This week in the inaugural episode of The Pastorate, Adam Browett – Pastor of Calvary Temple in Winnipeg, Manitoba – joins us on the podcast for a conversation on pastoral ministry. Adam shares about: What Adam’s been learning recently, as a naturally gifted speaker, about continuing to develop his craft of preaching, Adam’s journey discerning tran…

Since its inception over four years ago, the Canadian Church Leaders Network (CCLN) has served thousands of pastors through its podcast, monthly newsletter, cohort-based programs, and pastors retreats and gatherings. This week, Jason Ballard, host of the Canadian Church Leaders Podcast and Executive Director of CCLN sits down with Chris Price to di…

We've got a special episode for all of you this week. The CCLN Team is working hard on a special project that will be officially announced with the October 7th episode on the podcast, but we didn't want to leave you high and dry this week. In 2022, we had Keith Taylor speak to a group of Pastors as part of our first cohort based program, The Church…

The work of renewal in a church is slow, costly, and long-term. It requires pastors who consistently say, “I can’t do this alone,” and who return to the feet of Jesus, the One making all things new. This week, Father James Mallon, Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in beautiful Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, joins us on the podcast to share his heart …

As pastors we want to run the race well and finish more in love with Jesus and with His church than when we started. Pastors that have been both fruitful and faithful set a beautiful example for what longevity in ministry can look like. This week, Dan Cochrane, Pastor of CrossRoads Church in Red Deer, Alberta, joins us on the podcast to share insig…

What does community look like when it’s rooted in love and grounded in the realities of life? How do we grab hold of a vision for biblical unity within our congregations and learn to live in the tensions that come with knowing and loving others well? This week, Rich Villodas, author of The Deeply Formed Life and Pastor of New Life Fellowship, joins…

The church growth movement of the 20th-century has left a lasting impact on our perception of the Church today. What can we learn from its successes and shortcomings, and how can we move forward in the context of our post-everything society? This week, Daniel Im from Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton joins us on the podcast for a second time Danie…

Every leader faces moments when vision dims and passion wavers. How do we sustain a vision for long term leadership and be able to lead with joy in our hearts and conviction in our steps? This week, Shaila Visser from Alpha joins us on the podcast for a second time to share insights from her extensive leadership experience. Shaila shares about: Sus…

What is unique about your church that you bring to the broader body of Christ? And, what from the broader body of Christ can you draw from and be strengthened by? Chrishan Jeyaratnam joined us this week from Hillsong East Coast where he and his wife Danielle serve as Lead Pastors. Chrishan shared with us about his family’s move from Perth to New Yo…

How can the people of God inhabit our cities - in workplaces, commutes & classrooms in a way that’s coloured by the hope of God’s kingdom breaking in? This week Tyler Staton and Pete Hughes join us on the podcast in a conversation that was originally a part of one of our Emerging Leaders Lab cohort sessions. Tyler and Pete share about: Finding Rhyt…

38 years into ministry, Helen Burns speaks of the Church with love in her voice and delight in the work God is doing among His people today. Joining us on the podcast for a second time, Helen is a voice of encouragement as she reflects on what she has learned along the way. From planting Relate Church with her husband John in 1986, to the process o…

Letting Jesus shepherd us into renewed courage and contentment when our vision for success has been broken is a wrestle many of us are familiar with. It's a path that our guest this week, Evan Allnutt, has walked at different moments in his vocational journey. Through changing careers from teaching to ministry, taking on a Lead Pastor role at a new…

John Mark Comer joins us again for a conversation on why people in our congregations are gravitating towards spiritual formation right now, and how we can pastor people beyond conversion into deeper healing and sanctification in their walk with Christ. Jason and John Mark talk through what it’s like to pastor today, and how the cultural hostility p…

Mark Buchanan sits down with us again to explore everything from how storytelling forms us to our addiction to control. He articulates how narratives help us navigate the truths of life and our identity, emphasizing the significance of weaving hope-filled, gospel-rooted stories into the fabric of our cultural imagination. Throughout our conversatio…

How do we contextualize our churches to the neighbourhoods God has called us to? And how do you keep your heart healthy when people leave your church? In today’s episode with Tammy Giffen, lead pastor of Groundswell Church in Truro, Nova Scotia, we explore these questions and more from her journey in ministry. Tammy became a Christian through Alpha…

In this episode, Jason sits down with the pioneer of the Alpha Course and former Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton in London, Nicky Gumbel. Nicky shares about his journey of transitioning leadership at HTB after nearly two decades in the senior role, emphasizing the importance of healthy succession and not taking changes made by new leaders personally…

