Chrissy Chang

The Road to Emmaus | Discernment as a Way of Life Episode 01 (REPRISE)

Discernment as a Way of Life (REPRISE), The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / May 18, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano

This is a reprise of season 1 episode 1 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.

On this inaugural episode, Steve and Jeremy recount one of the pinnacle accounts of discernment in Luke 24. The Road to Emmaus is a wonderful example of discernment as a way of life, and not simply a way to make decisions. Noticing the presence, power, and peace of Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end of healthy spiritual discernment. And, like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, so too do we need to practice a preference for God and encourage one another to look for Jesus along our lifelong journeys of faith.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

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Gary Franklin | Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, Episode 5

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gary Franklin

“For the first twenty years of my ministry, discernment wasn’t a part of my way of life – it was just busyness and activity.” – Gary Franklin

A large part of discernment is learning to pay attention to our soul. Gary Franklin is a pastor in the greater Atlanta area who has ministered for over four decades, is the founder of the Leaders Heart Inc, and is a graduate of LTI’s Emmaus program. Gary joins Steve Macchia to share his story of transformation, becoming a formational leader rather than a strategic leader. Gary describes his journey as one of holding on to God’s presence, peace, power, and courage in the context of massive transitions. We are encouraged to cultivate our capacity to be present with God, to know ourselves, and restore the wonder of God’s presence.

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Abigail Carroll | Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, Episode 4

Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / May 4, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Abigail Carroll

“Poetry starts with submitting myself to beauty.” – Abigail Carroll

God is a creative artist who delights in our creativity. God is glorified when we enter into creativity with Him. Abigail Carroll, the author of three poetry collections and pastor of arts and spiritual formation joins Steve Macchia to share her life story of collaborating with God in creativity. In this episode, Abigail describes how writing poetry has enlivened her heart and moved her soul to focus on God, especially during times of grief. We are encouraged to create with the Spirit of God through writing poetry, journaling, and through other creative means.

Steve Macchia (Podcast Host)
Founder and President of Leadership Transformations
Steve is the author of The Discerning Life, Becoming a Healthy Church, Broken and Whole, Crafting a Rule of Life and several other titles. Steve has over 40 years in ministry and two postgraduate degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Abigail Carroll (Season 26 Guest)
Abigail Carroll is author of three poetry collections: Cup My Days like Water, Habitation of Wonder, and A Gathering of Larks: Letters to Saint Francis from a Modern-Day Pilgrim. Her poems have been anthologized in How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope and Between Midnight and Dawn: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide. She serves as pastor of arts and spiritual formation at a church in Burlington, Vermont.

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Iain Whitfield | Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, Episode 3

Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / April 27, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Iain Whitfield

“He knew the timing would be best if it were radically different from what I understood it to be.” – Iain Whitfield

God isn’t seeking our permission; God is seeking our submission. Iain Whitfield shares this principle from his life. Iain was born in India to missionary parents, spent two decades in the UK and almost four decades in the United States. Ian served as Community Life Pastor in Winchester, Massachusetts for twelve years. His first career was in commercial banking which he left to help care for his terminally ill daughter who died in 2006. Iain shares his experience of God in trusting for his daughter’s nurture and care and for provision during a vocational transition.

Iain Whitfield (Season 26 Guest)
After serving 20 years as an elder and 12 years co-leading Hope Christian Church in Winchester, MA as Community Life Pastor, Iain laid down his vocational ministry in 2020. He remains active in the same church as one of the worship and small group leaders, as well as offering spiritual friendship and support to many. Born in India of UK missionary parents, his first career was in commercial banking, the reason for his transfer from London to Boston in 1986. He subsequently left banking in 2000 to help care for his terminally ill daughter, who died in 2006. That journey deeply intensified his relationship with the Lord and was used by God to forge his heart’s desire for vocational ministry. His personal vision is “to so live in Jesus that people will come into, and live in, an ever-increasing, experiential knowledge of God the Father as Abba, Jesus as Savior, Lord and Friend, and the Holy Spirit as Counselor and Comforter for life.” He is married to Liz, father of three daughters, and has 5 grandchildren.

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Gayle Heaslip | Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, Episode 2

Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / April 20, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gayle Heaslip

“How can I carry Christ with me throughout the day?” – Gayle Heaslip

How can we carry the presence, power, and peace of God with us throughout our day? Gayle Heaslip joins Steve Macchia to share her story of transformation. Gayle invites us to move from spending time with God in the morning and moving forward in the day without any change to viewing our life as a “monastery of the heart,” recognizing that we can carry Christ with us throughout the day. Listen as Gayle describes her experience being filled with the Holy Spirit and how we can experience the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. Gayle Heaslip has a degree in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Seminary, has completed Selah’s Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction, and is the founding pastor of Emmaus Anglican Church in Falmouth, MA.

