Centre-Out
A Christian Leadership Formation Journey
Ministry draws on more than what you know. It draws on who you are—especially when relationships become complicated, expectations compete and pressure begins to rise.
Centre‑Out is a 24-session formation journey for pastors, ministry workers and emerging leaders who want to grow in self-awareness, emotional maturity, relational wisdom, spiritual depth and sustainable leadership.
Learn to lead:
from identity rather than anxiety
from presence rather than performance
from faithful responsibility rather than the need to control every outcome
Become more grounded in who God has made you to be—and more thoughtful about how you lead in the realities of ministry.
Lead from a deeper centre.
Leadership formation for real ministry life
Centre-Out is not a collection of detached leadership ideas.
It is designed to be used in the middle of real ministry.
As you journey through the course, you will be invited to reflect on actual relationships, decisions, pressures and patterns from your own context.
A church.
A staff team.
A school.
A ministry.
A family.
A difficult conversation.
A responsibility that has become too heavy.
Rather than simply asking, “What should a good leader do?”, Centre-Out repeatedly asks:
What is happening within me, what is happening between us, and what might faithfulness look like here?
This course is not about teaching you ‘instant results’
It will help you take responsibility for the one person you can lead most directly:
yourself.
You will learn to:
recognise how anxiety affects your thinking and behaviour
understand recurring relational patterns
stay connected without losing yourself
communicate clearly without controlling the response
care without rescuing
make decisions without waiting for perfect certainty
lead through resistance and regression
receive limits without interpreting them as failure
build a sustainable pattern of ministry and life
What is included
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Each session contains teaching, Scripture, guided reflection and practical application.
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The curriculum develops intentionally from inner awareness to relational wisdom, spiritual formation, practical leadership and sustainability.
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Memorable tools and rhythms that participants can use well beyond the course.
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Each session includes the recurring rhythm:
I Notice • I Wonder • I Choose
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Participants work with real ministry situations rather than hypothetical leadership problems alone.
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Participants gradually build a living map of a ministry system and revisit it as they learn about trust, anxiety, triangles, responsibility, communication, decisions, regression and sustainability.
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Christian formation remains central rather than being added as a spiritual layer over a secular leadership program.
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The final movement helps participants identify what they will continue, change and release as they move beyond the course.
Books for the Journey
Centre-Out draws on trusted voices in Christian formation, emotional maturity and family systems thinking. Participants are encouraged to purchase the two core texts below, which we will return to throughout the course.
Ideally, you will read both books before beginning your Centre-Out journey. This will allow you to experience each author’s ideas in their original context and flow before we revisit key chapters, explore them more deeply and apply them to your own life and leadership.
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Jenny Brown, Growing Yourself Up, second edition
Jim Herrington, Trisha Taylor and R. Robert Creech, The Leader’s Journey, second edition
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Christopher Ash — Zeal Without Burnout
Ruth Haley Barton — Pursuing God’s Will Together
Ruth Haley Barton — Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership
Brené Brown — Daring Greatly
Edwin H. Friedman — A Failure of Nerve
Edwin H. Friedman — Generation to Generation
Kelly M. Kapic — You’re Only Human
Patrick Lencioni — The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Henri Nouwen — In the Name of Jesus
Henri Nouwen — The Wounded Healer
Parker J. Palmer — Let Your Life Speak
Eugene H. Peterson — The Contemplative Pastor
Ken Sande — The Peacemaker
Peter Scazzero — Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
Dallas Willard — Renovation of the Heart
COURSE RHYTHM
What each session includes
Most sessions follow a consistent rhythm.
Arrive
A Scripture reading and prayer help you become present to God, yourself and the work ahead.
Learn
Accessible teaching introduces one significant formation or leadership idea.
Notice
Guided questions help you recognise how the material appears in your own life and leadership.
Practise
A practical exercise helps you apply the session to a real situation.
Integrate
You identify one faithful next step rather than attempting to change everything at once.
Continue
A between-session practice helps formation move from insight into everyday life.
COURSE LANGUAGE
The questions you will learn to sit with
By the end of the course, these questions should feel increasingly familiar:
What am I noticing?
What am I assuming?
What else might be true?
What part of my story is present?
What is happening in the wider system?
Am I being invited into a triangle?
Am I over-functioning?
