Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership with Ruth Haley Barton

Ruth welcomes Tiffany Childress Price and her husband, Bobby Price, into a conversation focusing on their experiences with neurodivergence as a physiological reality and place of encounter with God. Tiffany explains neurodivergence and “twice exceptional” (2E) brain differences in her sons, describing asynchronous development and the advocacy burden when children are misunderstood, labeled, excluded, or shamed in school. Bobby shares receiving an autism spectrum diagnosis in his 50s after his sons’ evaluations, naming lifelong masking, the grief of not feeling included, and the relief of language that affirms God’s inclusion. Together they reflect on rejecting moralized views of brain difference, practicing curiosity, radical acceptance, deep Sabbath rest, and recognizing gifts such as sensitivity, discernment, and compassion. On Substack this week, Tiffany shares the different ways their family practices Sabbath as a place of radical and life-saving rest.

This week we have a special episode with two people very close to the hearts of our Transforming Community. In our first conversation Ruth welcomes TC alum Christine Boye in a conversation that was recorded in January of 2025 about illness and mortality as part of the experience of being human. Christine was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer in June 2019, discovered she was pregnant the same week, and learned in September 2022 that the cancer returned and spread to her liver, bones, and lung; she continued to navigate stage four cancer for over two years while parenting three daughters and serving part-time at church. Christine shares about her journey with cancer, and the humbling loss of control as her body weakens. Ruth and Christine discuss agency in medical decisions, meaningful ways others can accompany her, and the grace to live present while facing the future. Sadly, Christine passed away four weeks after this interview was recorded. The second half of the episode includes a conversation with Christine’s husband, Paul, where he and Ruth reflect on re-listening to the original conversation with Christine, now 15 months later, honoring her desire for deeper conversations beyond medical details. Paul shares the pain of wishing for more time, unresolved questions about agency and choices at the end of life, and the trauma and mystery of Christine’s rapid decline after coming home from the hospital expecting continued treatment. They discuss mortality, disappointment, and what it’s like to sit with God in quiet, experiencing both God’s silence and presence through settling, memories, and guidance for decisions Christine couldn’t help plan. These conversations are tender, honest and incredibly vulnerable about facing our own mortality and the mortality of those we love.

This week Ruth welcomes Donna McIntosh, a spiritual director and hospital-trained chaplain and TC alum, to speak to the experience of when our body betrays us. Donna describes experiencing a stroke while in seminary and the primary and secondary losses that followed—health, confidence, work, reading tolerance, gait, balance, clapping, speech, and fine motor skills—along with ongoing physical challenges and the need to slow down and accept care for herself. She shares wrestling with healing expectations and blame, finishing seminary despite these challenges, and experiencing God as increasingly real and present as she “processes this every day,” finding companionship with Jesus, who also walked with a limp.

Welcome back for our twenty-ninth season of the Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership podcast. This season is years in the making. We’ve long wanted to bring a season full of Spirit-directed conversations on the experience of being human, in all its complicated glory, but the timing was never quite right. And now, it’s finally here: Season 29 | Becoming Human: With God in Our Bodies. Our goals this season are to confront the dualism between life in the body and life in the spirit, to hear stories of people who experienced their bodies as a place of encounter with God, and to explore the connection between the integration of life in our bodies and our spiritual lives with our leadership. We will be having deep, spiritual conversations with friends of the Transforming Center about their very human experiences in their bodies and how they’ve experienced God in and throughout these experiences. We will explore God in concrete bodily realities like gender, sexuality, race, ability, aging, illness, and death, to name a few. In this first episode Ruth helps to set up our upcoming season, laying down the biblical and foundational groundwork for embodied spirituality. Drawing on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, she reminds us that we are “spiritual beings learning to become human.” This episode is a map to help us know where we’re going this season. Ruth concludes with Brian Wren’s hymn “Good is the Flesh.”

