I love this ministry. We are so busy in our loud lives we don't even realize that God is waiting to speak to us. Or we are frustrated because we feel a disconnect. What relationship would we not feel a disconnect in if we were not intentional to create space for it?

For years now, listening to this podcast has been included in my rhythms of grace for transformation. Ruth and her co hosts speak into deeper structures of my mind to bring reality and hope. I’m so thankful!

These podcast conversations have been supporting my life with God- echoing my yearnings. There is such wisdom in reclaiming our humanity from the cultural forces of efficiency and productivity- and Ruth and her guests are gently and firmly leading us to true Life. Thank you!!

Ruth doesn’t know it but she has been a spiritual coach in my life for many years through this podcast and her books. It has helped me as an active and driven person/pastor with an active brain to experience solitude and silence among other things. Thank you to everyone e involved in making this podcast a reality and to Ruth for pouring into us!

Ruth is a pastor’s friend. This podcast is where I go to receive both challenge and encouragement.

I have deeply appreciated having a new way to think about my faith. I have notes scattered everywhere as I listen and replay some podcasts. Do you have a glossary somewhere for spiritual formation terms? Soul, false-self, core longings, etc?

This series is really giving me a hunger to take time for spiritual retreats

I have been listening to this podcast since it’s inception. It is one of the only podcasts I listen to faithfully because it is filled with such wisdom and depth. In this world of much uncertainty and disillusionment around the church and leadership, I find Ruth’s voice courageous, authentic, and unique.I love that she is bold about tackling issues of the day as well as always leading us to deep spiritual practices that draw us near to God in all of it. Ruth continues to be an important mentor to me from afar through her books and podcasts. I am grateful for her voice and how she continues to deepen my intimacy with God through her work.

I have been listening to this podcast and loving it for about a year at the suggestion of my wise spiritual director. I have been “dangerously tired” as RHB so accurately describes, in my work and life and so have taken a sabbath and went on a 5 day solitude retreat. To guide me I took the book Invitation to Retreat with me and listened to the podcast season about Invitation to Solitude and Silence. Having these rich guides to listen to and read in my unstructured time away gave me such an intentional and precious encounter with Gods messages, purposes and love for me. Ruth spoke of the range of emotions I was experiencing from the initial let down to return and I felt so much more sane and grounded knowing it was all normal. I got to practice and receive some deeply spiritual encounters that are healing me and drawing me back to life. Thank you. Such needed resources.

I so appreciate these podcasts! I can’t wait for TC 17 to start!

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I’ve been listening for a couple of years and can’t even describe how refreshing it is for me to hear Ruth & Steve along with guests get to the heart of this journey with Jesus. Cutting through what’s up and trending, they point to ancient practices and traditions and contextualize them for today on how to yield ourselves to God’s transforming work. I love reading Ruth‘s blog articles, but there is more that is revealed about the issues when they discussed and teased out in a podcast. Thank you for providing this resource.

I was given one of your books a number of years ago and it planted seeds in my heart. This podcast brings to light some of those truths that were deposited in my heart back then. Our journey the last number of years has been grievous to say the least...but in the middle of all of the crazy, God’s voice has been so clear because I have been unafraid to be quiet with Jesus in the unknown and insurmountable. Thank you for being brave, vulnerable...and being willing to sit with hard questions - and beckon others to do the same!

Guiding me through these days of COVID 19

I’m one year into the 2-year learning community offering. Each retreat has exceeded the last. The experience has been the most impactful spiritual journey of my long life as a follower of Jesus Christ. Consider joining the next Transforming Community taught by Ruth Haley Barton and others. PS the podcasts are the tip of the iceberg compared to the Transforming Community offering. Great training in spiritual disciplines and spiritual direction.

This is meeting me where I’m at spiritually in a way that few other resources are. It’s like water in the desert. The honesty is refreshing. The depth of these conversations speaks to how the podcasts hosts have definitely walked their own journeys with God. Thank you Ruth and Steve and The Transforming Center for being so in tune with the Spirit. 💜

If you’ve read any of Ruth’s books or been a part of a Transforming Community, this podcast is essential. Even if you haven’t, this podcast is essential. Leads listeners into ways to be open to the Divine.

Ruth’s words of invitation and challenge were a gift to me as I enter into this season of Advent. I appreciate her genuine passion for Jesus and practical exercises to help me BE with Jesus.

I’m so grateful for the wisdom Ruth Haley Barton shares in this podcast. It’s evident that her words come from a place of real experience and intimacy with God. As I’ve been exploring weaving spiritual disciplines and disciplines into my life, this podcast has been vital in encouragement and insight. Thank you, Ruth!

Ruth Haley Barton has a way (in her writing and peaking) that makes me long for greater intimacy with God. She is transparent in her own struggles and inspiring in her experiences.

Even just going through the first season is incredible. This is a must listen, and I wish every pastor and ministry leader could go through this process yesterday. These practices echo ongoing transformation and healing in my life and are deeply grounded in biblical spiritual practice and healthy psychology. Love it!

So thankful for this podcast and how God is using it in my life. Keep em coming!

I appreciate this podcast so much! I have read several of Ruth’s books and enjoy the very practical spiritual guidance in bite size pieces in this podcast each week! As a pastor, it is refreshing to have this spiritual guidance and fresh approach to ministry!

I have been listening to Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership for perhaps two years, and my walk with God and those around me is better for it. Thank you, Ruth, for sharing with us the things God lays on your heart. During the current season, though, I miss Steve’s input and your partnership.

Strengthening the soul is exactly what happens when you listen and practice what Ruth is inviting you too. If you’re searching for ways to be more open to God and transformed in His presence. Stop here: rest, relax and renew.

