Field Notes for Transformation

What happens when the methods that once worked for ministry no longer work the way they used to?
In this episode Lindsay talks with Aaron Abramson, CEO of Jews for Jesus and author of Mission Design, to explore what it looks like to lead a legacy ministry through change without losing sight of its mission.
Aaron has spent 26 years with Jews for Jesus, moving from volunteer to organizational leadership. Along the way, he discovered that staying faithful to the mission sometimes means being willing to rethink the methods.
Aaron also shares what it takes to build a culture where teams can admit when something isn't working, learn from failure, and try again, and why leaders shouldn't wait for a ministry to decline before they begin innovating.
At the heart of the conversation is a question every ministry leader eventually has to wrestle with: How do we remain faithful to our mission while becoming flexible enough to respond to the world around us?
 
Takeaways
Listen before you design. Start with people, not programs.
Measure what matters. Look for fruit and depth, not just activity.
Prototype, learn, adapt. Small experiments can prevent big mistakes.
Hold the mission tightly; hold the methods loosely. Faithfulness sometimes requires us to change.
 
Episode field note: 
Ask better questions, get uncomfortable and embrace the mess.
Don't be afraid to ask questions that unsettle you. Get close to the people you're trying to serve, even when it makes you uncomfortable. Listen, learn, and let what you discover shape the design.
Then give yourself permission to experiment. Prototype. Try something that isn't perfect. The messiness of the process is where learning happens.
You might just discover a new way of doing ministry that makes you wonder, “How did we not think of this before?”
 
Resources and links
Aaron’s book, Mission Design  with @IVPress
Aaron's Website: Jews for Jesus
 
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
This episode is brought to you by Spiritual Leadership, Inc
Head to spiritual-leadership.org to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

Have you ever wondered, “If this is what I'm called to do, why does it hurt so much?”
Work can shape us, stretch us, and give us purpose. But it can also leave us disappointed, disillusioned, discouraged, or devastated. And when our work is connected to our sense of calling, work hurt can feel deeply personal.
In this episode Lindsay connects with Meryl Herr, author of When Work Hurts, to talk about the pain we experience in our work and what faithfulness looks like in the middle of it.
Meryl helps us name the different ways work hurt shows up and invites us to consider how our work can become intertwined with our identity and our sense of worth. 
Takeaways
The four kinds of hurt and why knowing which one you’re experiencing matters. 
How naming our work hurt can be a first step toward healing and resilience
What everyday faithfulness looks like in the middle of hardship
Practical ways to practice job crafting and reclaim agency
The danger of conflating our worth with our job
Why dealing with our work hurt is an important part of faithful discipleship
 
Episode field note: Meryl suggests we deal with our work hurt.
Chances are, you have work hurt. Take some time to reflect on your work hurt. What happened? What did it stir up in you? Try using the four categories we talked about (disappointment, disillusionment, devastation, and discouragement) to help you name what you've experienced. And then bring it to God.
Being a leader means going ahead of the people you're leading in the work of your own healing.
 
Resources and links
Meryl’s book: When Work Hurts
Meryl’s website: https://merylherr.com/                    
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

Summary
In this conversation, Pastor Wendy Hu-Au invites us into the story beneath the title—her unexpected and deeply formative journey into serving as senior pastor at Metro Hope Church. What emerges isn’t just a leadership story, but a picture of what happens when faith is lived in real community.
We talk about the early moments that shaped her, the people who formed her, and why she’s so drawn to the idea of microchurches—not as a strategy, but as a way of being with people. Wendy keeps bringing us back to this: transformation happens in proximity, in honest relationships, in showing up.
She names the tension of leadership with refreshing honesty—the vulnerability it requires, the questions it surfaces, and the courage it takes to stay open when easy answers aren’t there. And woven throughout is this quiet but steady conviction: the church has a role to play in pushing back against what diminishes people and partnering in what brings life.
Takeaways
The gospel has to touch real life, or it’s not good news yet. 
Faithful leadership stays open, even when the answers have not been revealed yet. 
Resisting empire involves creating inclusive spaces for marginalized voices. 
 
