Spiritual Life and Leadership

Markus Watson
  • 5.0 (39)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

Ministry leadership is about more than just growing your church or organization. It’s about participating in God’s mission in the world. But how can leaders know God’s mission or their unique place in it? Faithful ministry leadership is rooted in a life of deep and abiding faithfulness to Jesus. In “Spiritual Life and Leadership,” Markus Watson and his guests explore what it means to be faithful leaders whose ministry flows from their ever-deepening relationship with God.

  1. Sep 29

    Ministry in an Age of Deportation, with Marcos Canales

    Marcos Canales is the pastor of La Fuente Ministries, a bilingual, intercultural congregation in Pasadena, California, and a PhD student at Fuller Theological Seminary. In this conversation, Markus Watson and Marcos talk about ministry in a community reeling from both the Eaton fire and ongoing ICE enforcement, why Marcos describes it as an enforcement of terror, what a robust theology of suffering looks like, and how churches removed from the front lines can stand in solidarity without centering themselves. THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: Why Marcos describes current immigration enforcement as an enforcement of terror, and how it echoes the violence many Latin American families fled. How the Eaton fire and ICE operations compounded trauma in Pasadena and Altadena within a single month. Bilingual ministry as a daily practice of rehumanization. Why theologies that rush people toward superficial hope end up wounding them more. Gustavo Gutiérrez's reading of Job and the call to keep talking to God in the midst of suffering. The risen Jesus who never hides his wounds, and what that means for wounded leaders. Grief stations, gratitude, and building a congregational culture where lament is a spiritual practice. Resistance and re-existence, from prayer vigils to letters for people detained at Adelanto. Four concrete steps for majority-white churches that want to stand with immigrant neighbors. Marcos closes the conversation by praying the Immigrant's Creed. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: Marcos Canales: La Fuente Ministries More about La Fuente Ministries Giving opportunities for migrant solidarity: Clergy Community Coalition La Fuente Ministries Compassion Fund (choose "LFM Compasión-Compassion Fund") Books mentioned: On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent, by Gustavo Gutiérrez The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander Other resources: The Immigrant's Creed / El Credo del Inmigrante, by Rev. José Luis Casal, director of Presbyterian World Mission RELATED EPISODES: Episode 143: How the Church Can Respond to Immigration, with Karen Gonzalez, author of Beyond Welcome Episode 268: Borderless Faith, with Seth Clark, lead pastor of The Border Church Episode 287: Leadership and Lament, a Quick Conversation with Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  2. Sep 15

    America's Military Fetish and the Church's Silence, with Ben Daniel, author of Grace Over Guns

    Ben Daniel is the Senior Pastor of Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, California, and the author of Grace Over Guns: Pursuing Peace in a Militarized World. In this conversation, Markus Watson and Ben talk about the quiet reverence for military power that has crept into American Christianity, what it cost Ben personally to stop standing for the national anthem, and why he believes the church's silence on militarism is a form of complicity. THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: Ben Daniel argues that American Christianity has developed an unspoken reverence for military power that borders on idolatry. The conversation traces how flags, uniforms, and anthems entered church sanctuaries and became fused with Christian identity. Ben shares the moment that led him to stop standing for the national anthem, and the backlash it brought from his own congregation. Markus and Ben discuss Dietrich Bonhoeffer's witness during the firebombing of Dresden as a model for costly, embodied pacifism. Ben makes the case that silence from the pulpit on militarism is itself a form of complicity. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: Ben Daniel: Montclair Presbyterian Church Books mentioned: Grace Over Guns: Pursuing Peace in a Militarized World, by Ben Daniel Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War, by Glen Stassen The Log from the Sea of Cortez, by John Steinbeck RELATED EPISODES: Episode 234: Political Power and American Evangelicalism, with Tim Alberta, author of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory Episode 143: How the Church Can Respond to Immigration, with Karen Gonzalez, author of Beyond Welcome Episode 228: Dismantling the Myth of the White God, with Grace Ji-Sun Kim, author of When God Became White Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  3. Sep 1

