Ruth Haley Barton is founding president of the Transforming Center. She has been a student, a practitioner, a teacher and a leader in the area of Christian spirituality and spiritual formation for twenty years. A spiritual director, teacher and retreat leader, she is the author of:
- Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (InterVarsity Press, June, 2008)
- Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation (InterVarsity Press, 2006)
- Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence (InterVarsity Press, 2004)
- An Ordinary Day with Jesus: Experiencing the Reality of God in Your Everyday Life, co-authored with John Ortberg (Zondervan, 2002)
- Longing for More (InterVarsity Press, 2007)
- Equal to the Task: Men and Women in Partnership (InterVarsity Press, 1998)
- Ruth: Relationships that Bring Life (Shaw, 2001)
Ruth consults with leadership teams in church and organizational settings, providing teaching and guidance in the areas of spiritual formation, leadership development, and discernment at the leadership level. Ruth has served on the pastoral staff of several churches, including Willow Creek Community Church. She has taught as adjunct professor at Wheaton Graduate School, Northern Seminary, and Mars Hill Graduate School.
Ruth received her training in spiritual direction through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Bethesda, MD) under the guidance of Tilden Edwards, Rosemary Dougherty and Gerald May. Educated at Wheaton College (IL), Northern Seminary (Lombard, IL) and University of Loyola Institute for Pastoral Studies (Chicago), she's also a student of family systems theory as it relates to congregational life (Lombard Mennonite Peace Center). She has also studied the Enneagram with Russ Hudson of the Enneagram Institute.
The breadth of Ruth's study and learning in a variety of settings contributes to the strength of her teaching and writing. While she values all that she has gained from the teachers and institutions in which she has studied, this does not imply endorsement of everything taught in these environments. Ruth's teaching and writing has been most profoundly shaped by her commitment to "examine the Scriptures to see if these things are so." (Acts 17:11)
Contact Ruth at ruthbarton@thetransformingcenter.org
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