Rebekah Simon-Peter is passionate about reconnecting spiritual leaders with their God-given powers to co-create miracles with the divine. Her award-winning group coaching program, “Creating a Culture of Renewal®” has energized church leaders across the country to reclaim their calling and to grow their ministries.
Educated in Theology and Environmental studies and previously serving as an ordained United Methodist Pastor, Rebekah is uniquely prepared for her current consulting role to grow the Green Church.
The author of many books to include “Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World,” “Dream Like Jesus®,” “The Jew Named Jesus,” and “Green Church,” her newest book, due out later this year is an invitation to a transformational journey from discipleship to apostleship where believers co-create miracles with Jesus.
Listen today as Rebekah speaks with Dr. Karen about how to bring out the best in the people who frustrate you the most, the multi-dimensional meaning of the sustainable green church, how to cultivate a miracle-making mindset, Five surprising elements of Jesus-like dreams, her personal testimony about discovering the Jewish Jesus, her journey and lessons from addiction, how to create a culture of renewal, and more.
Reach Rebekah at rebekahsimonpeter.com
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Listen to the podcast here
Rebekah Simon-Peter: The Encounter And Call With The Miraculous Jewish Jesus [Episode 469]
Rebekah Simon-Peter is passionate about reconnecting spiritual leaders with their God-given powers to co-create miracles with the divine. Her award-winning group coaching program, “Creating a Culture of Renewal®” has energized church leaders across th…
God still speaks to his people, and he is still a God of the supernatural, both in the church setting and at work. Our guest for this episode will share about the supernatural God she has come to know and invite us to a deeper walk with the creator of the universe. God stands ready to transform church leaders, their congregations, and his marketplace ministry leaders.
My guest, Rebekah Simon-Peter, is passionate about reconnecting spiritual leaders with their God-given powers to co-create miracles with the divine. Her award-winning group coaching program, Creating a Culture of Renewal, has energized church leaders across the country to reclaim their calling and grow their ministries. Known for teaching leaders how to bring out the best in the people who frustrate them the most, her work transforms church leaders and the congregations they serve.
Her insights, experiences, and recommendations also apply to corporate business leaders. Stay tuned to hear the business applications. Rebekah is the author of Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World from Market Square Publishers in 2022, Dream Like Jesus, The Jew Named Jesus, Green Church, Green Church Leader Guide, and 7 Simple Steps to Green Your Church.
Educated in theology and environmental studies, and previously serving as an ordained United Methodist pastor, Rebekah is uniquely prepared for her consulting role to grow the Green Church. A dynamic speaker, Rebekah has engaged and challenged audiences around the country. She’s an avid hiker, dog mom, wife to Jerry, lover of coffee, and a gratitude junkie. Welcome, Rebekah, to the show.
Thank you so much, Dr. Karen. It’s such a joy to be here. I’m looking forward to it.
What Is A Green Church? Connecting Scripture, Science, And Sustainability
It’s a joy to have you here. I’m looking forward to diving right in with you as well. Since I’ve used that word in your bio so many times about Green, I’m going to start there. What is a Green Church? What are you attempting to accomplish with Green Church? Why is that relevant?
When I first wrote those books back in 2010, I wanted to connect what scripture had to say about taking care of creation and what science said about how we were doing at it. I brought those two disciplines together to help churches understand how to love the earth that God created and continues to create, and how to live sustainably. We’re not living at the expense of the earth but in harmony with the earth. It’s important.
Look at the changing environment and climates around us. Business has to pay attention to that. Church needs to pay attention as well. There’s another piece of green though, and that’s the ecosystem of the church. In the ecosystem of the church, we want a church that’s experiencing renewal that has vision, life, and living waters flowing through it, not just stagnant, which so many churches have become. It has a dual meaning to that.
When you talk about sustainability and living in harmony with nature, the environment, and so on, how is that specifically beneficial to churches? We understand what businesses are trying to do but what’s beneficial to the church?
