The Outsider Interviews), https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Anglican-Surprising-Appeal-Liturgical/dp/0830838392/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481664446&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Accidental+Anglican (The Accidental Anglican,) https://www.amazon.com/Our-Favorite-Sins-Commit-Quit-ebook/dp/B005ENBCAK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Our+Favorite+Sins+by+Todd+HUnter&qid=1568493724&s=gateway&sr=8-1 (Our Favorite Sins) andhttps://www.amazon.com/Our-Character-Work-Success-Leadership/dp/1627872914/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481664510&sr=1-1&keywords=Our+Character+at+Work ( Our Character at Work). Bishop Hunter is also the founder of the https://centerfjp.org/ (Center for Formation, Justice and Peace). The Center's interdenominational community seeks to develop the Christlike character necessary to activate justice, leading to a life of deep peace for all people. In addition, Bishop Todd serves as founder and president of http://www.teloscollective.com/ (The Telos Collective,) an organization dedicated to forming leaders at the intersection of gospel and culture.

AJ Sherrill (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) has more than twenty years of experience as a pastor, including as lead pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is now lead pastor at St. Peter's Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. He is an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he teaches popular courses on transformational preaching and the Enneagram. His latest book, https://www.ajsherrill.org/#buynow (BEING WITH GOD), is available now.

Luci Shaw is the co-founder and later president of Harold Shaw Publishers, and since 1988 has been a Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada. Shaw is poetry editor and a contributing editor of Radix, as quarterly journal published in Berkeley, CA, that celebrates art, literature, music, psychology, science and the media, featuring original poetry, reviews and interviews. A charter member of the Chrysostom Society of Writers, Shaw is author of eleven volumes of poetry. Her most recent books are What the Light Was Like (Word Farm), Accompanied by Angels (Eerdmans), The Genesis of It All (Paraclete), and Breath for the Bones: Art, Imagination & Spirit (Nelson). She and her husband John Hoyte live in Bellingham, Washington and are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. She loves sailing, tent camping, knitting, gardening, and wilderness photography.

In this episode we talk with 4 participants in our 9 month formational cohort called SoulCARE. We talk about their “before” - what was happening as they entered this time, their “during” - what impacted them over these months, and “after” - what lasting difference this experience has made in their life and leadership. Note: this was originally recorded for and shared with our donors- who fund this ministry so that we can offer it free of charge.

Howard Baker is Asst. Professor of Christian Formation at Denver Seminary, launched the seminary's certificate program (along with Bruce Demarest) in Spiritual Guidance, and is Director of the Soul Care Institute. Howard serves on multiple non-profit boards including the Spiritual Formation Alliance, offers spiritual direction and leads retreats, is currently the board chair for The Abbey, (Colorado) and serves with Praxis, a companion ministry to WellSpring's SoulCARE. He has authored Soul Keeping and The One True Thing, and contributed to numerous other works and articles, including The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible.  

PATTY MARTIN received a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and received her training in spiritual direction from Azusa Pacific University. She received a certificate in Spiritual Formation through the Renovare Institute. Patty is on the WellSpring board, leads small groups and is a spiritual director. EFF MARTIN is a private investor and a founding partner of Anthos Capital. He is deeply engaged in Christian spiritual formation ministries including discipling, teaching and leading retreats for men's groups. Eff leads a men's spiritual formation group for WellSpring.

In this conversation, we talk with Winn Collier, the author of Eugene Peterson's biography A Burning in My Bones. We also get to know Winn and a bit of his journey. Winn was a Pastor for 25 years, the founding pastor of http://allsoulscville.com/ (All Souls Charlottesville). He now serves at https://www.westernsem.edu/faculty/collier/ (Western Theological Seminary) as Director of The Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination & Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Christian Imagination. He is also the director of the http://genesisproject.info/ (Genesis Project), a circle of friends who provide soul care for pastors and invite them to experience genuine friendship, bold love, and restful transformation.

David Kim is not only an alumnus of SoulCARE but a partner in ministry with us. He's discipleship pastor at Westgate Church, an enneagram coach, and the author of a children's book, A Kids Book About Change, one of https://www.oprah.com/gift/oprahs-favorite-things-2020-a-kids-book-about?editors_pick_id=78562 (Oprah's Favorite Things) last year.

Growing up, Smith lived not far from Cup Foods, the shop near where George Floyd died, and he has fond memories of visiting the drug store that used to occupy the same space that Cup Foods now stands. He later became a church planter and served as founding pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church, a multiethnic congregation in North Minneapolis. Author of https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088NC6TWV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 (The Post-Black and Post-White Church: Becoming the Beloved Community in a Multi-Ethnic World), he is now co-pastor of https://midtown.baysideonline.com/meet-the-leadership/ (Bayside Church Midtown), an intentionally diverse congregation of 3,500 in Sacramento.