Episode field note: Leading Without All the Answers
There’s a moment in leadership most people try to avoid, but most of us live in: I don’t know.
The world is not getting simpler. And leadership that depends on certainty is going to keep collapsing under the weight of real life.
Maybe faithful leadership isn’t about closing the gap between question and answer. Maybe it’s about becoming the kind of person who can stay in the gap—and not leave others there alone.
 
Resources and links
Hope Metro Church NYC
Apex for Youth                            
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

Summary
In this conversation, Ryan Tinetti invites us to reconsider ambition, moving away from pressure and performance toward something quieter and deeper. Through personal stories, Scripture, and lived wisdom, he offers a vision of life and leadership anchored in rest, shaped by humility and faithfulness over productivity.
 
Episode field note: Clarity Over Cleverness
When you’re leading change, resist the urge to be subtle. People don’t need hints, they need clear direction. Say it plainly, repeat it often, and make the path forward obvious. It may feel like over-communicating, but in moments of change, clarity is what helps people move.
 
Resources and links
Ryan’s Book: The Quiet Ambition (IvPress) 
Slow Productivity by Cal Newport 
Godspeed (Documentary) 
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12                        
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

Summary: 
We’ve normalized something that was never meant to be normal: leading alone. 
Rev. Dr. Eun K. Strawser invites us into a conversation about the gift of shared leadership. We talk about the ways we hold onto power, how our metrics are shaping the wrong outcomes, and why the environments we build may be working against the very transformation we long to see. What if shared leadership is exactly what the church was always meant to embody? 
Shared leadership isn’t just theory or a strategy. It’s biblical, practical, and transformational to the leader, the church and community. 
 
Takeaways
We don’t have a leadership shortage, we have a maturity gap.
What you measure is what you’re forming (so measure wisely). 
Healthy churches are rooted in people, place and community, not just growth.
Formation happens in place, not just in programs.
 
Episode field note: Take an honest inventory- Who do you actually share power with?
Most of us can answer that pretty quickly. And for many leaders, the answer is… we don’t. We may delegate tasks, but we’re not truly sharing power.
So the deeper question becomes: Who do you want to share power with and why?
 
Resources and links
Eun’s book: You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone: The Power of Sharing Leadership with IVPress
Eun’s website                 
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

In this episode, Dr. Angie Ward invites us into a rich conversation about leadership in uncharted place, where identity, and adaptive courage matter more than ever. She reflects on how her own journey has shaped the way she leads and teaches, and why the internal work of a leader is inseparable from the external work we’re called to do. We explore the shifting landscape of ministry and the kind of emotional intelligence leaders need to navigate change with wisdom and grace.
 
Takeaways
 
Leadership begins with who you are. Identity formation and the internal work you’re willing to do shape every decision, relationship, and moment of influence.
Today’s landscape demands adaptive courage. With no clear playbook, leaders must normalize change, embrace uncertainty, and respond with creativity rather than anxiety.
Presence matters as much as strategy. Emotional intelligence and a non-anxious posture create the conditions for clarity, trust, and transformation. 
 
Episode field note: Do your inner work. 
Do your work so you can show up whole, honest and fully yourself in every space you lead. 
 
Resources and links:
Angie’s website  
Angie’s Book: Uncharted Leadership             
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

In this conversation, Michael Huerter opens up about his unexpected journey into worship and music ministry and the way hybrid worship is reshaping the life of the church. He names both the beauty and the tension of weaving technology into our worship practices—how we can use new tools without losing the human connections that make church feel like church.
Michael talks honestly about the challenges leaders face right now: the overwhelm of adapting to online spaces, the pressure to “keep up,” and the fear of getting it wrong. But he also points us toward the opportunities, for example, how music can create connection even through a screen, how creativity can build real community, and how relationships will always matter more than platforms.
Takeaways
Technology can open surprising doors for connection, but it should never replace the sacred gift of human relationships—it’s here to serve community, not define it.
For leaders feeling the weight of constant change, the invitation is simple and steady: focus on relationships first. The tech will follow.
Hybrid worship isn’t a stop-gap anymore; it’s a real and lasting expression of church life when we approach it with intention.
 