It’s beneficial in several ways. One, people get to live their faith, where faith is not disconnected from the earth but has a deep, profound awareness of nature and gratitude for God’s energy that flows through it and sustains it, and they see themselves as part of it. There are benefits as well when people linger over dishes and wash dishes together. Try telling all the church ladies that, I’m not sure it goes over too well. There’s a sense of community when we’re not just participating in a throwaway and disposable society because then our relationships begin to feel like that, too. Quick, hurry, throw everything in the trash.
That’s an interesting perspective. We’re modeling in our actions and behaviors the sustainability we want to see at a deeper level, not just on the disposables, but we don’t have disposable relationships. We want to value people a bit more, take care of them, clean them up, whatever is necessary.
This is our only earth. It is the place in which all of human history has happened. It is the place where human history unfolds. To care for it and live as though it’s sacred, not just with our words and thoughts but with our deeds matters for the Church.
Co-Creating Miracles With God: Stepping Out In Faith And Collaboration
Thank you very much for sharing that additional perspective on that. One hallmark of your work with churches is to get them out of the mire and into the miracle so they can co-create miracles with God. What kind of miracles are you talking about? What have you seen?
The kind of miracles I’m talking about are like walking on water. Your audience may remember the story of Jesus walking on water. Peter, who’s in the boat, said to him, “Lord, if that’s you, call me to you.” Jesus says, “Yep, come on out.” Peter starts walking on water a little bit, starts to doubt, and then he begins to sink. What gave Peter the courage to swing his leg over the side of the boat was knowing that Jesus would have his back if his faith faltered.
[bctt tweet=”This is our one and only Earth. This is the place in which all of human history has happened. It is the place where human history unfolds. We need to care for it and live as though it’s sacred.” via=”no”]
In churches, we often don’t have each other’s backs. We operate in silos, as many businesses do, with little silos, little decision-making, and separate budgets. When we come together and work collaboratively, which is so important in the church and business, we have a sense of having each other’s backs. We can do what seems impossible, like walking on water. This could look like funding ministries that seemed out of reach. It could also look like reaching people we never thought we could, or those who are too different from us, or wondering what we have to offer them.
In our work together, we’re seeing that when people can enter into the miracle-making mindset, all kinds of things become possible versus that narrow little band of predictability and what can we afford cuts off limits vision. We find it important to put vision before budget, and that’s where the miracles can begin to happen.
That’s a very important concept because God is greater and bigger than what we can see and imagine on our own. If we only imagine what we think we can afford, that is a limitation. He is the God of abundance, owning the cattle on 1,000 hills and so on. He can make the miraculous happen like Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just 2 fishes and 5 loaves, or any of the other examples that we have in scripture of miraculous and abundance at the same time.
Amen. That’s it exactly.
What typically stops churches from seeing and realizing these miracles in today’s time?
The church has set its expectations way too low. We’ve seen a steady exodus from the pews since the 1970s. The group of people is known as spiritual but not religious, and also the nones and the dones. With that steady exodus of the people left in churches, the focus that is left on the church is they are the hardcore backbone of the church. They’re people who are loyal, cautious, and not quick to take risks.
We have a concentration of people who’ve aged in place. They have such a focus on caution, harmony-seeking, and stability that they don’t easily enter the realm of risk, adventure, or curiosity as easily. Part of the reason that there’s such a preponderance of caution and harmony-seeking in the church is that there’s been a steady exodus since the 1970s of the spiritual but not religious and the nones and the dones. Those are people who typically are more curious, risk-taking, and adventurous. The folks that are left in church while the backbone of the church tend to not possess those qualities as much. They’re seeking to protect what’s left rather than adventure to create something new.
Big, Bold, Kingdom-Oriented Dreams: Expanding Possibilities And Impacting Communities
That’s phenomenal and fascinating to think about. Let me ask this. In your book Dream Like Jesus, you write about the need for big, bold, kingdom-oriented dreams. How are churches impacting their communities with those levels of dreams? Why should business owners even care about what the churches are doing in their communities?
