Chrissy Chang

Bryan Wilkerson | Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, Episode 5

Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / December 22, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Bryan Wilkerson

“Believe that the Lord had something fresh for you this Christmas” – Bryan Wilkerson

Bryan Wilkerson serves as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel, authored Living God’s Story, is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan’s life mission statement is “to lead as many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” He and his wife, Karen, have four married children and a growing number of grandchildren. Brian shares with Steve that as he enters his thirty-ninth year of ministry, Christmas is his favorite time of year to preach and minister. He believes that the Lord can bring something new in our spirit as we wait expectantly. His pastoral counsel to us is to be quiet for five minutes – to sit in front of the Christmas tree or fireplace, go for a walk, and allow the Lord to meet us in those moments.

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.

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.

Bryan Wilkerson (Season 23 Guest)
Bryan Wilkerson has served as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel since September of 2000, having previously served as Senior Pastor at Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset, New York. Bryan is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan is the author of Living God’s Story, and serves on the board of Denver Seminary. Bryan’s life mission statement is “to lead as many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” Bryan enjoys running or biking the back roads and trails of New England. He and his wife, Karen, have four married children and a growing number of grandchildren.

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Mark Booker | Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, Episode 4

Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / December 15, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Booker

“Waiting on God is resisting the impulse to take matters into my own hands.” – Mark Booker

Mark Booker serves as the Senior Pastor at Park Street Church in downtown Boston. Mark joins Steve to share about waiting in his leadership and personal life. Many of us like to bring change and make things happen. Advent puts the spotlight on the reality that we are a waiting people. We often grasp for what is tangible; what we can control or manipulate. Mark reminds us that waiting looks like resisting the impulse to fix things through our own means. Waiting is about trusting in God’s promises, even when evidence points in all kinds of different directions.

Mark Booker (Season 23 Guest)
Mark Booker serves as the Senior Pastor at Park Street Church in downtown Boston. Originally from Colorado, Mark used to work professionally in the great outdoors. After completing theological study at the University of Oxford, he ministered in a congregation in Washington, DC, before moving to Boston to plant Church of the Cross, where he served for 11 years. Mark and his wife Mandy have four children and live in Boston.

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Dave Friedrich | Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, Episode 3

Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / December 8, 2022

“Waiting in the Bible is not just looking at the clock. It is about anticipation. It’s about cultivating hope and joy. ” – Dave Friedrich

Dave Friedrich has advanced degrees in philosophy from York University in Toronto and in spiritual formation from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. He has lived and worked at L’Abri, a ministry of Christian hospitality and cultural engagement, both in Switzerland and in Massachusetts. Dave has also worked at a bank, been a professional firefighter/paramedic, a swing dance instructor, and a youth pastor. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2013 and is currently serving as the rector of Church of the Cross, an Anglican church in Boston. Reflecting on Simeon in the Temple from Luke 2, Dave joins Steve for a conversation about waiting on God. We are tempted to want to know exactly when God will fulfill His promises. He often doesn’t answer that question. Instead, He gives us surprises in our waiting. Advent is a season where we cultivate hope and joy in what is coming and in what is already being experienced that gives us a foretaste of what is to come.

Rev. Dave Friedrich (Season 23 Guest)
Dave was born and raised in Canada. He has advanced degrees in philosophy from York University in Toronto and in spiritual formation from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. He has lived and worked at L’Abri, a ministry of Christian hospitality and cultural engagement, both in Switzerland and in Massachusetts. Dave has also worked at a bank, been a professional fire fighter/paramedic, a swing dance instructor, and a youth pastor. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2013 and is currently serving as the rector of Church of the Cross, an Anglican church in Boston. Dave and Anna are (prayerfully!) raising their two teenage sons, Cole and Adam.

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Dave Ripper | Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, Episode 2

Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / December 1, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Ripper

“We suffer from a severe depletion of spiritual expectancy. Moments of waiting can actually rekindle the flames of hope.” – Dave Ripper

Dave Ripper serves as lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in Nashua and Milford, NH, and as the chaplain of the Boston Bruins. He’s a graduate of Denver Seminary and is finishing his Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from Fuller Theological Seminary and The Dallas Willard Center. Dave is the co-author of The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission (IVP, 2018), and is the co-founder of Evergreen, a nine-month training experience for emerging leaders in partnership with Converge Northeast. Dave joins Steve to share pastoral encouragement on reflection, stillness and waiting. While we wait, Dave encourages us to keep a faithful list – noting the top three things already in our lives that God invites us to be faithful to. Reflecting on Psalm 40, Dave and Steve invite us to consider the experience of waiting as an obstacle to our faith or an invitation to a deeply expectant life. An expectant life is a wonder-filled, joyous experience.

