What if confession could be a place of healing, not just pardon?

In this episode, join Bryan Rouanzoin and Gavin Bennett for a conversation about the practice of confession—why we're afraid to embrace it, and the belonging that waits for us when we do. Gavin shares how his years-long practice of confession has freed him from the burden of image management and given the people closest to him the chance to stay. Together, Gavin and Bryan explore a simple but perspective-shifting framework (sin belongs to God, shame belongs to our community, and secrets belong to us) and offer an approachable starting place for pastors who want to enter into confessional relationships of their own.

Gavin Bennett serves as the Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon. He deeply cares about helping people hear and experience God in the ordinary parts of their lives as they learn to consent to the Spirit’s beautifully slow transformational desire.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

John Mark’s newest book Into The Quiet is now available for order at your book provider of choice. You can join John Mark in person for the Into the Quiet Experience, coming to a city near you between now and November 12. Purchase your ticket at intothequietexperience.com.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/generous.

What formation might we experience in choosing remaining over constant reinvention?

In this episode, join Jay Kim and Beau Hughes for a conversation about choosing to keep showing up—to a church, to a practice, and to the pain of the people in our care. As his 19 years at The Village Church Denton comes to a close, Beau reflects on the ways in which his lifelong experience with depression has invited him to pastor from a place of humility “on the ground," rather than from the spiritual mountaintop. Jay and Beau also explore “the delight” of holding conviction and curiosity together as we intersect with other streams of the church as well as the complicated work of detaching identity from pastoral ministry.

Beau Hughes is the Associate Director of Church Formation at Practicing the Way and former lead pastor of The Village Church Denton in Denton, Texas, where he served for 19 years. Beau and his wife Kimberly have four children.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

John Mark’s newest book, Into the Quiet, is now available for preorder at intothequietexperience.com/preorder. You can join John Mark in person for the Into the Quiet Experience, coming to a city near you between now and November 12. Purchase your ticket at intothequietexperience.com.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/generous.

What would it look like to build rhythms that respond to lives that are always changing?

In this episode, join Bryan Rouanzoin and Tara Beth Leach for a conversation about shepherding through the ups and downs of real life—our own and the lives of the people in our care. Tara Beth recalls how navigating the emotional requirements of pastoral ministry while caring for her aging parents created a desperate need for new rhythms in her life, and specifically her mornings. Drawing from her lived experience as a mother and caregiver, Tara Beth shares how she’s approaching pastoral ministry as a way of nurturing people toward maturity in every season. She and Bryan close by exploring what it means to wait on God actively rather than passively and why the same rhythms that steady us are often the very ones we end up offering to those in our care.

Tara Beth Leach is a pastor and author who wants to see the church formed into Christ’s most faithful witness. She currently serves as Senior Pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Naperville, IL. She’s the mother to two sons and married to Jeff.

To find more resources and experiences tailored just for you—the pastor—visit practicingtheway.org/pastor.

John Mark’s newest book, Into the Quiet, is now available for preorder at intothequietexperience.com/preorder. You can join John Mark in person for the Into the Quiet Experience, coming to a city near you between now and November 12. Purchase your ticket at intothequietexperience.com.

This podcast and its episodes are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. You can learn more about The Circle or contribute toward future resources like this podcast at practicingtheway.org/generous.