Episode field note: Technology and online ministry aren’t replacing relationships but they’re deepening them and reminding us we’re not alone.
Even though the pace of new technology can feel overwhelming, this moment is also opening unexpected doors for connection and support in ministry. Online spaces, Zoom calls with mentors, glimpses into a friend’s worship service, shared creative work can actually strengthen the relationships we nurture in person. Instead of choosing between online and offline, we’re invited to see them as a hybrid whole and lean into the creativity, curiosity, and community this season makes possible.
 
Resources and links
Michael’s book: The Hybrid Congregation   
Follow Michael on Facebook                          
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

In this conversation, Alan Noble helps us name the weight we all feel in a world that tells us we must be everything on our own. Drawing from his book You Are Not Your Own, Alan invites us to imagine a different kind of freedom, one found not in limitless choice, but in belonging to a loving God. Alan talks about the exhaustion of modern life, the grace of limits, and the practices of gratitude and attention that can reorient us. This is a conversation about recovering our humanity and remembering that we were never meant to carry the world alone.
 
Takeaways:
Freedom isn’t found in endless choice, it’s found in belonging.
 
Gratitude and attention are small rebellions.
 
Modern life is heavy, but we were never meant to carry it alone.
 
The fruit of our labor belongs to God. (Our work has meaning not because it’s impressive, but because it’s offered back to Him.)
 
Love people for who they are, not for what they achieve.
 
Episode field note: Get to know someone really well
When we move beyond surface conversations and risk true connection, we start to see one another as we are, not as we present ourselves to be. That kind of knowing creates room for compassion, for shared humanity, for healing.
Bearing each other’s burdens isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about standing close enough to feel the weight and say, “You’re not alone in this.”
 
Resources and links:
Alan’s website
Alan’s book w/ IvPress
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
This episode is brought to you by Spiritual Leadership, Inc
Head to spiritual-leadership.org to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

In this episode, Bishop Geoffrey Dudley shares what it takes to lead through the storms of life and ministry. Drawing from his experiences in both the military and the church, he talks about calling, resilience, and the connection between leadership and mental health. This conversation explores what authentic leadership looks like when you’re navigating real challenges, for example, crafting vision, managing the movement, and building teams that can bend without breaking.
 
Takeaways
Calling isn’t static, it evolves as we do and is tested, refined by resistance and clarified through rest. 
Leadership isn’t proven by what you achieve, it is revealed by how you show up when things get hard. 
Authenticity outlasts performance. 
 
 
Episode field note: Get to know you
“Set aside time for self-reflection and get to know you.
He already knows you. He fearfully and wonderfully made you. But when you begin to know you, that’s when He can really start working with you.”
 
Before you can lead others, you have to sit with your own story. Like Jacob, we wrestle with identity, with the question God still asks: Who are you?
 
Resources and links
Bishop Dudley’s website
Book: Leading Through Storms with IvPress
Follow Bishop Dudley on socials: 
                 YouTube
                 Instagram: @bishopdudleyphd
                 Facebook
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
This episode is brought to you by Spiritual Leadership, Inc
Head to spiritual-leadership.org to take a look at resources for ministry leaders. 

In this conversation, Dr. Erin Devers discusses the concept of bias, its implications for self-perception and leadership, and the importance of understanding our identity. She emphasizes the role of confirmation bias in decision-making and the need for leaders to cultivate humility. Erin also explores the intersection of faith and bias research, highlighting how community can either amplify or reduce bias. 
Takeaways
Confirmation bias leads us to seek information that supports our beliefs.
Self-perception is often clouded by our biases.
Understanding our identity in Christ can help us navigate bias. 
 
Episode field note: The easiest way to cultivate humility is to communicate clearly
Erin suggests adding probabilities to your decision making, being honest about where you are - for example, “I’m 80% confident that we should go in this direction.” This approach can help build trust and fosters connection. 
 
Resources and links
Erin’s website
Erin’s Book: The Unbiased Self                               
Follow SLI: @spiritualleadershipinc
Head to Spiritual Leadership, Inc to take a look at resources for ministry leaders.