Best Marilee Davis Podcasts (2025)

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When Time Becomes Our Boss (featuring Andrew Hartman) 30:08

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3d ago30:08

30:08

At some point in ministry, we start confusing busyness for faithfulness. We tell ourselves that exhaustion is just the cost of obedience - that being needed, stretched thin, and constantly available somehow means we’re doing it right. But deep down, we know something’s wrong. In this episode of Life After Ministry, Matt Davis sits down with his lon…

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Leaving Before You See What's Next (featuring Brad Gray & Brad Nelson) 47:03

10d ago47:03

47:03

Most pastors imagine ministry as a lifelong calling, until something shifts - slowly, painfully, or all at once. In this episode, Brad Gray and Brad Nelson share their unfiltered stories of leaving pastoral ministry, wrestling through uncertainty, and discovering the faithful presence of God in seasons where nothing made sense. Their journeys revea…

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The Fourth-Quarter Question (featuring Dr. Nathan Baxter) 37:11

17d ago37:11

37:11

Dr. Nathan Baxter loved ten hours of his job. Those one-on-ones with staff fueled him. The rest slowly emptied him. Naming that truth started a two-year journey out of a role he’d held for decades. He didn’t abandon ministry. He changed vehicles so his calling could breathe again.In this conversation Nathan walks through a practical runway. He set …

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Real-Time Grace at the Speed of Jesus (featuring Duncan Robinson) 47:30

28d ago47:30

47:30

When the role that once fit like a second skin begins to suffocate, what do you do? For Duncan Robinson, it meant stepping away. No scandal. No collapse. Just honesty and courage to say, “I need to sit down and be fed.” That decision took him from church staff to radio hosting, from the pulpit to row three, and eventually back into ministry with a …

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A Christian Attorney on Ending Well (featuring John Melcon) 45:38

1M ago45:38

45:38

Ministry employment isn’t just HR. It’s covenant community, stewardship, and public witness. In this episode, attorney and former ministry leader John Melcon explains how churches and nonprofits can handle staff transitions without abandoning their values or ignoring real risks. John shares his own sudden exit from a director role in Christian high…

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Building Mental Fitness in Ministry (featuring Vineet Rajan) 37:20

1M ago37:20

37:20

Quiet fatigue rarely announces itself. It hums under the surface until a crisis forces a decision. In this conversation, Marine veteran and Forte co-founder Vineet Rajan reframes care for leaders as mental fitness - a proactive, daily practice that keeps pastors and nonprofit teams clear-headed, resilient, and ready. We contrast mental fitness with…

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The Silent Cost of Transitions on Ministry Wives (featuring Kristen Joy Humiston) 54:50

2M ago54:50

54:50

When termination happens behind a closed door, the impact lands in the kitchen, the car line, and the kids’ bedrooms. In this episode, pastor’s wife Kristen Joy Humiston tells the story of being shut out of the room, hearing “you’re done here,” and driving home past the houses of those who voted yes. Matt and Marilee name what many spouses carry in…

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Finding Significance Again (featuring Joshua Gordon) 1:06:10

2M ago1:06:10

1:06:10

When a beloved role ends, identity gets loud. In this candid conversation, Joshua Gordon traces his journey from ministry-adjacent entrepreneur to a surprising new assignment after his business collapsed in COVID. A trusted friend’s hard words, deep prayer, and patient community became “spiritual physio” that restored his sense of self in Christ. W…

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Leaving Willow, Finding Wilderness (featuring Steve Carter) 49:56

2M ago49:56

49:56

By Matt & Marilee Davis

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Why Ministry Leaders Don’t Talk About Retirement (featuring Gabe Pelphrey) 36:50

2M ago36:50

36:50

Many pastors find themselves at the end of their ministry career unable to retire - not because they lack calling, but because they lack financial security. Churches often avoid the money conversation, leaving leaders stuck in the pulpit longer than they should be. In this episode, financial strategist Gabe Pelphrey opens the curtain on why retirem…

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How the ECFA Is Redefining Care for Church Leaders (featuring Jake Lapp) 41:08

2M ago41:08

41:08

Behind every thriving ministry is a foundation you can’t always see - standards, accountability, and trust. Without them, the most passionate vision can unravel overnight. In this episode of Life After Ministry, ECFA’s Jake Lapp explains why accountability matters not just for auditors and boards but for pastors, leaders, and anyone entrusted with …