Dave Ripper (Season 23 Guest)
Dave Ripper serves as lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in Nashua and Milford, NH, and as the chaplain of the Boston Bruins. He’s a graduate of Denver Seminary and is finishing his Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from Fuller Theological Seminary and The Dallas Willard Center. Dave is the co-author of The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission (IVP, 2018), and is the co-founder of Evergreen, a nine-month training experience for emerging leaders in partnership with Converge Northeast. Dave and his wife, Erin, a mental health therapist, have three kids and a yellow lab. They love to hike throughout New England and to travel to America’s National Parks.

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Susan Currie | Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, Episode 1

Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / November 24, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie

“During Advent, we give space to the waiting. All of us are waiting for something.” – Susan Currie

Susan serves as the Director of Leadership Transformation’s Selah Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction. Over the past 30 years, she has offered retreat leadership and formation ministry to various church and parachurch bodies. Susan also serves as Affiliated Clergy with All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral in Amesbury, MA. In our 21st century life we do not like to wait for anything. Sharing from the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Susan Currie returns to the podcast and invites us to come alongside the Biblical characters. We consider their longings, their waiting, and the things we ourselves are waiting for. She reminds us that all of us are waiting for something. In Advent, we are invited to slow down enough to recognize our longings and offer them to the only one who can come and make all things right.

Susan Currie (Season 23 Guest)
Director of Selah
Susan serves as the Director of Leadership Transformation’s Selah Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction. Over the past 30 years, she has offered retreat leadership and formation ministry to various church and parachurch bodies. Susan also serves as Affiliated Clergy with All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral in Amesbury, MA.

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Cindy Foley | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 7

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / November 17, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cindy Foley

“If my chief thing is to look for God, and look for His goodness in people, it makes me less critical.” – Cindy Foley

Cindy Foley and her husband Tim are the Divisional Leaders of the Northwest Division of The Salvation Army, with headquarters in Seattle, WA. Tim and Cindy have served together in appointments in Hawaii, Arizona, and in a variety of roles in California, notably as the first Administrators of the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego, at the College for Officers Training, and as Divisional Leaders for the Golden State Division. Cindy was later appointed as the Chief Financial Officer for The Salvation Army USA. Cindy shares highlights of noticing God throughout her life, including life lessons from the farm, teaching Sunday school at age 11, opening the first Salvation Army Kroc Center and serving with her husband in ministry. Cindy encourages us to notice God as we think of people – “There’s a big difference between looking for the goodness of God in people instead of looking for mistakes or things that aren’t done.”

Lt. Colonel Cindy Foley (Season 22 Guest)
Divisional Commander, The Salvation Army, Northwest Division, USA Western Territory
Cindy Foley and her husband Tim are the Divisional Leaders of the Northwest Division of The Salvation Army, with headquarters in Seattle, WA. Cindy has a Bachelors Degree in Leadership & Ethics from Nazarene Bible College and a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Point Loma University. Tim and Cindy have served together in appointments in Hawaii, Arizona, and in a variety of roles in California, notably as the first Administrators of the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego, at the College for Officers Training, and as Divisional Leaders for the Golden State Division. Cindy was later appointed as the Chief Financial Officer for The Salvation Army USA. Cindy enjoys reading, farm experiences, and traveling. Cindy and Tim are blessed with three adult children and one grandson.

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Bill and Kristi Gaultiere | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 6

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / November 10, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Bill and Kristi Gaultiere

“Ohh, I need to do some more inner journey work. This is an invitation.” –Kristi Gaultiere

Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are Drs of Psychology and the Founders of Soul Shepherding, a ministry to help pastors, leaders, churches, and all those desiring to thrive with Jesus in emotional and relational health. They are authors of a number of soul care books and resources. They have been speaking and writing about following Jesus in life and ministry since 1987. Bill and Kristi join Steve for a rich conversation about spiritual practices, discerning together and soul care. For their book Journey of the Soul, they reflect on more than 70,000 hours of therapy and spiritual direction with people. From Journey of the Soul, Bill and Kristi share six stages of spiritual growth and different walls that we experience. These walls start as periods of disorientation but become transition times to a more Christ-centered way of being. Listen as they share personal stories of supporting one another during their own walls and offer a light and a map to help every person through their own journey of the soul.