In this episode, Jason had a conversation with Jerry L. Sittser, a retired professor of theology from Whitworth University, renowned for his expertise in Christian spirituality and history. In this conversation, Jerry shares the relevance of early Christian practices in today's world and highlights the importance of the church embracing a new catec…

Change and the process of pruning are essential yet challenging aspects of personal growth and church life. Jonathan Smith understands this reality deeply, having navigated 30 years of church ministry and leadership. In this engaging conversation with Jason, Jonathan candidly shares his transformative journey, from the bold endeavor of planting a c…

Discipleship lies at the heart of the Christian journey, yet it often becomes compartmentalized within separate ministries or aspects of the Christian faith. Jeff Vanderstelt, with years of experience leading others in the way of Jesus and equipping the broader church through his writings, is now dedicated to mentoring pastors and leaders in gospel…

In this episode, Jason had the privilege of sitting down and having a conversation with his very first pastors—Angel and Durwin Gray, who played a crucial role in shaping his pastoral imagination during his formative years. Angel and Durwin have been serving as pastors at Hillside Church for 25 years, and they generously shared with us the joys, ch…

This past year we gathered for a one day conference with pastors and leaders from across North America, collaborating with our friends at Practicing The Way. Together, we engaged in meaningful discussions on spiritual formation within the context of the local church. This full day gathering consisted of teaching and dialogue from John Mark Comer, K…

In this episode, Jason and Darren Herbold, President of The Alliance Canada, mine Darren’s eclectic ministry background which includes time in pastoral ministry, the business world and in the missionary field. Darren lets us into his own journey of wanting to be an active, not reluctant, follower of Jesus and all the places that posture took him. T…

Today, church planter and worship leader Evan Whickman joins us from Park Hill Church in sunny San Diego. In this conversation, Jason and Evan explore various themes, starting with Evan's personal journey of deconstructing and reconstructing his faith in Jesus, and the environments that helped him along the way. Together, they also unpack the conce…

Darrell Johnson, our record holder for “most interviews on the podcast” joins us to speak into the evolving landscape of pastoral ministry. Join Jason and Darrell as they explore themes like the art of preaching, going the distance in ministry and marriage, and to close, Darrell’s thoughts on the ancient ten commandments’ continued relevance in a m…

For this 30-minute episode, we're stepping away from our usual podcast format to dive deep into a topic that we know many pastors feel stuck or uncomfortable in – the art of communicating about giving and generosity to a church. Our friends at Generis are passionate about helping pastors nurture a culture of biblical generosity and stewardship in y…

No matter where you fall on your church's organizational chart, we believe that this conversation with Ebonie around thoughtful discipleship in the youth space will serve you. In their time together, Ebonie and Jason explore how the church can play a vital role in nurturing a Jesus-centered joy among young people. They also touch on topics like con…

In this episode, we deviate from our typical format of interviewing a pastor, to host a conversation with Pieter Valk from Equip on how the Church can live into loving and serving the LGBT+ community. Through conversations with pastors across Canada and beyond, we know that this topic holds a lot of questions and tensions for the pastor. To speak t…

In this episode, join Jason Ballard as he interviews Jason Matta, the senior pastor of Hope Church Toronto West. This dynamic community, rooted in the gospel, unwavering in proclaiming the Word, and deeply reliant on prayer, has been serving the people of Toronto since 2012. In this episode, we explore Jason's story, stopping to discuss themes like…

It's not everyday that we have an Archbishop on the podcast... In this conversation, Jason and Archbishop Michael Miller dive into the story of how he ended up in such a prominent position in the Catholic Church, and the insights he's gleaned on church leadership along the way. Archbishop Miller generously shares his experiences overseeing seventy …

One of the most requested topics for the podcast has been preaching. Here it finally is… a long-awaited conversation on preaching featuring a friend of the podcast – pastor, preacher, and author Chris Price. After delving into Chris' captivating journey to faith, Jason and Chris devote the majority of their discussion to the art of preaching. Speci…

St. Paul’s Bloor Street, the largest Anglican Church in Toronto, carries a 180-year-old history of ministry to one of Canada’s greatest cities. Leading this diverse and expanding community is Bishop Jenny Andison. Join Jason and Jenny as they delve into her eclectic story – a life of ministry that covers the world, including places such as Tokyo, L…

For this interview, we welcome Jonny Hughes, an English pastor and close friend of Jason's, joining us all the way from Nottingham, England. Jonny's journey as a pastor began in London and Southern California, where he served in various churches for nearly a decade. In 2016, along with his wife, Amy, Jonny made the significant move to Nottingham to…

In a span of just a few decades, Montreal underwent a remarkable transformation, shedding its once-revered title of "city of a hundred steeples" to become one of Canada's most secularized urban centers. Today only 0.7% of Montreal's population identifies as evangelical Christians. Nevertheless, amidst this trend of secularization, God is building H…