If I might mention the five surprise elements of a Jesus-like dream, these are the criteria for what a dream would look like. 1) It’s got to expand assumptions about what’s possible. 2) It’s got to be bigger than you are. It cannot fit on your to-do list. It can’t even fit on your people’s to-do list. That means it’s going to have a fear factor. It’s scary a little bit. All of that means it’s bigger and, requires the input of God. That means we can begin to move into the miraculous. 4) It’s got to be bigger than the survival of the institution. It’s got to be about the blossoming and flourishing of the community. 5) It’s got to inspire people and unify them.
We know from Jesus that even all of his beautiful dreams didn’t inspire or unify everybody. It doesn’t have to be consensus. Why should business owners and business leaders care about these five surprise elements of a Jesus-like dream? You can use those in business. Churches are out to make an impact. The churches we work with are doing everything from intentionally creating safe spaces in the community where vulnerable populations can feel safe or mental health needs are being addressed. Sibling groups that enter into foster care have a safe place to be together. Homes that care for sibling groups of families are being cared for and stewarded in important ways.
The church is more and more meeting needs in the realm of mental health, social services, and belonging. We live in one of the loneliest times we’ve ever lived in. Even with all the social media, people are so lonely. Churches fill a need and a gap that’s so important. If we’re going to have healthy businesses, we have to have healthy communities and churches. I see all of those groups working together as very important.
That’s an important point because those people in the communities if they’re not healthy, they’re not prepared to enter the workforce in a great way and be able to contribute to the community as employees or entrepreneurs and business owners. There may be a greater influx of crime if people aren’t on the right foot.
I think about corporations and their corporate social responsibility programs and how many of them are also trying to build the community and elevate the lives of the people who live near and dear to where they are building their buildings and corporations. It’s not just that we are in this community and we don’t care about it. Even the corporations are thinking about how they can benefit the community. What I hear from you is the church and business can partner together in some of that.
Why Should Businesses Care About Churches? The Vital Role Of Churches In Healthy Communities
Absolutely. We all live in the same community. We’re all contributing to the same community and the beneficiaries of the community, but we’re also impacted by the negatives of the community. We are in it together.
[bctt tweet=”If we’re going to have healthy businesses, we have to have healthy communities. We have to have healthy churches.” via=”no”]
My Journey To Jesus: From Jewish Roots To A Christian Calling
I’m going to shift gears a little bit because one of the most interesting parts of your story, at least to me, is that you grew up Jewish and later discovered the Jewish Jesus. How is it that you came to be a believer in Jesus as the Messiah? Tell us about that story.
Thank you for asking, Dr. Karen. Born and raised Jewish in an interfaith home with a Jewish mom and a Catholic dad, we celebrated all the holidays. We had Passover, Easter, Hanukkah, and Christmas. I knew about all those holidays. The Christian holidays were more opportunities to have the Easter bunny visit or get presents at Christmas. It wasn’t really about Jesus. I was raised as a Reformed Jewish.
When I got clean and sober, I was hanging around Christians who were talking about their faith for the first time. Being in that environment got the juices flowing, but I had a waking vision of Jesus. My eyes were closed but I wasn’t asleep. It wasn’t a dream. Here is this Jewish Jesus, curly, thick, dark beard and curly, thick, dark hair and olive skin and warm, crinkly eyes, looking at me, communicating such love and understanding with his eyes. I felt like he was saying, “I love you. I understand you. I accept you.”
It was an awkward moment because it was not like he had been on my radar screen. It wasn’t like a burst into song. That’s not what happened. I was a little freaked out. I called one of my dear friends, one of my spiritual guides, and told her about it. She said, “Jesus was Jewish.” It was like, “Everybody knows that.” She said, “Did you know the disciples were Jewish?” I was like, “What’s a disciple?” She said, “You haven’t read the New Testament?” I said, “It’s not my book.” She said, “I’ll get you a copy.” I thought, “I’m not going to read it.”