In this final episode of the Advent season Ruth and Marilyn discuss the unique spiritual invitations and soul work of the winter season. They touch on the inward journey of self-examination, processing grief, and embracing the transformation in life’s dormancy. They conclude with a deep discussion on themes of letting go, living in the present, and the spiritual significance of endings and new beginnings. The episode also features a poignant poem by Robert Hayden and an Advent-themed prayer by Ted Loder.

This week, ​​Ruth and Marilyn discuss the concept of Blue Christmas services that acknowledge grief during the festive season and offer consolation to those experiencing loss. The episode also delves into the idea of dormancy, likening spiritual dormancy to the natural world’s winter phase, where growth happens unseen. The conversation highlights the importance of creating space for mourning, acknowledging our vulnerabilities, and the need for faith and guidance during these seasons of grief and apparent inertness.

As we wrap up our season on Taming our Technologies: [Spiritual] Practices for a Digital Age, Ruth and Jay delve into the topic of technology’s impact on deep and creative work. They discuss the transformative impact of technology on creativity, productivity, and the ability to perform deep, meaningful work. Jay highlights the distinction between human creativity and artificial intelligence, and Ruth shares personal insights from her writing process, stressing the sacred and divine nature of creative endeavors. Thank you for journeying with us this season as we explored the realities of technology and its impact on various aspects of our lives.

This week, Ruth and Jay are joined by producer Colleen to discuss the challenges and strategies of parenting in the digital age. They discuss what they see as the pressing issues right now, how Jay and Colleen are navigating these pressures in their own families, and what Ruth experiences as a grandparent to young people. They also delve into practical advice for setting boundaries and expectations around technology use within families, explore the roles of empathy and community among parents, and consider the church’s potential in offering countercultural experiences. Over on Patreon the trio explores, practically, how to invite their families winsomely into a low-tech Sabbath practice.

This week, Ruth and Jay delve into the challenges and opportunities presented by technology in our spiritual lives. They discuss the necessity of solitude, silence, and retreat for spiritual formation and explore how digital distractions can hinder these practices. Ruth shares her personal journey and insights into managing technology’s role in her spiritual practices, while Jay offers practical strategies for minimizing digital interruptions. They emphasize the importance of intentionality in creating sacred spaces free from technological distractions and offer thought-provoking questions to help listeners assess their relationship with technology and its impact on their spiritual life.

Hey all! We’re popping into your podcast feeds to share a peek at something we’re doing over on Patreon this summer! We’re calling it the Summer Poetry Fest. Each month Ruth shares a poem that has been particularly significant or meaningful to her life. She shares the context and how God used that poem or what it draws out in her. Then, Ruth offers some reflection questions for the listener to help them dive deeper into the poem and its meaning in their own lives. We conclude each episode with a reflective reading of the poem. These episodes are thoughtful and deep and are great touchpoints for your soul throughout the summer. Today we’re sharing a snippet from the May episode, which looked at the poem The Journey, by Mary Oliver.

Christ is risen! Happy Easter Monday, friends. Once again, Ruth invites us to celebrate the Risen Jesus through five powerful post-resurrection encounters. These stories have been shared before, yet they continue to speak. As you listen, step into the story—imagine the wonder, the questions, the joy. May they draw you into His presence today.

In this episode, Ruth engages in a profound conversation with Joy and David Bailey. Together, they delve into the themes from Dr. Selena Stone’s book ’Tarry Awhile,’ focusing on chapter six about healing. Joy and David share their extensive journey of dealing with Joy’s chronic health issues, exploring how it has shaped both their faith and community life. They discuss the complexities of suffering, the importance of community support, and how leaning into God’s presence has been vital in their ongoing struggle.

Ruth is joined this week by Rasool Berry, teaching pastor and director of partnerships and content development at Our Daily Bread Ministries. They continue our conversations about tarrying, this time focusing on justice and the transformative nature of tarrying. Rasool shares his journey from a non-church upbringing to embracing faith, how tarrying helps him orient himself to God’s reality, and highlights the deep spiritual lessons learned through practices of waiting and quiet. The conversation underscores the importance of embodying the spirit of justice and the need for contemplative action in today’s disorienting world.