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Why Ministry Needs a Mental Health Strategy (featuring Laura Howe) 44:40

3M ago44:40

44:40

What happens when the very act of caring for others leaves you depleted? Laura Howe, founder of Hope Made Strong, knows firsthand the toll of compassion fatigue. From her own season of burnout came a global movement equipping churches to address mental health with wisdom and grace. In this conversation, Laura shares her personal journey from exhaus…

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Deeply Loved: Why Empathy Is Oxygen for the Soul (featuring Bill & Kristi Gaultiere) 47:31

3M ago47:31

47:31

What if the missing piece in your leadership is not more strategy but more empathy? Bill and Kristi Gaultiere say empathy is oxygen for the soul, and many leaders are gasping without realizing it. They join Matt to unpack how Jesus models secure attachment with the Father and how we can receive and reflect that love in daily life. Bill and Kristi n…

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Reflecting on Season Four: A Journey of Growth 17:29

3M ago17:29

17:29

Sixty episodes. More than 70,000 downloads. And countless stories of leaders who’ve walked through suffering, loss, and transition - and discovered God’s faithfulness in the middle of it all. In this season finale, Matt Davis pauses to look back on the lessons of Season Four. From transformational suffering to leadership in crisis, from the wildern…

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Starting Scared: Why You're More Ready Than You Think (featuring Holly Tate) 33:32

3M ago33:32

33:32

What if waiting until you’re ready keeps you from ever starting? In this episode of Life After Ministry, Matt Davis sits down with Holly Tate, founder of The Ready Network, to talk about leadership, courage, and stepping into the unknown. Holly shares her own story of transition - from years at Vanderbloemen, to joining Leadr, to launching her own …

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Ministry Transitions Nobody Prepares You For (featuring Tim Stevens) 36:10

4M ago36:10

36:10

Every ministry transition comes with both a push and a pull. Sometimes you’re drawn toward a new calling. Other times you simply know you can’t stay. For Tim Stevens, those moments have shaped four decades of leadership in the church - and given him a front-row seat to hundreds of leaders navigating their own endings and beginnings. In this convers…

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Absolute Best Practices of Nonprofit Boards (featuring Dr. Michael Anthony) 1:01:20

4M ago1:01:20

1:01:20

What if the health of your ministry depends more on your board than you think? Dr. Michael Anthony has spent 40 years in boardrooms - as a member, chair, consultant, and C-suite leader - and he’s seen what works and what breaks ministries apart. In this candid conversation, Dr. Anthony unpacks common mistakes boards make, the unseen cost of poor go…

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Positioned for This: Succession, Calling, and the Next Chapter (featuring Ron Henry) 29:52

4M ago29:52

29:52

What happens when a leader transitions not just into a new role - but into their calling? In this episode, Matt Davis introduces Ron Henry, the newly appointed Chief Succession Officer at Ministry Transitions. Ron brings decades of experience in executive placement and career development, but his deeper calling? Helping leaders find where God wants…

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Balancing the Business Brain and the Pastoral Heart (featuring Dave Fletcher) 35:27

4M ago35:27

35:27

What do scuba diving, salary spreadsheets, and severance packages have in common? According to David Fletcher - everything. In this episode, Matt sits down with the founder of xPastor and longtime executive pastor, David Fletcher, to talk about the messy, complicated, and deeply human work of leadership transitions in the church. They unpack the re…

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"Ministry Didn't End, It Just Moved" (featuring Josh Taylor) 36:06

5M ago36:06

36:06

What if the scariest thing about leaving ministry wasn’t the loss of your job - but the loss of your identity? In this episode, Matt sits down with Josh Taylor, former executive pastor turned chief marketing officer, who opens up about what it’s really like to step off the platform and into the unknown. From twelve years of trusted leadership in a …

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Faithly and the Future of Ministry Connection (featuring Alicia Lee) 35:20

5M ago35:20

35:20

Alicia Lee didn’t leave ministry. She left Wall Street. After nearly two decades at Goldman Sachs, Alicia was managing a massive trading floor and rubbing shoulders with IPO titans. She loved the fast pace. She was good at it. And then God pulled the plug. A missed promotion became a divine pivot - and what followed was not a sabbatical, but a star…

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Redeployed, Not Retired (featuring Jon Talbert) 51:52