She got me a copy. I didn’t read it. She was in seminary at the time. I thought, “There she is studying Hebrew in the middle of the day. I thought you only did that when you’re getting ready for your bat mitzvah,” which I had done. This happened when I was 28, the vision of Jesus. I’d been confirmed, had my bat mitzvah, and all of that. I thought, “I’m going to go to seminary too.”
I went off to the Iliff School of Theology, where I got to study the Hebrew Bible, Greek, New Testament, and all of that. It was almost like I’d been waiting my whole life for that experience for everything to come together. I didn’t think I was ever going to become a Christian. That’s not why I went. I was just going to be a Jew who followed Jesus. In my second year in seminary, I got the call to ministry. That’s how I got started on that. The very first church I joined and served as a historically African-American congregation. It seemed the closest to my experience. It was the most passionate.
In some of the other churches I attended, I thought I was not going to be able to stay awake on a Sunday morning, let alone get ordained, because some of the churches didn’t have the passion and movement of the spirit. I’m very much about the passion and the movement of the spirit. My calling, after I did twelve years as a pastor, is to revitalize churches with passion, spirit, and that miracle mindset, because we follow Jesus, the miracle maker. Where are we truly in terms of living that faith? That’s a brief encapsulation but it gives you a sense of where I’ve come from.
I love your story. To me, it’s amazing. It’s the picture of how God will reach us wherever we are and he’ll send us to places where we can experience him at a greater level. Who would have known it would have been at the seminary where he was studying, not to become a Christian necessarily, but to learn more about this? He showed you more. That’s miraculous in and of itself, as far as I’m concerned. I have a lot of Jewish friends and grew up in a very Jewish environment. There are very few of my Jewish friends who have come to see the Jewish Jesus as the Messiah. When I hear a story like yours, it’s exciting and inspirational.
It’s interesting to me. It came out of the blue. I wasn’t asking or looking for it but the way that miracle and vision inspired so many of my friends who had spent so much of their life praying for a visitation like that helped them understand that the age of miracles was not over. I feel like I’ve entered the Christian journey on the tide of miracles. That’s been a theme for me. Understanding the God of miracles and how to co-create miracles with God has been so important to me.
You also mentioned the role of the black church. Tell us a little bit more about that. How did the black church inform your early years as a believer? You talked about sensing the spirit there and the connection with your Jewish roots. Say more about what that was like and how it was different from being in churches that were not necessarily African-American or black churches.
For me, it was very interesting to be a minority among minorities. Here I am, a Jewish Christian. Already, it’s not any sort of classic profile. I don’t care what people say about conversion. For me, it wasn’t about shedding one identity and taking on a new identity. It was about adding another layer or lens through which I saw the world and see the world. I think of myself as a Reformodox Methodeutic, which takes into account all of my spiritual history.
Adopting, and understanding Jesus as Jewish, as Messiah, entering into the black church, and being a minority among minorities gave me a greater sense of safety than what you might think of as passing in a white church. “She looks white. She’s like one of us.” I can’t describe it but it was an interesting journey for all of us. We all worked on biases. We worked on preconceptions or stereotypes that we had about each other. It was a very fruitful time in the life of that church. I’m so proud to have been part of it and for God to have given me that extreme blessing.
In my whole life, I had that longing to be more a part of black culture and in the black church. I didn’t even know that but when I got there, I realized this was like a dream come true that I didn’t even know I had. It was very interesting because I was in seminary at the same time and taking studies under Dr. Vincent Harding, who had marched with Dr. King. I was learning so much about the Civil Rights Movement. At the same time, I was at Scott. It sharpened my understanding of privilege and power. I felt like I got an inside view of things that I don’t know I would have had any other way. It was such a beautiful gift to me.
When I left after three years, I left as a valued member of the community and part of the family. It expanded my sense of connecting with the human family. I was part of a community where kids were bused in from another larger urban area into my community. I always grew up with Black friends. I always had Black friends. That was a deep part of my understanding of what it meant to grow up in my family, grow up Jewish, and grow up going to my school. I always had that diversity, even though it was a community that didn’t have a lot of diversity inherently in it.