Bill and Kristi Gaultiere (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are Drs of Psychology and the Founders of Soul Shepherding, a ministry to help pastors, leaders, churches, and all those desiring to thrive with Jesus in emotional and relational health. They are authors of a number of soul care books and resources. They have been speaking and writing about following Jesus in life and ministry since 1987.

Bill & Kristi are opposite in personality. Bill is a Type A thinker and Kristi is a relational feeler. But together, their styles and stories blend to create Journey of the Soul, their new book that guides you out of the stuck places in your spiritual life and into the expansive areas of intimacy with God, emotional health, and loving relationships.

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James Bryan Smith | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 5

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / November 3, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: James Bryan Smith

“Every need that my soul has, Jesus meets them – every single one of them.” – James Bryan Smith

James Bryan Smith is the author of the Good and Beautiful Series which includes The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful You, The Good and Beautiful Life, and The Good and Beautiful Community. He earned his MDiv at Yale and his D. Min at Fuller and is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, where he also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. A founding member of Richard J. Foster’s spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré, Smith is an ordained United Methodist Church minister and has served in various capacities in local churches. James joins Steve for a conversation about how our view of God transforms our understanding/experience of spiritual disciplines. With a toxic view of God, James says “spiritual formation not only won’t help you, they might make you worse, you might turn them into legalism.” With a right view of God, “the disciplines take on a new understanding. Now it’s not, ‘I’m doing these things to get this angry God to be less angry.’ It’s,‘I’m doing these things because I want to be with this God.’”

James Bryan Smith (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
James Bryan Smith is the author of several books including The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful Life, The Good and Beautiful Community, and most recently, The Good and Beautiful You. He earned his MDiv from Yale and his DMin from Fuller and is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, where he also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Spiritual Formation.

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Cindy Bunch | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 4

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / October 27, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cindy Bunch

“When we develop self-compassion, we cultivate greater empathy towards others.” – Cindy Bunch

Cindy Bunch is a divisional vice president and associate publisher for InterVarsity Press, where she has worked for more than thirty years. She acquires and develops for the Formatio line of spiritual formation books. She is the author of Be Kind to Yourself as well as several Bible study guides in IVP’s LifeGuide® Bible Studies series. Cindy holds an MA in theological studies from Northern Seminary and completed her spiritual direction training at North Park Seminary. She and her husband live in the Chicago suburbs. Cindy shares with Steve how we can develop greater empathy towards others by first experiencing the kindness of Jesus to us. Hear how Cindy’s training in Spiritual Direction has taught her to notice God in everything, including working with authors as an editor.

Cindy Bunch (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
Cindy Bunch is a divisional vice president and associate publisher for InterVarsity Press, where she has worked for more than thirty years. She acquires and develops for the Formatio line of spiritual formation books. She is the author of Be Kind to Yourself as well as several Bible study guides in IVP’s LifeGuide® Bible Studies series. Cindy holds an MA in theological studies from Northern Seminary and completed her spiritual direction training at North Park Seminary. She and her husband live in the Chicago suburbs.

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Molly Shafferman | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 3

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / Chrissy Chang / October 20, 2022

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Molly Shafferman

“‘I thought you were going to teach me to pray.’ ‘We are. We are listening a little bit.’” – Molly Shafferman

Molly Shafferman lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband Howard. They have two grown children and three adorable grandchildren. Molly grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Family and Child Development. Molly has been active in church and civic groups all her adult life, including Healing Prayer and Women’s ministries, Alpha, and home Bible studies. She is a graduate of LTI’s Selah program and offers spiritual direction to many. Molly shares major turning points in her life. Highlights from this episode include stories about her mother who taught Molly how to pray, entrusting a child with Tourette’s Syndrome to Jesus, and the impact that Spiritual Direction has had upon Molly’s own life and marriage.

Molly Shafferman (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
Molly Shafferman lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband Howard. They have two grown children and three adorable grandchildren. Molly grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Family and Child Development. Molly has been active in church and civic groups all her adult life, including Healing Prayer and Women’s ministries, Alpha, and home Bible studies. She is a graduate of LTI’s Selah program and offers spiritual direction to many.

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