    317. Church Growth Without the Machine Mentality, with Kurt Fredrickson, author of Compelled

    Is the church still relevant in a post-Christendom world? Kurt Fredrickson returns to Spiritual Life and Leadership to talk about his new book, Compelled, and to make the case that the local church, done right, is still "a small working model of the kingdom of God." Markus Watson and Fredrickson talk about why so many congregations operate like machines built to produce bigger Sundays, and what it would take to tend them like gardens instead. THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: The church is still relevant because it functions as a small working model of the kingdom of God. Eugene Peterson's definition: the church is "named people in particular places who practice a life of resurrection." Why the church of the 1950s can't simply be repeated in a post-Christendom, polarized culture. The garden-versus-machine metaphor on the cover of Compelled, and what it means to disrupt a congregation's system instead of engineering it. Deprofessionalizing the clergy: the provocative claim that professional clergy can become "the greatest impediment to the work of the church." Releasing the five-fold gifts of Ephesians so ministry isn't bottlenecked in the pastor's office. The isolation-plus-depletion-plus-conflict formula for how pastors get in trouble, and the ABCs (Abide, Breathe, Connect) for staying healthy. Kurt Fredrickson's own journey from twenty-four years pastoring a booming, machine-like congregation to asking, "would our community even miss us?" A story about a congregation that moved communion to the center of the room during a season of painful conflict. Why hospitality and the Lord's Table are the two disciplines Fredrickson considers essential for a missional community. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: Kurt Fredrickson: Faculty bio Books mentioned: Compelled: Nurturing Local Missional Communities, by Kurt Fredrickson The Pastor as Gardener: A Renewed Vision for Ministry, by Matthew Erickson and Winn Collier The Pastor as Midwife: Life-Giving Leadership for the Healing of the Church, by Shawna Songer Gaines The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, by Alan Kreider Related episodes: 103. Willingness to Adapt: The Church After Covid, with Kurt Fredrickson and Cameron Lee 313. Embodied Spirituality for Pastors and Leaders, with Mark Scandrette and Dave Kludt 314. Why Good Leaders Sometimes Make Their Churches Worse, with JR Woodward Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  4. Aug 18

    316. How Work Forms (and Sometimes Deforms) Us with Matt Rusten, author of Pastoring for Monday

    Are your congregants' jobs a distraction from their discipleship, or one of the main places it actually happens? Matt Rusten, president of Made to Flourish and editor-in-chief of Common Good Magazine, joins Markus to explore the theology of work and what it looks like for pastors and churches to help their people see their everyday jobs as spiritually significant. This Episode's Highlights Include: Why the Bible introduces God as a maker before it describes him as holy or mercifulWhat it means that every person in your pews has a "sphere of dominion" in their workHow work forms your congregation over time, and how it can quietly deform themWhy Jesus used work as the backdrop for most of his parablesWhy John the Baptist sent tax collectors and soldiers back into their same jobsPractical ways your church can help people connect faith and work: small groups, "This Time Tomorrow" interviews, and pastoral workplace visits Relevant Resources and Links: Pastoring for Monday by Matt RustenMade to Flourish RELATED EPISODES: 288. Leadership That Smells Like the Gospel, with Jason Jensen272. Beyond Church Revitalization, with Josh Hayden247. The Kingdom of God as Present RealitySend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  5. Jul 14

    315: A New Framework for the Abortion Conversation, with Angela Weszely

    Angela Weszely is the founder and CEO of ProGrace and the author of Becoming ProGrace: Expanding the Abortion Conversation Beyond Life Versus Choice. Twenty-one years ago she took a job at a Christian pregnancy center in Chicago and immediately felt the tension between what the organization said it believed and how it actually treated women. That tension became a decade-long journey that led her to found ProGrace. In this conversation, Angela and Markus explore what it looks like for the church to actually resemble Jesus in how it responds to abortion and unintended pregnancy. This Episode's Highlights Include: Angela's journey from a legalistic upbringing into leading a Christian pregnancy organizationThe four theological frameworks Christians get wrong about abortion: equal value and dignity, political identity over Christian identity, grace, and shared responsibilityWhy only 7% of women, and 16% of church-going women, ever approach a church before an abortion decisionThe narrative that shames women and lets partners off the hookWhat the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8 actually reveals about grace and systemic injusticeWhat it means to be the beloved, and why that identity changes how we respond to people in crisisThe objectification hiding inside the abortion debateRelevant Resources and Links: Becoming ProGrace: Expanding the Abortion Conversation Beyond Life Versus Choice, by Angela WeszelyProGraceSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  6. Jun 30