[bctt tweet=”It is very important to understand the value of bringing people together and giving people the opportunity to work together, create partnerships together, and to create a new future that our families get to live into together.” via=”no”]
I’ve always had those connections with the Black community that have been important to me and feel natural to me. It’s been such an important part of my journey as a leader and human being. That’s important for businesses to think about. The church is one place that can be very segregated. Businesses, however, tend to be intentionally diverse. That’s very important to understand the value of bringing people together, giving people the opportunity to work together, create partnerships together, and create a new future that our families get to live in together.
It’s interesting that when we have diversity and an opportunity to interact with one another, we can see the commonalities in our histories, backgrounds, and stories. Many Black people relate to the struggles of the Jewish people, particularly in the Bible, being enslaved in Egypt, suffering there, crying out to God, having God send a deliverer to get out of that, and so on. Later, in modern times, the Holocaust, there are many parallels to circumstances and situations that Black people have faced as well. I see a natural connection between the histories of different people groups, between Jews and Blacks.
Those commonalities, the focus on the Hebrew Bible, slavery, and the coming out of slavery, were huge parts of my feeling at home and comfortable.
Lessons From The Pastorate: Cultivating Faith And Empowering Laity
You were a pastor for some time. What lessons did you learn as a pastor? How do those insights inform how you work with churches today?
I think back on all the wonderful churches I got to serve and the fabulous people I got to work with. I learned that people have a deep and abiding faith. It wasn’t my job to teach people faith. My job was to help them cultivate their faith journey and take their next step. We didn’t have to agree theologically. I didn’t have to see the world exactly the way they saw it. They didn’t have to understand God exactly the way I did. That mattered much less than that I was an advocate and a champion for them on their journey of faith and that they continued to take the next step.
The way that translated for me in my coaching and consulting as I work with church leaders is to help them understand their job. It’s not to change their people. It’s to cultivate what’s already nascent within them, what’s already in their hearts, what’s already in their spirits, and to draw that forth. I hate to say it but too many times, church leaders don’t understand the full value, the life experiences, and the richness of their laity. I want to help them see that and partner with their laity.
These people are not only the backbone of the church, they’re the visionaries. Even if they don’t see themselves as visionaries, they have a deep vision within their heart about the church. They want that church to survive and flourish. It’s the pastor’s job to tune in at a deep level to those dreams and draw them together so that the vision is not just their vision but representative of all their people.
I see two things in this that are exciting to me. As God has put the body together with eyes, ears, hands, feet, and legs, different members, and we’re not all the same, that vision that you were talking about becomes collective if you understand that each body part has something to contribute to what that vision is. It’s not the pastor being the Holy Spirit because there’s only one Holy Spirit. It’s seeing what the Holy Spirit is doing in each of those lives. As you say, leveraging that and helping each person take their next step in the church collectively, moving together. That’s a beautiful picture of it.
The Significance Of Passover And Easter: Bridging The Gap Between Jews And Christians
When I think about certain holidays, particularly Passover and Easter, there’s an enriched perspective that comes from understanding both of those holidays from both a Jewish and a Christian lens. How has your understanding been enriched about both Passover and Easter because of having both a Jewish and a Christian perspective?
What comes to mind is that Christians have not always understood how vulnerable Jews can feel during Passover. During the Middle Ages, blood libels, pogroms, and riots against Jews took place often during Passover because the story, which was not true, was that matzahs were made with the blood of Christian children. There’s a long history of suspicion and caution. It’s much less so today. There’s been great denouement. There’s been a long history of painful relations and the connection between Easter and Passover.
Holy Week was often a week in which, in the Middle Ages, pastors encouraged their parishioners to demonstrate their faith in Christ by harming their Jewish neighbors. It’s a terrible history. It’s not what’s happening now but it’s interesting because when you talked about those two together, it’s first there for me. We can’t forget. How do we move forward?
