The Pastorate Podcast

Show Notes
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Heath’s Website
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Episode Description
On today's episode we welcome Heath Hardesty, Lead Pastor of Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, California, and author of All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World. Heath's journey into pastoral ministry began as a plumber's apprentice and eventually grew into an apprenticeship of a different kind, one where he learned to follow the call of Jesus and eventually to shepherd a local church.
This conversation traces Heath's story, from studying literature and theology, playing in bands, and apprenticing under his plumber father, before a moment of encounter through the Scripture stirred his heart toward a life in the pastorate. Jason and Heath explore Heath’s book All Things Together which offers a vision of Christian apprenticeship built on union, abiding, obeying, and imaging and they discuss why imagination shapes the way we inhabit the world, the role of story in a fragmented age, and what it means to re-inhabit reality in the way of Jesus.
In this episode you'll hear:
Heath's journey from a plumber's truck and a music career to the pastorate, 
How a moment under a sink, holding an orange-painted wrench like his father, became his inspiration for All Things Together, 
Why apprenticeship to Jesus is the essence of being human, not an optional "side quest" for mature Christians,
What disintegration looks like in our culture and in our souls, and why our age acts as an amplifier of fragmentation,
The role of story and imagination in helping people re-inhabit reality in the way of Jesus,
Why "technique" and efficiency are at odds with being stewards of the mysteries of God,
How the greatest gift a pastor brings to a congregation may simply be the person they are becoming.
For every pastor learning the slow craft of shepherding, this conversation offers a frame for the work, and a reminder that you, too, are an apprentice. May it encourage you wherever you're serving.

Show Notes:
First Assembly Church
Tehillah Worship
The Pastorate's City Meetups
Episode Notes:
In today's episode, Ben Johnson joins Jason for a conversation on pastoral stewardship, generational legacy, and what it looks like to lead a nearly century-old church into its next chapter. Ben is the Lead Pastor of First Assembly Calgary, a Pentecostal church planted 97 years ago that has helped birth many other Pentecostal congregations across both Calgary and western Canada. Together they trace the story of First Assembly, the 35-year-old Tehillah Mondays gathering, and the heart that First Assembly has for worship, prayer, and the next generation. 
Jason and Ben also explore the joy and weight of fathering young leaders, the family legacy that traces Ben's grandfather's salvation back to First Assembly's downtown building decades ago, and the formative season of revival at Christian Life Assembly in 1998. The conversation closes with Ben sharing First Assembly’s Vision 100, a stewardship-shaped initiative to double the impact of First Assembly in the next 100 years.
Ben and Jason explore:
The history and identity of First Assembly Calgary as a "mothering” and “fathering" church that has planted or helped plant many other Pentecostal churches in the city,
The 35-year story of Tehillah Mondays and how a single worship gathering has continued to serve generation after generation in Calgary,
What Ben learned by sitting with the saints of the church to discern God's specific purpose for a local congregation, and the role an eldership's fasting and prayer played in his transition,
Why First Assembly is next-generation focused, and how that shapes worship, budgets, staffing, and Sunday gatherings without losing the honor due to senior saints,
The cradle-to-college discipleship pathway, the Tehillah Schools for teenagers and adults, and how this has become the "farm team" for nearly all of First Assembly's staff,
What young staff and leaders actually need from a lead pastor,
First Assembly’s Vision 100 and stewarding the church toward its 100-year anniversary with a strategy to reach, revitalize, and reproduce in Calgary.
Partners
Contact John Wright at Generis for help cultivating a culture of generosity in your church.
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.

Show Notes
Mountainview Church
Jeremy’s Website
Northern Roads by Jeremy Norton
The Yukon Boys
Jeremy’s Instagram
The Pastorate’s City Meetups
Episode Description
In today’s conversation, Jason sits down with Jeremy Norton, lead pastor of Mountainview Church in Whitehorse, Yukon. Jeremy’s story is one of patience and faithful presence in a part of Canada that many people have never seen firsthand. From southern Ontario to Alaska, Alberta, and eventually the Yukon, Jeremy reflects on the road that led him to serve Canada’s north and the deep sense of calling that kept drawing him there.
Jason and Jeremy talk about the realities of pastoral ministry in Canada’s smaller and more remote contexts. Jeremy shares what it has meant to pastor in a place marked by cultural diversity, geographic isolation, and deep spiritual need, and how those realities have shaped his approach to leadership, preaching, and life in the church. He also reflects on the unique burdens many pastors carry in smaller churches and under-resourced communities, along with the creativity, resilience, and dependence on God those settings can draw out.
The conversation also explores the ways Jeremy’s life in the North has shaped him personally. Through hunting, fishing, and subsistence living Jeremy is uniquely attuned to God’s provision through creation and he shares about what it means to receive life with dependence and gratitude. Jason and Jeremy reflect on how life close to the land can deepen faith, and why a more grounded, embodied way of living may have something important to offer in an age marked by distraction and disembodiment.
In this episode you’ll hear:
Jeremy’s journey to Whitehorse and his call to pastoral ministry in the Yukon,
What ministry in a smaller, remote, and diverse context can teach us about pastoring,
Why Jeremy carries a burden for under-resourced pastors and smaller churches across Canada,
How hunting, fishing, and subsistence living have shaped his faith and spirituality,
What faithful leadership can look like outside the world of scale, platform, and visibility,
Why embodied Christian community may matter even more in an increasingly digital world.
Partners
Special thanks to the Canadian Bible Society for making this episode possible. We invite you to explore their ⁠Bible Course⁠ to help your church grow in Scripture engagement.
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.