5M ago51:52

51:52

What do you do when ministry success comes at the cost of your soul? In this episode, we sit down with Jon Talbert - pastor, coach, and co-founder of Forte - to talk about the quiet unraveling that often happens behind the scenes in leadership. Jon has led at the highest levels of church and nonprofit work, but somewhere along the way, he realized …

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The Way of Interruption (featuring Bill Simmons) 41:14

9M ago41:14

41:14

Bill Simmons thought he was in control - until a child soldier in the Congo held him at gunpoint. In that moment, as the AK-47 clicked into place, Bill realized the terrifying truth: control was an illusion. Years later, as the CEO of a global nonprofit, he faced a different kind of pressure - leading an organization, carrying the weight of a missi…

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Can You Lead While Struggling? (featuring Matthew & Joanna Raabsmith) 33:34

9M ago33:34

33:34

Matthew had been hiding a secret for years. A secret that was growing, festering, and slowly creating a wedge in his marriage. He was a pastor. A leader. A man who thought he had it under control - until he didn’t. Until Joanna asked him the one question he had spent years avoiding. In that moment, everything unraveled. Their marriage. Their minist…

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The Kingdom Principle of Transformational Suffering (featuring Bryan Elliott) 50:08

10M ago50:08

50:08

What do you do when life shatters around you? When everything you built - your family, your future, your faith - feels like it’s slipping through your fingers? Bryan Elliott knows suffering intimately. A tragic accident left his brother in a vegetative state. Addiction nearly destroyed his daughters. A brutal murder stole one of them forever. His b…

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A New Conversation on Collective Church Trauma (featuring Kayleigh Clark) 40:19

10M ago40:19

40:19

Episode Summary The church is supposed to be a place of healing. But what happens when it’s the source of the hurt? Too often, we hear stories of toxic leadership, forced terminations, and broken congregations. And yet, no one wants to talk about it - not in the pulpit, not in the pews. The result? Wounds that never heal, pastors who burn out, and …

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Coached Off Staff: Seeking Reconciliation After Transition (featuring Jonathan Carone) 38:39

10M ago38:39

38:39

Stepping out of ministry can feel like stepping into a free fall. For Jonathan Carone, leaving his church staff role wasn’t just a career transition—it was a journey of unraveling identity, reconciling relationships, and rediscovering purpose. In this episode of Life After Ministry, Jonathan shares his raw and honest story of being “coached off sta…

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Live from North Carolina 45:12

10M ago45:12

45:12

A very special, very live, one off edition of the hit podcast but this time live and unleashed amongst the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina! We get to ask all your favourite Outlander questions back to you, the amazing Outlander fans. What's the strangest present David has received? Who's the prankster of the fandom? How long till breakfast? …

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Why Culture Matters (featuring Jenni Catron) 55:24

11M ago55:24

55:24

Episode Summary What if the missing piece to a thriving ministry isn’t more strategy or programs but healthier culture? In this episode of Life After Ministry, we dive deep with Jenni Catron, a renowned culture coach, to uncover the secret sauce behind teams that thrive. Together, we explore how great leaders don’t leave culture to chance - they bu…

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Season 3 Finale: What We Have Learned About Transition (featuring Bill Tom & Noe Rivera) 40:32

12M ago40:32

40:32

Episode Summary: In this special episode of the Life After Ministry Podcast, Matt Davis, Bill Tom, and Noe Rivera - the founders of Pastoral Transitions - take listeners behind the scenes of their work, sharing insights into the emotional and practical challenges pastors face during ministry transitions. From navigating grief and burnout to finding…

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New Soil, New Roots - Part Two (featuring Brian Fisher) 28:36

1y ago28:36

28:36

Why is it that modern churches seem so successful in introducing people to Jesus but struggle to lead them into a life of true transformation? Brian Fisher doesn’t hold back as he has done a deep dive on how there is something missing in the church experience: a failure to address the deeper stages of discipleship. Drawing from his own journey thro…

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New Soil, New Roots - Part One (featuring Brian Fisher) 27:24

1y ago27:24

27:24

What Happens When Ministry Ends? What do you do when the life you built for the kingdom - your identity, your mission, your livelihood - gets ripped away without explanation? For Brian Fisher, founder of a thriving pro-life nonprofit that saved over 18,000 lives, the answer wasn’t immediate. In 2020, he and his wife were forced out of the ministry …