Many Christians have been so interested in Passover. I’ve done many Jewish-style Passovers for Christians because they want to know the history. It’s not like there are automatic bad vibes or bad feelings. They want to know the history and they’ve been as surprised as anybody else to discover some of that negative history. It’s helped them understand historically why Jews and Christians haven’t been super tight. That’s important training and education for all of us. I do think, generally, there’s been a great coming together of Jews and Christians, a deep appreciation for each other.
We’re in very hard times. Anti-Semitism has risen disproportionately around the globe, even before the war happened. It’s been very painful for people to understand how we bridge the gap. That remains an important conversation to understand our commonalities. As we talked about Blacks and Whites, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, how do we understand all of our commonality and not be divided and conquered, not be polarized by world events? How do we maintain our commonalities as human beings and practice intentional love and respect, even as we dialogue about difficult things?
For sure. There’s a real connection between the symbolism in the Passover and the picture of Jesus as Messiah. A lot of Christians like to see the Passover. They can see those connections because they understand the Christian side of it. Sometimes, people get trapped in what I’ll call an institutional view rather than a true Jesus view, who certainly would not have promoted the torture and torment of Jewish people, being Jewish himself.
He came to bring light and love and to bring us all under one umbrella instead of division. Many have lost sight of that and sometimes focus on the division part as opposed to the love and unity part that Jesus did bring in coming to earth for us. This brings me to another question. I’m thinking about the Apostle Paul, who was Jewish and always had a heart for his Jewish brethren no matter what city he went into.
He was supposed to be the apostle to the Gentiles but he always went to the synagogue first. He always wanted to talk to his Jewish brothers. It’s like, “If I could give an arm or a leg that my Jewish brethren would come to see Jesus as the Messiah, as I do,” that’s what he wanted to see. What is your heart for other Jewish people? What is your message for other Jewish people about Jesus?
My real heart about that is to see Jesus as a friend and not as a foe. Just as you say, institutional identities or histories get adopted versus biblical or historical understandings of events. It’s important to reclaim Jesus like so many have, as our Jewish brother, and separate the church and Christianity from Jesus. By that, I mean the Christian history about Jews separate that from Jesus himself. Understand that the things that have been done in Jesus’ name, that have been hurtful and harmful, were not Jesus doing that.
When we begin to tease those things apart, we can claim Jesus as our elder brother and as one of us. So much of Jesus is contained in Jewish history in the sense of His genius, faithfulness to God, chutzpah, love of the Torah, and being a Torah teacher. There’s so much Jewish about that. When we can tease apart the Christian institutional history of the church from Jesus himself, we can begin to get a truer picture of him. It’s easier to welcome his insights and perspective. Wonderful Jewish authors are writing about Jesus in ways that Jews can appreciate and that Christians can appreciate as well. There’s been a tremendous contribution made in this ongoing work. I feel very positive about the task of re-brothering Jesus.
It’s also important to recognize that not only did Jesus not do these negative things, He did not teach us to do those things either. That’s important because sometimes you can have a faith tradition where people are teaching that it should go this way. However, He never taught those negative things that we see occurring, supposedly, in His name. He’s probably up there in heaven like, “I never told you to do that. You’re off base.”
Addiction And Leadership: The Value Of Community And A Deep Spiritual Path
It’s important to make a distinction between who He is, what He’s about, and what He’s taught as well. Earlier, you talked about how your original foray into meeting some Christians had to do with a time in your life when you were going through addiction. I know you’ve wrestled with addiction in your life. Tell us about addiction and the impact your struggle with it had on your journey as a leader.
Addiction is primarily about isolation. When a person is addicted, whether it’s to food, drugs, alcohol, gambling, or pornography, it’s an isolating behavior. Even if it seems to take place around other people, like in restaurants, donut shops, or bars, it’s still isolation. The antidote to addiction is community. Many people are wrestling with addiction of various sorts. We live in a society that specializes in isolation. You do your thing, I’ll do my thing. It sounds good on the surface. I’m not saying we shouldn’t accept each other but there is a way in which our society is prone to addiction. What I’ve learned is the value of community.