The life of Dallas Willard deserves attention because he became a person who himself experienced authentic transformation of life and character. Dallas Willard not only taught about spiritual disciplines, he became a different person because of them. He became a grounded person, a spiritually alive person as he put them into practice, finding God, as he often said, "at the end of his rope." Here is a life that gives us all hope. Gary W. Moon, M.Div., PhD, is the Executive Director of the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Center for Christian Spiritual Formation at Westmont College. He also served as the founding director of the Renovaré International Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation and as a founding editor of Conversations Journal. His research interests include the theoretical and practical integration of psychology and theology. He has published and presented over 300 professional and popular papers, and has written, edited or contributed chapters to more than 20 books.

Kimberly Miller, MTh, LMFT, is the co-author of Boundaries for Your Soul and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, speaker, and retreat leader. Kim studied religion at Davidson College in North Carolina and earned a Master's degree in Theology at Regent College in Vancouver where she was given the Award to an Outstanding Woman. She holds a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Azusa Pacific University where she won the Dedicated to Learning Award.

Richard sits down with Trevor Hudson to discuss the importance of lament in our current crises and the role of leaders in creating spaces that allow us to grieve what we've lost. Trevor is a pastor involved with the Methodist movement in Southern Africa for more than 35 years. Besides his local commitments, Trevor travels widely, preaching, teaching, and lecturing in the areas of spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and pastoral therapy. He lectures at Fuller Seminary, Pasadena, in their Doctor of Ministry (Spiritual Direction) program, and he also works closely with Upper Room Ministries, the http://new.renovare.org/institute/overview (Renovaré International Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation), the http://dallaswillardcenter.com/trevor-hudson-what-do-you-have-in-your-hand/ (Dallas Willard Center for Christian Spiritual Formation), and the http://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/ (Jesuit Institute in South Africa). He is the author of 15 books including https://renovare.org/books/discovering-our-spiritual-identity (Discovering Your Spiritual Identity) (IVP) and https://renovare.org/books/beyond-loneliness (Beyond Loneliness) (Upper Room).

Today we sit down with Patti Pierce, the founder of WellSpring. I'll just say this- Patti was a bit reluctant to do an interview here - she told me, “I don't know why people would want to hear my story.” But trust me, you are going to be glad that Patti agreed to share her journey with us, and I believe you are going to be helped, encouraged, and challenged by what Patti has to say. It's my privilege to both learn from and work alongside Patti, and I can tell you that not only is she “the real deal” - she has a HUGE heart of love – for Jesus, for other people, as especially for leaders and pastors.

Our conversation today is with Chuck DeGroat. Chuck is a follower of Jesus, a husband to Sara for 26 years, and father to two amazing daughters. He is Professor of Counseling and Christian Spirituality at https://www.westernsem.edu/faculty/degroat/ (Western Theological Seminary) in Holland MI. He co-founded http://www.newbiginhouse.org/ (Newbigin House of Studies) in San Francisco where he serves as a Senior Fellow. During his years pastoring, he started two church-based counseling centers.  Chuck is an author, having written http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Egypt-Finding-Wilderness-Places/dp/1592556736/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370578228&sr=8-1&keywords=leaving+egypt (Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places), http://www.amazon.com/Toughest-People-Love-Understand-Difficult/dp/0802871437 (The Toughest People to Love ), https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJ5KK8K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav (Wholeheartedness) , a Lenten devotional is https://www.amazon.com/Falling-into-Goodness-Daily-Readings/dp/1541206401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523721218&sr=8-1&keywords=falling+into+goodness (Falling Into Goodness,) and his latest is https://www.ivpress.com/when-narcissism-comes-to-church (When Narcissism Comes to Church ) where he diagnoses a profound problem in our churches and among our clergy, and offer a way forward.

Today we're talking with K.J. Ramsey, author of the book, This Too Shall Last, Finding Grace when Suffering Lingers. K.J. is a truly gifted writer and author, a therapist, podcast host and prolific on Instagram - showcasing God's beauty in delightful ways and photos. K.J. is the wife of Ryan, who is a pastor and currently serves as a chaplain. Most of all, K.J. is a follower of Jesus who is deeply honest about her own journey of pain and suffering, as she has battled an auto-immune disease for over a decade, living with daily and chronic pain. K.J.'s writing has appeared in Christianity Today and in Relevant Magazine, among other places, and her book has been critically praised and a source of help and wisdom to many, many people. You are going to be helped and encouraged by our conversation with K.J. Ramsey. Please enjoy!