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What's Your Story? (featuring Wes Gay) 41:10

1y ago41:10

41:10

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn more about the great work Wes Gay is doing through StoryBrand by going to: https://www.wesgay.com/ Episode Summary Imagine being just weeks away …

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What Happens After The Last Service? (featuring Matt McGee) 44:50

1y ago44:50

44:50

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn about the great work Matt McGee is doing through "The Last Service Podcast" by going to: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-last-service-p…

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Inside The Ministry Job Market (featuring Jordan Whilden) 26:15

1y ago26:15

26:15

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn more about the great work Jordan Whilden is doing through MinistryHub by going to: https://ministryhub.org/ Episode Summary What happens when you…

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When The Bottom Falls Out (featuring Jeremy Stalnecker) 33:16

1y ago33:16

33:16

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn more about the great work Jeremy Stalnecker is doing through the Mighty Oaks Foundation by going to: https://www.mightyoaksprograms.org/ Episode …

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Prioritizing Mental and Emotional Well-being in Ministry (featuring John Opalewski) 41:48

1y ago41:48

41:48

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn more about the great work John Opalewski is doing at Converge Coaching by going to: https://convergecoach.com/ Episode Summary Imagine achieving …

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There Is No "Everything Pastor" (featuring David Robinson) 31:26

1y ago31:26

31:26

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn more about the great work David Robinson is doing at Coaching 4 Marketplace by going to: https://coachdaverobinson.com/ What if you dedicated dec…

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Is There Life After Divorce? (featuring Kathey Batey) 32:52

1y ago32:52

32:52

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Learn more about the great work Kathey Batey is doing at Divorce Support Anonymous by going to: https://divorcesupportanonymous.com/ Episode Summary Im…

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Flourishing In Ministry (featuring Chris Adams) 35:44

1y ago35:44

35:44

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk In this episode of Life After Ministry, Chris Adams, Executive Director of Flourishing in Ministry, takes us deep into the heart of one of the biggest …

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The Disciple Dilemma (featuring Dennis Allen) 32:02

1+ y ago32:02

32:02

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk In Episode 34 of Life After Ministry, Dennis Allen, author of The Disciple Dilemma, shares his journey from a military and corporate background to addr…

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This Dream Is Not For You (featuring Wade Joye) 33:00

1+ y ago33:00

33:00

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk What do you do when God asks you to let go of the dream you’ve built your life around? Wade Joye, former worship leader at Elevation Church, shares his…

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The Measure of a Ministry (featuring Gene Getz) - Part 2 27:54

1+ y ago27:54

27:54

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk What happens when pastors hang on too long or find themselves suddenly cut off from ministry? In part two of our conversation with Gene Getz on Life Af…

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The Measure of a Ministry (featuring Gene Getz) - Part 1 31:24

1+ y ago31:24

31:24

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk What happens when a pastor knows it’s time to pass the baton? How do you handle transitions with grace, humility, and purpose? As we kick off this epis…

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8 Things Ministry Leaders Need In Transition (featuring Matt & Marilee Davis) 31:44

1+ y ago31:44

31:44

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Summary In this episode, Matt and Marilee Davis discuss eight things that ministry leaders need in their transition out of ministry. These include cons…

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I'm Not Dying In The Pulpit (featuring Dr. Toney Parks) 49:24

1+ y ago49:24

49:24

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Summary In this conversation, Pastor Toney Parks shares his journey from an unlikely candidate to becoming a pastor and his experiences growing up in B…

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Trusting The Good Shepherd (featuring Jon Morrison) 39:16

1+ y ago39:16

39:16

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Summary Jon Morrison shares his journey from vocational ministry to entrepreneurship. He discusses his call to ministry, the catalyst that brought him …

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Hope, Healing, and Health After Ministry (featuring Alan Ramsey) 34:54

1+ y ago34:54

34:54

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Summary Alan Ramsey shares his journey of transitioning out of vocational ministry and into a new career. He discusses the challenges and emotions he f…

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The Wilderness Paradox (featuring Ian & Sharalee Smith) 43:20

1+ y ago43:20

43:20

For more information about the work we do at Pastoral Transitions, visit us at https://pastoraltransitions.com/ To book a confidential call with our team, go to: https://pastoraltransitions.com/talk Summary In this conversation, Ian and Sharalee Smith share their journey of transitioning in and out of ministry and the lessons they have learned alon…