My group coaching program, Creating a Culture of Renewal, teaches church leaders about leadership smarts and congregational intelligence and how to dream like Jesus but a big part of what we’re doing is providing a community for church leaders to share. It’s amazing how isolated church leaders feel. Even if they’re part of a denomination where they connect with other church leaders, there’s often a sense of competition and not letting down my guard because I might look bad. Church leaders often don’t know each other across denominations or regions.
I’ve come to understand that one of the values that our work provides for church leaders is community, where they can let down their hair, so to speak. They can dare to look bad or tell the truth to be authentic about what’s happening to them without being judged or reported. We’re not talking about illegal behavior but without somebody saying, “Gee, I don’t know if so and so is doing a great job.” There’s this safe space for them to grow.
That combats isolation, which both leads to addiction and is promulgated by addiction. I’ve learned the value of community. I’ve also learned the tremendous value of having a deep spiritual path that goes beyond going to church. I love church but I’ve got to be doing stuff between Sundays to be working on my spiritual path every morning, every day, having that deep, inner, authentic relationship with God. That’s key to overcoming addiction as well.
That’s an important point you’re making. You talked about community and making connections across regions and maybe even different faith groups. You’re starting to talk about the more personal, deep daily connection in terms of faith. Say more about that and how the addiction experience has informed your faith at those deeper levels.
I’ve learned to turn my will and my life over to the care of a power greater than myself. That means I don’t spend all my time in my head thinking and planning. I’ve got to check in with God. What I’ve learned is to trust the random thoughts that I get. I used to think, “Random thought? What’s that about? Go away.” I’ve come to understand that’s the deep, intuitive thought that God is placing on my heart. I’ve been trained through my recovery process to pause when agitated or doubtful, ask God for the next right thought or action, and allow my day to be shaped by promptings from the Holy Spirit in my heart.
It’s amazing how easy it is, even as clergy, to get one’s to-do list together, thank God very much, bye-bye, I’ve got this, and go about the work of ministry without checking in with God regularly and ensuring that I’m on the right path moment to moment. If that’s true for church leaders, how true is that for non-church leaders and business leaders?
The thing I’ve learned is God is always there, at the ready, waiting to prompt, comfort, guide, give a word, and even give that word of affirmation. All I have to do, all I need to do, all we need to do, is pause and tune in regularly. It doesn’t require special words, special clothing, special body postures, a special room in the house, or a special time of day. It doesn’t require any of that. It’s simply a tuning into what I call one’s inner divinity.
The Role Of Faith And Spirituality In Business: Bringing Wholeness To The Workplace
I love that. You mentioned business leaders. Let me go back there again. As you know, most of the audience of my show are executive business leaders. What role do you see for faith or spirituality in the world of business?
[bctt tweet=”Addiction is primarily about isolation.” via=”no”]
A business can’t cultivate somebody’s spiritual life but it can acknowledge it. Even if the words that are used are slightly different, we talk about mindfulness and well-being but we can also talk about spirituality in the workplace. When businesses, managers, or whatever, permit people to tap into or acknowledge they are spiritual people or have a spirituality, that creates a sense of wholeness in a person. They don’t have to leave maybe their best self at home or in the car before they come in. They can bring all of who they are and all of those qualities with them to work.
That’s hugely important. The spiritual but not religious have taught us that spirituality is key and it’s part of the community. It’s key in everything they do, especially true in business life. I’d say this is especially true with younger generations that expect mentoring at new levels and their whole being to be welcomed. We need to pay attention to that to be effective as we go forward.
Business leaders, like church leaders, also face challenges with difficult people who frustrate them the most. What advice and counsel do you have for Christian executives working in secular contexts about how to lead difficult people?
First off, I’ve learned to take away the sense that that person is difficult and more that we’re having a difficult time connecting. It’s easy to say, “It’s you. You’re the problem. If you would just blah, blah, blah, this would all go well.” What we’re discovering as we work with personality types, and I especially like the Everything DiSC model, that’s what I use in my work, is that some people are results-driven, others like to be influencers, and they’re very optimistic and happy, positive people. Some people are cautious and systematic.
