The Stewardship of Soul Care (Featuring Bill Dogterom)

What if our weariness as pastors isn’t a sign of failure, but rather a sign that we’re measuring success by the wrong metric?

In this episode, Bryan Rouanzoin and Bill Dogterom seek to reconcile Jesus’ promise of an “easy yoke” with the pervasive weariness so many pastors experience today. Bill shares how his own weariness sparked a life-changing shift from a church-growth mindset to a formation mindset. He and Bryan discuss the three spiritual practices that help “keep the yoke easy,” why he intentionally distinguishes his personal spirituality from his professional spirituality, and how he recognizes which parts of his soul need care.

Bill Dogterom is professor emeritus in the School of Theology & Ministry at Vanguard University. He has served in pastoral ministry for more than 25 years, including as senior pastor of Foothill Christian Center in California. He has also been involved in pastoral ministry in Canada and the United States.

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Mentioned in this conversation:

Sabbath As Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by Walter BrueggemannThe Sabbath by Abraham Joshua HeschelWorking the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity by Eugene H. PetersonThe Practice of the Presence of God by Brother LawrencePrayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard FosterPrayer by Hans Urs von BalthasarThe Interior Castle by Teresa of AvilaRuth BurrowsEvenlyn Underhill