The Pastor's Table

• Redefining Identity: Elizabeth Bair on Navigating The Temptation of "Proving" (Part 2) | PT 129

  What happens when your gender, age, and relationship status seem to speak louder than your call? In this episode, Pastor Elizabeth Bair returns to The Pastor’s Table to reflect on the quiet tension of pastoral identity, learning to relax into the authority God has given, and why she's not chasing titles, but transformation.🎙️ In This Episode:The burden of “proving yourself” in ministry as a young womanSingleness and the myth of being “incomplete” in church cultureWhen call becomes confirmation: living into the identity God speaksLearning to lead with grace when you're underestimated⏱️ Timestamps:03:00 – Proving yourself vs. resting in your call07:00 – The “triple threat”: young, single, female pastor13:00 – Finding spiritual authority in the midst of critique20:00 – When ministry fits “like a glove”27:00 – What Gen Z pastors wish older leaders knew🧭 Takeaway:God doesn’t define you by what others see as limitations. He calls you by name. That is enough.

  --------  

  32:23

  --------

  32:23
• Lonely But Called: Elizabeth Bair on Ministry and Loneliness (Part 1) | PT 128

  What happens when you follow your calling, only to find yourself profoundly alone? In this episode, youth pastor Elizabeth Bair opens up about stepping into ministry at age 22, navigating life in rural Michigan, and wrestling with loneliness as a single, young woman in a church leadership role. Her honesty is both refreshing and deeply relatable for pastors who feel isolated or unseen.🎙️ In This Episode:Why Elizabeth almost ran from her callingThe hidden costs of ministry that no one talks aboutWhat to do when your prayers for community go unansweredHow Propel and community theater became lifelines of grace⏱️ Timestamps:03:00 – The surprising moment she accepted her call07:00 – Moving in with her grandmother10:00 – Confessing loneliness and finding lifelines17:00 – God’s unexpected answer through art and community23:00 – The cost of being a woman in ministry28:00 – Age bias and the challenge of pastoral authority🔗 Learn more about Propel Cohorts at https://cohorts.propelwomen.org/💡 Takeaway:Ministry can be lonely, but you are not alone. God often brings community in unexpected places, and you don’t have to carry the weight of your calling by yourself.

  --------  

  32:14

  --------

  32:14
• From Burnout to Belonging: Paul Dazet on Vulnerability, Healing, and the Slow Work of God (Part 2) | PT 127

  What if the secret to church health isn’t strategy, but vulnerability?In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Pastor Paul Dazet opens up about pastoring through cancer, exhaustion, and loss. He found these limitations became a surprising gateway to renewal. With honesty and humility, Paul describes how letting go of performance gave birth to a church culture rooted in healing, authenticity, and radical grace.🎙️ In This Episode:The impact of pastoring a small church after leading a growing oneHow vulnerability—not charisma—transformed his congregationWhy confession and emotional honesty are spiritual practicesWhat happens when safety becomes the culture, not just the sermon⏱️ Timestamps:01:20 – Embracing limits and learning to love without pretense04:00 – Deconstruction, reconstruction, and spiritual honesty07:30 – Mystical moments and learning outside the institution10:00 – Pastoring alongside his daughter in the same town13:00 – A new kind of church culture: vulnerability and authenticity16:00 – Unexpected growth rooted in emotional safety19:00 – A theology of confession and communal healing26:00 – A beautiful mess: letting go of performance28:00 – Health limitations and spiritual clarity30:00 – Writing, Substack, and the ministry of centering prayer💡 Takeaway:Church doesn’t have to be big and perfect community. Paul’s story is a reminder that when pastors lead from a place of vulnerability and honesty, the Spirit does work no strategy could accomplish. This is a vision of ministry where weakness is not a liability, it’s the doorway to healing.

  --------  

  33:44

  --------

  33:44
• When Church Growth Breaks Down: Paul Dazet on Cancer, Burnout, and Rethinking Success (Part 1) | PT 126

  What if success in ministry is what’s breaking you?In Part 1 of this compelling conversation, Paul Dazet joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to reflect on his unexpected path to faith, his climb through the ranks of church leadership, and the moment it all came undone. From a picnic table conversion to the painful fallout of cancer and burnout, Paul shares what it took to stop pretending—and start pastoring with honesty.🎙️ In This Episode:Why Paul faked his first altar call—and what finally made it realThe pressure to perform in a results-driven church cultureHow cancer forced him to reexamine his identity and callingLeaving the “dream church” to shepherd a smaller, healthier community⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 – Welcome & Paul’s early background03:00 – Growing up unchurched and marrying a pastor’s daughter06:00 – Faking a conversion to impress others09:00 – Real surrender on a roadside picnic table12:00 – Falling in love with Scripture and community16:00 – The business mindset in church leadership20:00 – Ministry growth, cancer diagnosis, and burnout25:00 – The personal toll of unresolved pain28:00 – Leaving behind platform for presence💡 Takeaway:Paul’s story is a mirror for every pastor who has felt the gap between ministry success and soul health. Sometimes healing begins not in doing more—but in finally being honest about what’s breaking.

  --------  

  33:38

  --------

  33:38
• Hospice, Presence, and Pastoral Tenderness: A Conversation on Sacred Moments | PT 125

  Read Tara Beth's substack here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-163159975 How do pastors hold space when words fall short?In this deeply personal and reflective episode, Tara Beth Leach reads from her Substack essay, “The Sacred Threshold That is Hospice,” sharing the journey of walking with her mother through dementia and hospice. Joined by co-host Mark Quanstrom, they unpack the theology of presence, the temptation to “preach things pretty,” and the grace found in simply showing up when life unravels.🎙️ In This Episode:Tara Beth reads her powerful essay on hospice and her mother’s declineMark and Tara Beth reflect on the role of pastoral presence in seasons of sorrowThe danger of escapist theology and the invitation to stay with sufferingHow the incarnation shapes our understanding of holy moments at the end of life⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction to the episode01:08 – Tara Beth reads “The Sacred Threshold That is Hospice”09:10 – Reflection on writing, presence, and resisting tidy theology12:00 – How pastoral care sanctifies suffering18:00 – Blessing, the Beatitudes, and ministry at the margins21:00 – A story about Jack Puckett and a glimpse of heaven24:00 – Prayers, hospice, and moments of clarity28:00 – Grace alone and the stripping away of self-sufficiency31:00 – Final reflections on presence, sorrow, and God’s mercy💡 Takeaway:The holiest moments in ministry are often quiet, unspectacular, and full of grief. But in the hospice room, at the deathbed, and in seasons of deep loss, pastors embody the presence of Christ—not by fixing, but by staying. This is the sacred gift of showing up.

  --------  

  32:26

  --------

  32:26

More Religion & Spirituality podcasts

Trending Religion & Spirituality podcasts

About The Pastor's Table