The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast

Pete Scazzero
  • 4.8 (663)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Many pastors and church leaders today feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated that their churches don't seem to be making mature disciples. The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast explores the paradigms and practices leaders need to transform their church culture and multiply deeply changed disciples.

  1. May 26

    Lectio Divina: A Slower, Truer Way to Hear God

    Most of us were trained to read the Bible the way we were trained to lead — move fast, cover ground, extract what's useful, and get back to work. But what if that approach, by itself, is keeping you from the very transformation you're trying to produce in others? In this episode, I want to share a practice that has shaped my life for almost thirty years. A practice I cannot live without. It's called Lectio Divina — holy reading — and I believe it may be the single most important shift a Christian leader can make in their relationship with Scripture and with God. I'll take you through the history of this practice, the ancient monastic stream of reading that treated the Bible not as a text to be mastered but as a sacrament — a place of encounter with the living God. I'll share the four movements that structure it, and exactly what it looked like in my own devotional life this past week. This isn't theory. I'll be honest with you about the years I spent reading the Bible the way I approached leadership: achieve, produce, get it done. What that approach cost me — in my prayer life, my preaching, my soul — is something I wish someone had told me at 30. Lectio Divina interrupts the cycle of leading from information rather than formation. It doesn't just inform your sermons — it transforms the person preaching them. And it begins with something shockingly simple: slowing down long enough to let the Word read you. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    27 min

  2. May 12

    How to Find God in Unexpected Places: The Examen for Today

    Most of us were trained to look for God in the big moments — the breakthrough, the open door, the dramatic call. But what if God is most consistently present in the ordinary moments we rush past every day? In this episode, I want to share a 500-year-old practice that has quietly transformed my leadership, my marriage, and my relationship with God. It's called the Examen — and I believe it may be the single most underused tool in the modern pastor's spiritual formation toolkit. I'll take you through the history of this practice, born out of the life of Ignatius of Loyola — a soldier brought low by a cannonball who discovered that God speaks through our interior movements. I'll share the 2-question version you can start today, and the fuller 4-movement practice the Jesuits have done twice a day for five centuries. This isn't theory. I'll be honest with you about the years I spent pushing past the heaviness in my chest — misreading desolation as something to overcome rather than something to hear. What I missed cost me. You don't have to miss it too. The Examen interrupts the cycle of leading from wounds and repeating old patterns. It teaches discernment, not just decision-making. And it begins with just two questions. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    30 min

  3. Apr 28

    How to Spend a Day (or Half Day) Alone with God—and Why It Matters

    Free Resource: Download the Day Alone with God Guide at emotionallyhealthy.org/sabbath Most leaders I know have a daily time with God. Very few ever stop long enough to actually hear Him. There's a difference between a longer quiet time and a day alone with God. One sustains you. The other re-orders you. And if you're honest, you know the difference—because you've felt what happens when your life gets disordered and nothing seems to bring it back into focus. In this episode, I'm walking you through how to spend a half day—or full day—alone with God, and why this practice may be the most important thing missing from your leadership right now. We'll look at how Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and Anna all built extended withdrawal into their lives with God—not as a luxury, but as a necessity. I'll also share a simple six-movement structure you can use right away, along with the fears and resistances that keep most leaders from ever doing this. Your leadership will only go as deep as your life with God. You cannot give what you don't have. This episode could change everything. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    28 min

  4. Apr 14

    Designing a Daily Time with God that Fits You

    📥 Free Resource: Download our free guide to get started with the Daily Office emotionallyhealthy.org/dailyoffice One of the questions I get asked more than almost any other is: How do you spend time with God each day? What do you do? For how long? Is there a right way? Here's the truth I've learned over decades of pastoral ministry: there is no one-size-fits-all daily time with God. The goal was never a method—it was always a life of loving union with Him. In this episode, I take you on a personal journey through five distinct phases of my own prayer life—from intense Scripture study to intercessory prayer, from emotional health integration to contemplative rhythms rooted in monastic wisdom. Each phase taught me something essential. None of them, on their own, was the whole picture. Then I lay out six practical pillars you can use to design a daily rhythm with God that actually fits you—your season, your temperament, your calling. Whether you're a ministry leader under immense pressure or someone just trying to show up faithfully, this episode will help you stop copying someone else's spirituality and start building something sustainable and life-giving. The best daily time with God isn't the longest one. It's the one you'll actually keep. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    32 min

