The Long Haul Podcast: Recent Episodes
Rev. Dr. Andy Burnette
Ministry is rewarding, but it isn’t easy. Many of us struggle to stay in it for the long haul. In this podcast I’ll tell stories of my 20 years in ministry, looking through the lens of Bowen Family Systems Theory for tools that will help clergy calm down, lead better, and stay in longer with more satisfaction.
In her 2019 book “Everything Isn’t Terrible,” Dr. Kathleen Smith offers a Bowen-Theory-based plan for calming down and improving relationships. In this podcast, I talk to Dr. Smith about her ideas, and why they’re so very important right now.
In this episode, I speak with Rev. Beth Newton Watson, a cherished colleague and one of the important figures in my ministerial formation. We talk about learning in the hospital, living in rural Indiana, and lending hope in tough times.
In this episode I chat with my colleague Rev. Jake Morrill about what we’re seeing, how we’re innovating, and how religion might change as a result of COVID-19.
In this episode, certified mindfulness teacher Dr. Ann Sebren is back to help us stay calm and centered in these times. Here are a couple of resources discussed in the episode:
https://jackkornfield.com/steady-heart/
https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/
I propose three ways leaders can come out of the pandemic ready to create a new, better world for themselves and those around them.
In this episode, I share a sermon about what I see as the unmasking of market religion in the midst of a pandemic. May we all remember that we are more than we can produce or earn.
Trinity and I talk about the essential services AZCEND provides to our neighbors facing food and housing insecurity, and the ways that those services continue as we face the COVID-19 crisis. This includes the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program, which provides housing, meals, and case management services for Chandler residents experiencing homelessness. Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation, the congregation which I serve, is the host site for the program through at least March 30th. You can get involved!
In this devotional, I explore the Biblical stories of David and Sampson, both referenced in Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah.” I end by playing a rendition of the song by VUU’s Alison Cantley.
In this brief episode, I share a devotional thought and a song sent in by a VUU member. If you would like to provide a resource to be shared with congregants in a future episode, please send it to revandy@vuu.org.
In this episode, I talk with mindfulness expert Dr. Ann Sebren about the importance of slowing down and noticing our own thinking. It may be the cure for what is ailing our democracy. It will certainly help you engage more effectively with your loved ones and with those with whom you have serious disagreements.
In this episode, I interview longtime Bowen practitioner (and my personal coach) Doug Murphy. We talk about the current political landscape in light of Bowen Family Systems Theory, and how calming down might help us be more effective in creating change.
Dr. Murray Bowen taught that we each have solid self, that principled center of beliefs and values which is developed from within and isn’t able to be changed by other people. Then there’s pseudo self, usually developed in relationship to other people and often up for exchange in order to belong. How much pseudo self and how much solid self are you operating with? And can you increase your solid self and in the process improve your relationships and maybe even your family or workplace? I think so!
In this episode I interview Rev. Jake Morrill, lead minister at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church outside Knoxville and longtime student of Bowen Family Systems Theory, about sibling position theory, one of the eight interlocking concepts of Bowen Theory. Your birth order isn’t fate, but it can help you understand yourself and others a little more clearly. One disclaimer: Jake and I realized after recording that, in an effort to accurately represent Toman’s work, we didn’t discuss the complexity of gender and sibling position theory. We know that gender is complex and believe that more thinking needs to go into the ways this part of Bowen theory applies to our transgender and gender non-binary loved ones. If you have ideas on this topic, be in touch!
Dr. Murray Bowen’s eighth concept was societal regression. He believed that we are living in a time of regression, and I think it’s pretty easy to demonstrate that he was right. But what can we do about it? This episode explores that question.
Relationship triangles are everywhere. Learning what they are and how to see and use them can improve ministries, parenting, and relationships in general. In this episode, I talk about triangles.
In this episode, I talk a a little about the history behind Bowen Family Systems Theory and talk about being a chickpea salad guy in a family of deer sausage eaters. One of the concepts Dr. Bowen developed was relationship reciprocity, basically that people in a relationship system (a congregation, family, workplace, etc.) compensate for one another’s functioning. When one person is taking on too much, others compensate by taking on too little. By taking a look at our own functioning, we can improve not just our own experience and relationships, but the system itself.