The Contemplative Pastor

How can we suffer personally and alongside others without losing our joy? In this episode, join John Mark Comer and John Ortberg for the second part of their conversation exploring the possibilities and pitfalls in the pastoral vocation. In these final movements of the interview, John shares honestly about healing from wounding, what we can do when we are joy-challenged and what will matter in the...

What is my shadow mission? In this episode, join John Mark Comer and John Ortberg as they explore the possibilities and pitfalls in the pastoral vocation. They discuss the dangers of over-relying on giftedness, the importance of detaching from outcomes, and the power of identifying what John refers to as a "shadow mission"— what your life could be if it veers just a few degrees off course....

How is this era in church history inviting us into creative exploration?  In this episode, Tyler Staton invites us to recover a renewed sense of pastoral imagination. Drawing from the creation account in Genesis, he reflects on God as a creator and artist, considering what it means for pastors to participate in God's enduring work to cultivate life, beauty, and renewal. This teaching calls us...

Is there a gap between our public and private life? In this episode, Gemma Ryan invites us to consider the hidden life beneath our ministry and leadership. Through the practices of solitude, secrecy, and confession, she explores the narrowing gap between who we are in public and who we are when no one is watching. With honesty and tenderness, she shares deeper questions about our work and activiti...

Where does deep transformation in the church begin? In this episode, Drew Hyun is joined by John Mark Comer to wade into the everyday pastor’s wrestle with the slow, often hidden work of formation in leadership. Together, they reflect on issues of patience and ego, community, vulnerability, burnout, and the tension between fostering a vision for renewal and staying faithful within the constraints...

What if the burdens we often feel in pastoral work come from doing ministry for God, without God?   In this episode, Drew Hyun invites pastors to honestly consider a painful tension that many leaders experience: the possibility of ministering for God while slowly losing their connection with Him. Drawing from his own story and the experiences of the early church, he explores the subtle ways minist...

If spiritual formation were the primary goal of your church, what might need to change? In this episode, John Mark Comer invites us to consider whether the way we have organized church life is actually forming people into maturity in Christ, and the kinds of convictions that support a more intentional pathway of life-change. This is an invitation to a new, yet ancient pastoral imagination rooted i...

How can you reorder your life for the sake of others?  In this episode, Ken Shigematsu is joined by John Mark Comer to discuss how to turn the vision of the way of Jesus into a lived way of life. Together, they reflect on the challenges of reshaping our lives, the quiet resistance we often experience, and the invitation to move beyond good intentions into the often hidden work of transformation ov...

What fruit is being produced by your devotion to God?  In this episode, Ken Shigematsu invites us to reflect on who we are becoming in the rhythm of our lives and leadership. He shares the simplicity of his own Rule of Life and how it has nurtured a friendship with Jesus that is not only formative but also enjoyable. Ken’s teaching encourages us to slow down, pay attention, and honestly discern wh...

What could happen if we considered formation, not just information, in the discipleship process of our people? In this episode, Dr. Gerald Sittser is joined by John Mark Comer to engage with questions from pastors and leaders about the depth and challenge of recovering a more robust, formational faith. They reflect on the catechumenate as a model of training beyond mere instruction, the risks of a...

How can our communities learn to follow Jesus in a way that is within, but not defined by, our surrounding culture? In this episode, Dr. Gerald Sittser draws from the history of the early church to explore how the Jesus movement grew — slowly, relationally, and often in the margins. He reflects on the role of the catechumenate and the long, patient work of communities that learned how to follow Je...

How can the digital age challenge and reshape our understanding of church? In this episode, Jay Kim addresses the unique pressures influencing life and ministry in our digital landscape, followed by a Q&A period alongside John Mark Comer. This discussion invites us to envision a thoughtful reimagining of our churches, encouraging us to resist the allure of the easy, immediate, and consumable,...

Where can you go as a pastor to find the safe relationships you need to flourish?  In this episode, Dr. Todd Hall is joined by John Mark Comer to engage with questions from pastors about the tensions of leading relationally. They explore questions such as: How can we practice vulnerability while maintaining appropriate boundaries? How do we foster more relational safety within our staff teams? And...

In what ways might your community be more spiritually impacted by their relational history than they realize? In this episode, join Dr. Todd Hall, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin for part one of a conversation about how our relational history impacts our spiritual lives and the potential for the family of God to restore our relationships with one another and with God. This teaching was held at...

How is the ancient practice of a Rule of Life desperately needed in the modern church? In this episode, join Gemma Ryan, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they explore how quiet, everyday rhythms can root you in Christ and anchor you through the demands of ministry. This teaching and panel conversation was held at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in 2024.  To find...

What could change for you if you returned to the first principles of the Gospel?  In this episode, join Rich Villodas, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they discuss leading from the inside out, and the kind of ministry that can be sustained not by activity or gifting, but only by an identity secured in Christ.   This teaching was delivered by Rich Villodas at the Practicing the Way Pastor Con...

What if the table was the primary gathering place for the family of God? In this episode, join John Mark Comer, Daena Dooley, and Chris and Merryl Weinand for a highly practical conversation about what it looks like to move the table from the periphery to the centre of our lives and churches. This conversation took place at the Practicing the Way Pastor Conference in Portland, Oregon, in the fall...

What are the stages of discipleship that we must consider to help cultivate a lifetime of discipleship to Jesus?  In this episode, join John Mark Comer and Father Rolheiser as they explore lessons he’s learned after spending a half-century in the priesthood, what cultivating a mature life looks like while reckoning with age and illness, and the three stages of discipleship. This conversation took...

What might change if you saw pastoral ministry at its core not as leadership, but as suffering love? In this episode, join John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they honestly consider the risks and wounds of pastoring while holding up the goal of a faithful and fruitful lifetime of following Jesus that leads others to the same. This teaching was delivered by John Mark Comer at a g...

Is your life as a pastor arranged in such a way that you are experiencing deep joy, contentment, and freedom in your life with God? In this episode, join John Ortberg, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they explore the vision for building an inner life that can allow you and your ministry to flourish, even amid the unique demands and temptations of pastoring today. This teaching was delivered...

What thoughtful shifts can we make in our churches to cultivate a deeper understanding and greater potential for discipleship? In this first episode of The Contemplative Pastor, join John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin as they explore how spiritual formation has reached its current moment in the Western church and consider the invitation for what might come next. This teaching was...

The Contemplative Pastor is a podcast for the pastor who longs to embody a less hurried, less overwhelmed, less CEO-like form of leadership, and to recover the ancient path of pastoring in the way of Jesus. Each episode features insightful teachings from guides and sages on key topics within spiritual formation, along with practical conversations on those teachings between Bryan Rouanzoin and Beth...