Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry - Hardcover

Barton, Ruth Haley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 083083513X ISBN 13: 9780830835133

Publisher: IVP, 2008

Synopsis

"I'm tired of helping others enjoy God.""I just want to enjoy God for myself." With this painful admission, Ruth Haley Barton invites us to an honest exploration of what happens when spiritual leaders lose track of their souls. Weaving together contemporary illustrations with penetrating insight from the life of Moses, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership explores topics such asresponding to the dynamics of callingfacing the loneliness of leadershipleading from your authentic selfcultivating spiritual community reenvisioning the promised landdiscerning God's will togetherEach chapter includes a spiritual practice to ensure your soul gets the nourishment it needs. Forging and maintaining a life-giving connection with God is the best choice you can make for yourself and for those you lead.

About this title

Review

"For those of us who lead, there are many fine books to hone our skills. But too few excavate our souls. Too few tell us stark truths, and serve up strong tonic, and give us hope and courage in the face of our calling's hardships and loneliness and moments of sheer tedium. Too few teach us how to seek and find God in the maze of committee work and the darkness of criticism and the heartbreak of betrayal. This book does all that, and well. Ruth Haley Barton has kept company with Moses, a 'pragmatic' and 'visionary' leader who found that, unless God went with him, there was no place worth going. Ruth's insights will at the very least strengthen the soul of your leadership. For some, it may make the difference in whether you finish the race at all."--Mark Buchanan, author of The Rest of God and pastor of New Life Community Church, Duncan, British Columbia

"In the same spirit in which Henri Nouwen wrote The Return of the Prodigal Son, Ruth Haley Barton has captured the soul of Moses and has revealed him to us as a seeker of truth, wisdom and vulnerability."--Glandion W. Carney, Chaplain of the Christian Legal Society

"In a landscape littered with leadership books that tinker at the margins of what really matters, Ruth Haley Barton offers us practical guidance to the core of life-changing leadership: spiritual authenticity and health. Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership lays bare the ancient truth that great leadership comes from the inside out, and provides a helpful road map for examining and seeking God's transformation of that largely unexamined inner core from which true leadership proceeds. This is a powerful resource for me and my own leadership team."--Gary Haugen, president, International Justice Mission, and author of Good News About Injustice

"[This] book has become for me a companion on the way. . . . The author's style is warm and accessible. I like her insights into the inner life of the leader. . . . I am deeply grateful for the helpful practices she describes and recommends. But what draws me even more is that Ruth writes with realness and integrity out of her own intimate experience of the inner journey of a leader. . . . Reading this book will surely help you to be attentive to the God who is the strength of your soul, and the heart of your leadership."--From the foreword by Leighton Ford, founder of the Arrow Leadership program and author of The Attentive Life

"A weary, waiting world cries out for God-shaped leaders who would serve more than be served, who would find power by laying down power, who would lose their lives for others. In her reflections on the life of Moses, God's radically human and holy friend, Ruth Haley Barton has given us not only a portrait of what sacrificial and redemptive leadership looks like, but has provided practice for getting there. This is a book to read alone and together. It will encourage and empower us to seek God more deeply, to listen for and embody our innate callings, to stay faithful to our solitary and even lonely journeys in community, and to love God for the long haul."--N. Gordon Cosby, cofounder, The Church of the Saviour, Washington D.C.

"Ruth Haley Barton's book Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership is a must-read for all those in ministry."--Larry Magnuson, YouthWorker Journal, January/February 2010

"There are many books that help sharpen our leadership skills, but this one brings challenging insights to strengthen our souls which will transform our leadership."--Kerry Clarensau, Enrichment Journal, Fall 2009

"The book is not just for those already in leadership roles, but also for those who are seeking leadership."--Marlyne Seymour, The Living Church, January 4, 2009

"Ms. Barton relies heavily on the life of Moses as a window into the different aspects of leadership in which we might learn to seek God and allow God to strengthen us to provide spiritual leadership to others. The book is not just for those already in leadership roles, but also for those who are seeking leadership."--The Rev. Marlyne Seymour, The Living Church, January 4, 2009

"The most significant book I read in 2008 . . . is a call to inspect one's inner life and motives for leadership with neither guilt nor obession, allowing God to tweak and morph it at will."--Danette Matty, YouthWorker Journal, January/February 2009

About the Author

Ruth Haley Barton (DD, Northern Seminary) is founding president of the Transforming Center, a spiritual formation ministry to pastors and Christian leaders. A trained spiritual director (Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation), teacher and retreat leader, she has served on the pastoral staff of several churches, including Willow Creek Community Church. A sought-after teacher, preacher and consultant to leadership teams, she is currently adjunct professor of spiritual transformation at Northern Seminary. Educated at Wheaton College, Northern Seminary and Loyola University Chicago Institute for Pastoral Studies, Ruth is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life, includingInvitation to Solitude and Silence, Sacred Rhythms, Longing for More and Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. She is also the author of an online resource titled eReflections, spiritual guidance via e-mail. She contributes regularly to Conversations: A Forum for Authentic Transformation.

Ford describes his current mission to be "an artist of the soul and a friend on the journey." He served for nearly twenty years as chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, an international body of Christian leaders. He chairs the Sandy Ford Fund and has served as a board member for World Vision U. S., the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He received the 1990 Two Hungers Award, recognizing his contributions to addressing the physical and spiritual hungers of people around the world. In 1985 he was selected as Clergyman of the Year by Religious Heritage of America andTIME Magazine singled him out as being "among the most influential preachers of an active gospel." The author or co-author of numerous books, includinTransforming Leadership and The Attentive Life, Ford lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife Jean.

Edition details

• Publisher: IVP
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 083083513X
• ISBN 13: 9780830835133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 229