What belongs to me?
How can I remain defined and connected?
What would I say if I were not trying to control the response?
Is this urgency or wisdom?
What is the most faithful decision available today?
What do I need to receive, reorder or release?
What can now be entrusted to God?
Your journey through Centre-Out.
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Begin by attending to the person who leads.
Explore self-awareness, emotional reactions, family-of-origin patterns and the capacity to remain grounded in Christ.
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Learn to recognise anxiety, triangles, over-functioning, trust and conflict within interconnected emotional systems.
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Explore attachment, boundaries, spiritual maturity, identity, calling, change and healthy vulnerability.
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Apply the framework to teams, pastoral care, communication, decision-making and anxious organisational systems.
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Receive your humanity, develop sustainable rhythms and establish a continuing formation plan.
By the end of Centre-Out
LEARNING OUTCOMES
You should be better able to:
describe your emotional and relational patterns without shame
recognise how family history continues to shape your leadership
identify your stress signature and regulate before responding
remain defined and connected during disagreement
recognise and reduce unhealthy triangles
distinguish compassion from over-functioning
understand the difference between authority, influence and control
communicate with directness and gentleness
practise pastoral care without over-identification
discern faithfully under pressure
identify organisational regression
clarify what belongs to you, others and God
develop a realistic and sustainable pattern of ministry
create a plan for continuing formation
Choose the way you journey
Journey at Your Own Pace
Complete Centre-Out independently — $55 once-off
Receive the complete 24-session Centre-Out course and work through it in your own time.
Each session combines Christian teaching, Scripture, prayer, personal reflection and practical exercises to help you connect what you are learning with the realities of your leadership and ministry.
What you’ll gain
Greater self-awareness — recognise the experiences, emotions and patterns influencing how you lead.
Deeper spiritual formation — create space to listen to God and lead from a more grounded sense of identity.
Healthier ways of leading — develop emotional maturity, relational wisdom and a more sustainable approach to ministry.
Practical tools for real situations — apply the six Centre-Out Practices to the challenges and responsibilities you are currently facing.
What’s included
Access to the complete 24-session online course
A downloadable digital version of the course material
Guided teaching, Scripture, prayer and reflection
Practical exercises and the six Centre-Out Practices
The freedom to move through the course at your own pace
Want mentoring later?
You can begin independently and decide later that you would like some personal support.
If you subsequently book a Centre-Out mentoring session with me, the $55 you paid for the self-guided course will be credited towards your first $110 mentoring session.
Journey With Me
Explore Centre-Out through personal mentoring — $110 per session
Centre-Out becomes even more powerful when you have a trusted person helping you explore what the material means for your particular life, leadership and ministry context.
In our one-to-one mentoring sessions, we will work through the course together at a pace that is helpful for you. You’ll have room to reflect honestly, notice what may be happening beneath the surface and discern how God may be inviting you to grow.
What you’ll gain
Personalised support — explore how each session connects with your particular personality, experiences and leadership context.
A safe place for honest reflection — talk through questions, tensions and patterns that can be difficult to process alone.
Deeper insight and discernment — notice what is happening beneath the surface and consider where God may be at work.
Practical next steps — translate reflection into meaningful changes in your relationships, ministry and leadership.
What’s included
A private 50-minute Centre-Out mentoring session
Access to the complete 24-session online course
A downloadable digital version of the course material
Personalised reflection and application
The flexibility to book future sessions individually as you continue the journey
How it works
Book your first mentoring session using the link below. Once your booking is confirmed, I will provide access to the complete Centre-Out course and its digital resources.
There is no requirement to purchase 24 sessions upfront. You can book sessions individually as you move through the course.
Completion is not the end of formation
Centre-Out does not conclude by suggesting that mature leaders no longer feel anxious, experience conflict or return to old patterns.
Instead, growth becomes increasingly visible in the ability to:
recognise patterns earlier
become curious rather than ashamed
recover more thoughtfully
seek appropriate support
communicate more directly
take clearer responsibility
tolerate discomfort without rushing to control it
return repeatedly to Christ
The final session gathers the entire journey together and helps each participant identify one thing to continue, one thing to change and one thing to release.
Begin the journey
Centre-Out invites you to slow down long enough to notice what leadership is forming in you—and to become more intentional about the leader you are becoming.