  5. Mar 31

    Power and Wise Boundaries: What Church Leaders Must Learn

    Take your team through the Emotionally Healthy Leader Book. Download the FREE discussion guide: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader Let’s get honest. Power makes most of us uncomfortable. So we avoid it, minimize it, or misuse it. In this episode, Pete Scazzero shares a defining leadership failure—one that cost him deeply: relationships, trust, and a 20-year community. At the center of it? Unclear boundaries and dual relationships. You’ll discover: Why every leader must name and steward their powerThe danger of trying to be both a friend and a supervisorHow blurred roles quietly damage teams and cultureWhy the burden of boundaries always falls on the leaderWhat it means to do the inner work required for healthy leadershipThis is not about leadership theory. It’s about formation. Because if you don’t deal with power and boundaries, they will deal with you. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    32 min

  6. Mar 17

    The Scandal Beneath All the Church Scandals (And What to Do About It)

    Take your team through the Emotionally Healthy Leader Book. Download the FREE discussion guide: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader Church scandals don’t begin the day they are exposed. They begin years earlier—in quiet compromises, ignored red flags, and leaders whose gifting has grown faster than their maturity. In this episode of The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I go beneath the headlines to name the real issue: church scandals are not first a PR problem. They are a formation problem. Jesus told us pressure would come. He told us not to be surprised. And He made clear that what will matter in the end is not image management, but whether we have become the kind of leaders who can stand firm under pressure without collapsing. I unpack four essential pillars every pastor and church leader needs if they hope to lead with integrity over the long haul: facing your shadow, leading out of your marriage or singleness, slowing down for loving union with Jesus, and practicing Sabbath delight. This is not about quick fixes. It’s about deep transformation. If you care about the name of Jesus, the witness of the church, and finishing well, this episode is for you. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    30 min

  7. Mar 3

    Family Systems: The Invisible Force Shaping Your Church

    Free Resource: Download the “8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness” ebook: 👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness Churches don’t just have problems. They are emotional systems. In this episode of the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I introduce one of the most powerful frameworks I’ve ever learned for understanding leadership, conflict, and why anxiety spreads so quickly in churches: Family Systems Theory. Much of this work comes from psychiatrist Murray Bowen and was later brought into church leadership by Edwin Friedman in Generation to Generation. But don’t worry — we’ll keep this practical, spiritual, and grounded in real ministry life. If you’ve ever: Walked into a meeting calm and left reactive Worked harder at someone’s growth than they are Watched conflict spread like electricity through your church You’re not crazy. You’re leading inside an emotional system. The greatest gift you will ever give your church is not better strategy. It’s your own inner transformation. Emotional health isn’t a side issue. It’s leadership. Listen in. Learn more about our School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership: 👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/school Download the “8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness” ebook: 👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness Emotional health isn’t optional. It’s essential. Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    32 min

  8. Feb 17

    Why Some Churches Thrive and Others Split

    Why do churches with sincere faith, gifted leaders, and strong theology still split? In this powerful episode of the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, Pete Scazzero exposes a hard truth many leaders have experienced but rarely name: church fractures are rarely about doctrine or vision—they are about formation. Drawing from decades of pastoral leadership and personal failure, Pete explains why spiritual maturity without emotional maturity is unsustainable. Churches don’t split because people don’t love Jesus. They split because leaders and communities lack the emotionally healthy skills needed to love one another well under pressure, conflict, disappointment, and power dynamics. This episode explores why skills like incarnational listening, clarifying expectations, understanding how family history shapes leadership, and engaging in clean conflict are essential for healthy culture. Pete shares stories from his own leadership journey, including a painful church split that could have been prevented if these skills had been in place. If you’re a pastor or leader longing to build a church culture that thrives—not just for a season, but for generations—this episode offers wisdom, hope, and a clear next step forward. 👇 Explore more at emotionallyhealthy.org 📅 Join our next webinar: emotionallyhealthy.org/webinar Learn more about the EH Global Leader Conference 2026: emotionallyhealthy.org/conference

    32 min
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4.8
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663 Ratings

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Many pastors and church leaders today feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated that their churches don't seem to be making mature disciples. The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast explores the paradigms and practices leaders need to transform their church culture and multiply deeply changed disciples.

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