In just a few decades, Montreal has undergone a remarkable transformation, evolving from the once-revered "city of a hundred steeples" to becoming one of Canada's most secularized urban centres. As a result, the percentage of Montreal's population identifying as evangelical Christians stands today at a mere 0.7%. However, despite this trend of secu…

In 2020, John Lamos sat down next to his wife Jessie after a long day at the church, and she expressed with great fatigue and honesty: “John, if this is what ministry is like, I can’t keep doing this.” John was leading on reserves at the time — he knew it and so did his family. He was lonely, restless and well into a trajectory towards complete bur…

What might it look like for us to match the complexity of our time with courageous and creative responses for discipleship? Join pastor and thought leader Mark Sayers as he seeks to answer this question amongst many others in this long-form conversation for pastors. In this interview, Mark marries a thoughtful dissection of felt, current issues aro…

Into a revolving door of senior pastors, Ken Shigematsu arrived to lead a struggling community in Vancouver, BC by the name of Tenth Church in 1996. After over two decades, Ken is still at the helm, having led Tenth to become one of the largest and most diverse city centre churches in Canada. But you’ll notice, Ken doesn’t exude an ambitious, pione…

Albert Chu has spent decades leading in the same community, in the same area, with the same mission – creating room for people to discover and grow as disciples of Jesus. With his pastoral experience planting and leading a multisite community, alongside his missional passion as the current Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership, Albert off…

When Jason, Chris and Jeremy set out to plant the Way Church in 2020, they found in the Vancouver Church many allies – one of them being Brett Landry. With Brett’s own history of planting in one of Canada’s most secularized cities and his desire to see more life-giving churches join its neighbourhoods, Brett offered deep wisdom and encouragement. F…

Studies have shown that a pastor typically stays at one church for an average of 4 years. For Dr. Henry Schorr however, that is far from the case. With 43 years of pastoring under his belt at Centre Street Church alone, Henry sets an incredible example of both faithfulness and fruitfulness in the pastorate. In today’s episode, Jason and Henry talk …

Have you ever wondered if anyone reads those New Testaments that you can sometimes find in hotel bedside tables? Well, that is exactly how Jess DiSabatino’s parents came to know Jesus… and her life was never the same. In today’s episode, Jason and Jess move stage by stage through Jess’ story of her family coming to Christ, how she ended up in the p…

Right alongside the name Billy Graham when it comes to discussions on evangelism, is the name Luis Palau. Luis was a passionate evangelist who preached in over 80 different countries, and saw millions of people come to know Jesus before his death in March of 2021. Carrying forward the spirit of Luis’ ministry is his son Kevin Palau. Kevin, who now …

Over decades in the church, Ross has seen pastors pass the preaching test, and even the pastoral test, but seen less pass the character test than one would want. Today Ross is giving much of his time seeking to understand how pastors can cultivate holiness in the busyness of ministry and be a part of the 15% who finish well in the pastorate. Join R…

In October, we welcomed 100+ youth pastors representing over 8,000 students to Vancouver, BC for our very first Canadian Youth Pastor Summit. 3 days with some of Canada’s best youth pastors, all gathering for the sake of the next generation. These are some of our favorite moments from our time together. In this episode, you’ll hear from: Youth mini…

In October, we welcomed 100+ youth pastors representing over 8,000 students to Vancouver, BC for our very first Canadian Youth Pastor Summit. 3 days with some of Canada’s best youth pastors, all gathering for the sake of the next generation. These are some of our favorite moments from our time together. In this episode, you’ll hear from: Youth mini…

Though the major cities in Canada seem to have a sort of gravitational pull to them, there is a deep need for smaller towns in our country to see church planting, multiplication and revitalization. Canada needs more pastors like Nathan Weselake who have a big Kingdom vision for the smaller places in our nation. Join Nathan and Jason as they discuss…

With Jesus’ words living deep in her heart, Joyce Rees is known as someone who calls the Church and Her leaders to the main things. To sit down with Joyce is to inevitably talk about loving the poor, becoming a servant, contemplating a day where we will stand before the Lord. Join Joyce and Jason as they discuss those themes as well as the impact J…

We have had quite a few conversations with Darrell Johnson now, and it still feels like we are just scratching the surface of what the Lord has taught him in his 50+ years of ministry. For this special episode, we interviewed Darrell live and online in front of pastors from across Canada, using the questions they submitted. In this conversation, Da…

After almost 100 episodes, Mike happens to be the first pastor/body-builder that has graced the podcast … and he did not disappoint. With almost 20 years at the same church (North Pointe Community Church), and a story marked with unimaginable suffering, Mike is an incredible example of faithfulness and perseverance. In this conversation, Mike and J…