Gayle Heaslip (Season 26 Guest)
Gayle Heaslip has a degree in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Seminary and having completed Selah’s Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction, she is drawn to walk alongside others as they grow into the fullness of life the Lord supplies through both trials and triumphs. She is also a priest in the Anglican Church of North America, serving a missional fellowship in Falmouth. Gayle delights in the ever-changing beauty of Cape Cod where she lives with her husband and close to their three grown children and eight grandchildren.

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Rowena Day | Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, Episode 1

Discerning the Presence, Power and Peace of God, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / April 13, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rowena Day

“There are so many ways that our attention is pulled, and we are divorced from our own bodies which make it really hard to notice God.” – Rowena Day

Season 26 will focus on life stories that have been shaped by the presence, power and peace of God. Rowena Day was born and raised in Canada and now lives in Washington D.C with her husband Jon and their four children. She was a member of LTI’s Emmaus program and has just begun the Selah-Anglican program this month! She is passionate about creative arts, spiritual formation, soul care and its intersection with neurobiology. Rowena shares with Steve how she notices the presence of God through the mighty oceans and in the minute details of our lives. Rowena encourages us with the notion that only when our mind, heart, body and spirit are fully integrated can we be receptive to what God has for us in the present.

Rowena Day (Season 26 Guest)
Rowena was born and raised in Canada and now lives in Washington D.C with her husband Jon and their 4 beautiful children. God has been forming and shaping her through the incredibly wild, delightful and challenging journey that is parenthood.

She was a member of LTI’s Emmaus program when she and her husband lived in Boston prior to moving to DC 9 years ago and is excited to begin the Selah-Anglican program this month! She is passionate about the arts, spiritual formation, soul care and its intersection with neurobiology. She desires to live an embodied life grounded in the present moment, closely attuned to God within and around her, to her true self and to others as we all journey together to die to our false selves and experience rebirth, healing and emergence of our true selves

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Reengaging the Passion – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday | Holy Week Interlude, Episode 2

Holy Week Interlude (2023), The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / April 6, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof

“Death gives way to life. Not only lived out by Jesus but meant to be lived out by each of us.” – David Vryhof, SSJE

Holy Week is considered the climax of the Christian year. The service that starts on Maundy Thursday continues all the way to the Easter Vigil and is the capstone of Holy Week. Steve Macchia and Brother David Vryhof return to the podcast to discuss how the liturgical worship of holy week very much engages our body with our mind and heart. During these days we recognize the death of Christ that leads to His rising. This process of death to new life is an ongoing conversion process that we are invited to participate in daily.

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Preparing for Passion Week | Holy Week Interlude, Episode 1

Holy Week Interlude (2023), The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / March 30, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof

“We are offering ourselves in fresh new ways to God in Lent.” – David Vryhof, SSJE

Holy week has the potential to invite us into intimacy sharing with Jesus not only his triumph and resurrection but his path of suffering. Commencing a two-week interlude, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) explore ways that we can value and participate in the work of Christ during holy week. All of us are in pursuit of a deeper affection for Christ. Times like Holy Week bring us to that deeper place of desire, longing towards Jesus.

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Pastoral Reflections | A Process for Discernment, Episode 5

A Process for Discernment, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / March 23, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia

“We get into conflict related to discernment because there are those around the table of discernment who don’t want to be patient with the process.” – Steve Macchia

So often we are confronted with environments that are not going to be very friendly to a prayerful process of discernment. In order to find the fullness of God’s design for us we may need the help of another. This ten-phase process (that has been used by the church for generations) can be your help. In this final episode of season 25, Steve shares pastoral reflections on the entire process of discernment. Drawing upon decades of ministry experience, Steve reminds us how crucial prayer is throughout the complete discernment process. Steve recounts how crucial it is we have the right people involved – those who have a heart for God and are more committed to the process of discernment than their own preconceived ideas.

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The Faith-filled Conclusions (Phases 8, 9, 10) | A Process for Discernment, Episode 4

A Process for Discernment, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / March 16, 2023

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott

“If we don’t do deliberation well, we torpedo all the good work we’ve done so far” – John Pearson

During the process of discernment, we must learn how to deliberate well before finally making a decision. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to complete this four-part series on the 10 phase process for discernment. During phase 8 we deliberate in a manner that is grace-filled, loving and prayerful. Without this way of discussion, discernment goes off the rails and the most charismatic person in the room takes over. During phase 9, a decision is finally made. John and Steve discuss the important distinction between being united in a decision versus being unanimous. How the board or groups speaks about the decision is also important. During the final phase (10) the group enters into a process of review, evaluation and if necessary, starting the discernment process again. In this, the leader is charged to celebrate what God is doing because of the decision made.

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