    314. Why Good Leaders Sometimes Make Their Churches Worse, with JR Woodward

    JR Woodward is the National Director of the V3 Movement, a faculty member in the Doctor of Global Leadership cohort at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the author of The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church. In this conversation, JR and Markus explore what it looks like to lead communities that bring the Kingdom of God to life in the places where we live. THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: What it means that Jesus's primary message was the kingdom of God, and how that shapes everything a church doesShalom as a holistic picture of human flourishing: restored relationships with God, others, creation, and ourselvesThe NEAR framework for understanding a neighborhood: Narrative, Ethics, Associations, RitualsThe four spaces of belonging and how Jesus inhabited all four: intimate (3–4), personal (5–12), social (20–50), public (70+)Why closed discipleship groups differ from open missional spaces, and why you can't build depth if the door is always openHow people often belong before they believe, and how behavior changes before beliefs doHow our desires are shaped by whoever we look up to, and how this creates rivalry and division in churchesHow conflict in a congregation can escalate until one person becomes the targetWhat Philippians 2 teaches about giving up honor and titles as a path to healthier leadershipHow love of image, institutional self-preservation, and ideology become corrupting forces in church lifeOscar Romero as a real-world example of the downward path of leadershipV3 Movement's interdenominational church planting trainingThe Doctor of Global Leadership cohort at Fuller Seminary RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: The Scandal of Leadership, by JR WoodwardV3 MovementFuller Doctor of Global Leadership Program RELATED EPISODES: 288. Leadership That Smells Like the Gospel, with Jason Jensen272. Beyond Church Revitalization, with Josh Hayden247. The Kingdom of God as Present RealitySend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  7. Jun 16

    313. Embodied Spirituality for Pastors and Leaders, with Mark Scandrette and Dave Kludt

    Mark Scandrette has spent over twenty years wrestling with a hard realization: knowing a lot about God doesn't mean you're good at following Jesus. Dave Kludt spent fifteen years in pastoral ministry learning that everything, down to how you arrange the chairs in a room, forms people. Together they co-teach a Doctor of Ministry cohort at Fuller Seminary built around two words: integral and embodied. Mark is the founder of Reimagine and author of Practicing the Way of Jesus and The Ninefold Path of Jesus, and a longtime friend of the podcast (he first joined us back on episode 112). Dave is the president of Reimagine's board, a former pastor of 15 years, and Mark's partner in this new cohort, a Substack, and an upcoming podcast. IN THIS CONVERSATION: Why "getting more information" doesn't lead to transformation, and what doesWhat Dave means by an "integral" approach to formation, and why it starts with facing the world's fractures honestlyWhat Mark means by "embodied" formation, and the Learning Lab model Reimagine uses to teach by doingWhy the leader of a Learning Lab has to be a participant, not just an expertMoving from a "closed fist" to an "open hand" posture toward your next stepWhy discomfort with failure gets in the way of formation in many churchesHow Mark and Dave use the Enneagram as a formation tool, not a personality quizThe "formation edges" Mark and Dave are each working on right nowMark and Dave's hopes for the Fuller Doctor of Ministry cohort on integral and embodied formation RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: markscandrette.com — Mark's websitereimagine.org — Mark and Dave's organizationFuller Seminary's Doctor of Ministry programBooks mentioned:Practicing the Way of Jesus, by Mark ScandretteThe Ninefold Path of Jesus, by Mark Scandrette RELATED EPISODES: The Beatitudes and Spiritual Leadership, with Mark ScandretteThe Spiritual Life of a Leader, with Tod BolsingerThe Neuroscience of Spiritual Formation, with Jim WilderSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

  8. Jun 2

    312. What if Reading Was a Form of Prayer? with Jeff Crosby, author of World of Wonders

    Jeff Crosby reads about 75 books a year. But in this conversation—his third appearance on the podcast—he's quick to say the number isn't the point. What matters is what reading does to you, including what he calls being "unselfed." Jeff Crosby is a 24-year veteran of InterVarsity Press, current executive with ECPA, and author of World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: jeffreycrosby.net — Jeff's website, including his books and information on his forthcoming book on musicECPA — Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, where Jeff servesBooks mentioned:World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading, by Jeff CrosbyEvery Moment Holy, Vol. I, by Douglas Kaine McKelveyA Diary of Private Prayer, by John BaillieReading While Black, by Esau McCaulleyThe Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James H. ConeJesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, by Kenneth E. BaileyPlainsong, by Kent HarufEventide, by Kent HarufBenediction, by Kent HarufMere Christianity, by C.S. LewisThe Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan ManningA Touch of Wonder, by Arthur GordonRELATED EPISODES: Episode 194: Saudade, Leadership, and Nurturing the Inner Life, with Jeff CrosbyEpisode 96: Crossing Leadership Thresholds, with Jeff CrosbySend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking! Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

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5
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About

Ministry leadership is about more than just growing your church or organization. It’s about participating in God’s mission in the world. But how can leaders know God’s mission or their unique place in it? Faithful ministry leadership is rooted in a life of deep and abiding faithfulness to Jesus. In “Spiritual Life and Leadership,” Markus Watson and his guests explore what it means to be faithful leaders whose ministry flows from their ever-deepening relationship with God.

Information

  • Creator
    Markus Watson
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    320
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Spiritual Life and Leadership
  • Show Website
    Spiritual Life and Leadership

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