A great place to meet with your soul and hear God’s voice. Truthful, challenging and loving words and thoughts from people who want to know Jesus more. Thankful for this podcast.

Glad to have found this again - perfect timing

Somehow, I always seem to find Ruth Haley Barton’s work at JUST the right time. I have read many of her books and each time, it’s been a timely and life-giving word. Her podcast is no different. I urge any leader who is seeking to operate out of a life Shakopee by God to add this to the top of your podcast queue. And make space to do the meditation at the end of her episodes. You’ll lead differently because of it. Thank you, Ruth and team, for your important work here. I’m truly grateful.

What an incredible offering this is. Ruth Haley Barton speaks candidly as one who has been tested and tried in the crucible of ministry, and whose own refining now enriches our lives in Christ through her words of wisdom and the spiritual practices through which she now guides listeners. I especially value the material that talks about how to practice discernment in community. As a leader, her voice brings freedom to the endless hurry that life demands. A few key ideas that have changed me: Rest is worship. (Whoa. Letting God be God). Another humbling and critical paradigm Ruth has given to me as a gift is this idea: “The greatest gift we bring to those we lead is our own transforming self.” This is the podcast I eagerly await every week. It is Well worth your time. And the time of those alongside whom you lead.

Through a circuitous route, I believe God led me to the ministry of the Transforming Center. My own church background would never have led me here, and I must admit that I am one of those who had mental barriers when I first began to explore Ruth’s books and website content. But, as God has often done in my Christian journey, He gently and persistently kept nudging me back to the transformed life presented here. At this stage of my walk with Jesus, this resonates deeply with me. I long to see true, soul-deep transformation that allows me to live a surrendered, genuine life. I believe these resources can open up new depth, meaning, and purpose in this pursuit as I draw close to the Father’s heart and trust Him. What an exhilarating thought. Thank you, Ruth and Steve, for providing these thought-provoking podcasts for the Body of Christ.

It amazed me- the listening of just one episode has opened up a part of my story previously hidden. A part that has affected by intimacy with God. Grateful beyond words that I listened and am gaining new understandings- healing.

Ruth’s books and podcast are a guide on my own journey to living out a real and deep relationship with God. Counter cultural to our society and even to regular church life, Ruth gives help and guidance on what’s most important- loving God and living out of His love for me.

I am always grateful for Ruth’s wise and challenging words. This podcast is a way to be guided by her and enter into the spiritual journey in an authentic, refreshing and enlightening way. Taking time to pay attention to where I am in relationship to each topic is an important way for me to find encouragement for my ordinary life and leadership.

This podcast has opened my eyes to a deeper level of intimacy with God n others that I didn't even know was possible. Each episode has been exciting and has set my heart on fire to desire more of His presence n purpose for me n my church! God has used this podcast to change my life and I have faith He is going to transform my family n community as well. Thank you Ruth n Steve!!!

Love the podcast, Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weims (sp?) do a terrific job at helping our souls connect with god. I don’t know what’s more relevant in today’s fast pace, noisy and hectic culture than slowing down to hear god’s voice. Thanks for helping us do that guys ❤️👍🙏😁

The themes mentioned in this podcast are very meaningful. It is kind and revealing. Every leader and follower of Jesus should listen.

I have been in Christian ministry for 31 years. I love what I do, but am tired and feeling like there is more than what I am experiencing. I also see where I have some misplaced desires that take my eyes off the most important One. These messages and Ruth’s books have been life giving and water to my parched and thirsty soul. I love the honesty and vulnerability I hear in these podcasts.

Ruth’s books and teachings have been a timely lifeline that has guided me and pulled me out of hard places again and again. I love that she speaks from her real life experiences and from deep insight into leaders in Scripture.

Insightful, deep, wise, honest, clear, inspiring and a host of other adjectives. I have shared these with friends and they are definitely worth camping on and letting take root. Thank you for your podcasts.

These teachings and thoughts are rocking my life and in my thoughts. Awesome and recommend.

As an alumni of Transforming Center I am grateful for these podcasts as a reminder to "be still and know that He is God." Even if you aren't in Transforming Center, if you are a seeker of a vital, living relationship with your Lord and Father, you will be blessed to listen.

Ruth has been led by The Holy Spirit to insights that are rare and challenging and ultimately life-giving. She unflinchingly points to practices that our culture ignores or is even hostile toward, like this session on solitude. This is not a 3-steps-to-success program, it is a foundational part of a life-long pursuit of God. She says that the best thing you can do for your church/organization is to be in a personal, transforming relationship with God. This teaching will help you along that path.

I appreciate the thoughtful reflection and authentic discussion on Christian spiritual transformation. Highly recommend!

This podcast has been a wonderful reminder of the teachings of the entire Transforming Community. It has brought me back to the disciplines and practices that bring me closer to Christ. Thank you!

This is a refreshing resource that offers a way of leadership and discernment that is so different than the corporate models we try to fit into our leadership styles. I highly recommend this podcast.

I love what I've listened to so far! There's no other podcast like it!

I got to know Ruth through her books, and by attending the Transforming Community retreats for two years. What a gift! She has such a vital, wise, authentic voice that speaks truth into the lives of leaders who daily pour into others, sometimes to the neglect of our own soul. These podcasts provide refreshing reminders…pauses for soul care.

If you want helpful tools and rich food for strengthening your spiritual life and leadership, look no further than this podcast. Each episode is full of the kind of solid teaching and vulnerability which will benefit every listener.

Best Podcast I've heard in a long time! Begin transforming right where you are!

I've been reading Ruth Haley Barton's books for many years. They have become some of my dear friends on my spiritual journey. Her works are exceptional. Now a podcast! WOW!!!! I'm thrilled! THANK YOU!!!