The Discerning Leader podcast is for Christian leaders who are interested in discovering the joy of “practicing a preference for God” in all aspects of their personal lives and relationships, their leadership and service to others.

Listen & Subscribe:

Apple Podcasts     Google Podcasts      Spotify      Stitcher      TuneIn      Deezer      RSS Feed

The Discerning Leader Podcast

Michelle Sanchez | Your Discerning Life Story, Episode 13

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Michelle Sanchez

“In a racially broken world, what we need for disciples to be is not color-blind, but color-courageous.” – Michelle Sanchez

Michelle Sanchez is Executive Minister of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church, a multiethnic denomination of over 900 congregations throughout North America. She is also the author of Color-Courageous Discipleship book series. As she notes, it’s far better to become color-courageous than to be color-blind. Her vision: follow Jesus, dismantle racism when we see it, and build beloved community by loving one another across our differences. As an African American minister, Michelle has a unique voice to communicate this important message to the Church today. In this conversation she shares how God called her out of her investment banking career into full time ministry, beginning in the local church and now in a strategic denominational leadership position. Find her at MichelleTSanchez.com

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.

Michelle Sanchez (Season Eighteen Episode 13 Guest)
Executive Minister of Make and Deepen Disciples, Evangelical Covenant Church
Michelle T. Sanchez serves as Executive Minister of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church. She is a frequent conference speaker and a regular columnist with Outreach Magazine. With Waterbrook, Michelle is the author of three books releasing in November 2022 designed to provide Christ-centered racial discipleship for all ages: Color-Courageous Discipleship, Color-Courageous Discipleship Student Edition, and the picture book God’s Beloved Community. She and her husband, Mickey, live with their two children in the Chicago area.

Other Episodes in This Season:

Share this Episode:

Can't find what you're looking for?

Steve Macchia

Founder & President

The Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Macchia is founder and president of Leadership Transformations, Inc. (LTI), a ministry serving the spiritual formation, discernment, and renewal of leaders and learners since 2003. For more than 20 years he has been the Director of the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Doctor of Ministry Program. From 1989-2003 he was the president of Vision New England, the largest regional church renewal association in the country. Earlier in his ministry life, Steve was a member of the pastoral staff of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts for 11 years. He is the author or co-author of 17 books, including The Discerning Life (Zondervan Reflective), and Crafting a Rule of Life, Becoming A Healthy Church (LTI), and Broken and Whole (IVP).  He and his wife Ruth live in the Boston (MA) area and are the proud parents of two married children and grandparents to three adorable grandchildren. Steve’s personal website is www.SteveMacchia.com.

“My soul comes alive singing the great hymns of the church and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. I’m in awe of God for fulfilling the dream for LTI that he birthed in my heart, for the team he has assembled, and the transformational impact experienced in the leaders and teams we serve.”

Detailed Biography
Articles by Stephen Macchia
Author Website
Schedule a one-on-one with Steve

Mitzi Mak

Selah-West Faculty & Emmaus Faculty

Mitzi started her professional life as a high school social studies teacher. She and her husband Jerry then served cross-culturally for ten+ years, living abroad first in India and then Kurdistan, N. Iraq. In addition to being a Spiritual Director, she now serves as a Formation and Care pastor in her local church in Houston, TX. She has graduated from LTI’s Selah Spiritual Direction training as well as LTI’s Emmaus Formational Leadership Program.

Mitzi enjoys engaging conversation, reading fiction, doing jigsaw/crossword puzzles, ocean gazing and exploring the world with Jerry through food and travel.

God has two main callings in Mitzi’s life: to care for those who care for others and to be a guide in helping others have a healthy relationship with the Trinity – recognizing God’s loving presence and activity in their lives and how to faithfully respond.

“Selah was a transformative experience for me – allowing the contemplative within to emerge and to beautifully co-exist with my extraverted personality.“