Show Notes
Analog Church Book Giveaway
The Pastorate’s City Meetups
⁠Andy Crouch Conversation on Practicing the Way⁠
Jay Kim’s website
WestGate Church
Analog Church by Jay Kim
Analog Christian by Jay Kim
Listen, Listen, Speak by Jay Kim

Episode Details
In today’s episode, Jay Kim joins Jason for a conversation on pastoral ministry, spiritual formation, and what it means to follow Jesus faithfully in a world shaped by speed, distraction, and rapidly changing technology. Jay reflects on how digital culture is reshaping our imaginations, our communities, and even our understanding of what it means to be human.
Jay also speaks candidly about the personal cost of pastoral leadership. He shares the pain and formation that came through difficult ministry seasons, the relational complexity of stepping into senior leadership, and the grief that often accompanies pastoral vocation. Together, Jason and Jay discuss how pastors can resist the extremes of fear and uncritical acceptance of technological change, and instead offer their communities a grounded, human, Christ-centered vision of life together.
Jay and Jason explore:
Jay’s story of pastoral ministry, from teaching pastor to senior leadership, and the formative hardship of his years serving in Santa Cruz,
What it was like returning to WestGate as lead pastor, and the joy, grief, and relational complexity that can come with stepping into a new role,
Why pastors need honest friendships outside their immediate ministry context, especially when leadership feels isolating or painful,
How Silicon Valley has sharpened Jay’s thinking about discipleship, formation, and the deeper questions being raised by technology and AI,
Asking “what does it mean to be truly human, and how does Jesus show us the answer?” 
How pastors can respond to technological change without either fear or naïve optimism, and instead embody a slow, careful, non-anxious presence for their people,
The opportunity for the local church to become a deeply human, countercultural community in an increasingly artificial and polished world,
Why, in an age obsessed with scale, polish, and efficiency, one of the most powerful gifts pastors can offer is simple, flawed, embodied personhood.

Partners
Contact John Wright at Generis for help cultivating a culture of generosity in your church.
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.

In this conversation, Jason Ballard sits down with N.T. Wright, New Testament scholar, Anglican minister, and longtime teacher, to talk about the grand story of Scripture, the vocation of the scholar-pastor, and the unique hope that sustains weary leaders.
Tom reflects on his early sense of call, his lifelong commitment to holding together pastoral ministry and academic theology, and the deep joy of returning to Scripture over decades without losing wonder. He speaks candidly about the disorientation that can come through serious theological study, and offers wise, pastoral insight for those walking alongside students and pastors in seasons of theological questioning.
Jason and Tom also explore the central burden behind Tom’s recent book God’s Homecoming. They discuss why the biblical story is not ultimately about leaving earth for heaven, but about God coming to dwell with His people and renew all things. From Romans 8 to the Psalms, from the Sermon on the Mount to the road to Emmaus, Tom helps reframe the Christian hope as resurrection, new creation, and the healing of the world under the reign of the risen Christ.
Jason and Tom discuss:
Tom’s early sense of call and the path that led him into both parish ministry and academic theology,
Why the work of pastor and scholar belong together,
How deep study of Scripture can lead not to cynicism, but to renewed wonder,
How pastors can lovingly walk with people through seasons of theological disorientation,
Why learning to preach the whole story of Scripture matters so deeply,
The central vision behind God’s Homecoming and the Bible’s theme of God dwelling with His people,
The Psalms as a lifelong school of prayer,
Why Eastertide should be marked by joy, celebration, and embodied hope,
and a final word of encouragement for discouraged pastors.
This is a rich conversation for pastors, preachers, seminary students, and anyone longing to love Scripture more deeply, live more faithfully in the story of God, and find inspiration in the midst of ministry’s daily rhythms. 
Links & Resources
N.T. Wright Online
God’s Homecoming
Surprised by Hope
Partners
Special thanks to the Canadian Bible Society for making this episode possible. We invite you to explore their ⁠Bible Course⁠ to help your church grow in Scripture engagement.
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.