8: Dr David Rice: Grief, Trauma, Transition in Ministry

May 7, 2023

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Today I talked to Dr. David Rice about his journey into a pastoral role that followed the retirement of a beloved pastor of 33 years. They asked for change, but resisted, while shortly into this position David's father passed away. He learned that change is grief. He stayed for 8 years and left shortly after Covid shutdowns in America subsided. He had no job lined up, was emotionally spent, and moved his whole family to Oxford to weather the liminal season. The breakdown of today's conversation is as follows:

0:48 Introductions
3:20 Church Community in denial of grief
6:31 Loss of Father and personal grief
9:21 Emotional Prosperity Gospel and space to grieve
11:07 Church decline, transition, and grief process
14:43 Power Broker, leadership, boundaries, restraining orders
19:09 Church planting vs Revitalizing
22:51 leaving my pastoral role, skipped sabatical
27:06 Covid, Burnout, Everything Changed
30:49 Trauma, Loss, and Nervous System
36:01 pastoral transitions
40:38 Community, friendship, support outside church
42:18 Vocational Confidence, God’s presence, theological uncertainty
46:44 Liminality and Transformation
50:15 Expectations vs Reality
53:28 Befriending death, mortality, change
57:08 Power, Politics, Ideology, and Anxiety in the Church
1:01:11 Superheroes of the Apocalypse
1:03:18 Liminal Living
1:08:30 Conclusions

All Music for this episode is provided by Axeltree:
@axletree
Voiceover for this episode is provided by Play.ht

Sponsors
Quoir Square 2 Class: https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-2-next-steps-into-reconstruction (Promo code: Liminal for 10% off)

Kineo Center: https://www.thekineocenter.com/cohort (mention "Liminal" in Application for $100 off)

Monk Manual: https://monkmanual.com/LIMINAL (10% off all merchandise)

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