If you can acquaint yourself with those different styles of being, and then practice what I call the Platinum Rule, frame your conversation in such a way that their needs, motivators, and skills are being addressed, rather than your particular need for results or accuracy. If their qualities can be lifted as important, they’ll begin to hear you in a new way. You’ll find that you have more of an ally than an adversary. That’s how quickly things can turn when you begin to preference their motivators and strengths. Not that you still don’t want your results but frame it in a way they can hear it. Those difficult people can transform and become some of your very best allies.
You’re mentioning two things here that are important. One of the concepts I call it is putting the issue, whatever it is, in the middle of the table. It’s not in you, it’s not in me, it’s right here in the middle of the table, and we’re going to partner together to figure out how to address it, which means that your needs have to be met and so do mine. That’s speaking the language, if you will, of the other person that you’ve been talking about.
That’s huge and I’m so glad you articulated that. The difficulty is not the person. Like you say, the problem’s connecting, and let’s look at that part. Let’s figure out what we can do about it. Since you’re doing your work of creating a culture of renewal with church leaders, what can business executives learn from that work about creating a culture of renewal?
Creating A Culture Of Renewal: Lessons For Business Leaders
Our work is threefold. First, we teach congregational intelligence, which is applying emotional intelligence to the life of the congregation, and seeing how stuck or small thinking is coded into the very life of the church, whether the worship service or the way ministries are done. Businesses can learn from that because businesses that are having a hard time growing or meeting the needs of their constituencies may have stuck coded in ways they haven’t even thought about. Always looking at things through the lens of emotional intelligence is very important, understanding the needs of your people.
Secondly, we teach leadership smarts. That’s everything from learning to understand what your fears are and how your fears may be holding you back. You may be leading from a place where you’re protecting your fear rather than leaning into the fear with courage. When we lead from a place of protecting our fears so they don’t get triggered, we’re missing very important opportunities. That’s true for the church and true for business as well. We teach productive conflict. It’s important to understand conflict is not going anywhere. There are ways to engage it productively.
That’s a level of emotional intelligence that’s required. You have to understand that the way I’m dealing with conflict may be exacerbating this. Even if it looks like, “I’m smoothing things over. I’m soothing people. That’s not a problem, is it?” Yes, that can very much be a problem because then you’re not getting down to the real issues. Lastly, we teach how to shift the culture and that’s the big, bold dream, getting people aligned with that vision and then executing the vision so that people aren’t left with dashed hopes or unfulfilled promises.
Lessons From The Bubonic Plague: Finding Innovation In Times Of Crisis
The cultural piece is essential and making sure the vision is infused in everything as well. Business leaders use that as well. In your book, Forging a New Path, you wrote about what the modern church can learn from the bubonic plague. What are some of those lessons for churches and then also apply that to business leaders?
They were asking the same questions back in the Middle Ages that we’re asking. “When do things go back to normal? How do we get people back to church? How do we do more with less?” One of the biggest issues and lessons is that they had less of a lot of things back then. Churches, too. Businesses certainly have had to deal with fewer employees. It was such an age of innovation at the same time because they had more of many things.
Yes, they had less of certain things but they had more of other things. It was that looking at what they had that allowed great innovation to happen. We wouldn’t have the printing press if it wasn’t for the bubonic plague. We got Zoom during the pandemic. They got books back then. Always look for the new technology that’s emerging. Look for unexpected resources. Back then, they had fewer family members. They had a whole lot of extra clothing. Guess what they did with all that extra clothing? Rag cloth and made book printing cheaper.
Literacy soared. Ideas could no longer be burned at the stake. The whole world changed because there was extra clothing and the idea of the printing press. Always look for innovation. I tell this to church leaders, “Make a list of everything you have less of and a list of everything you have more of. Focus on that list and watch where the innovation can come from.” Business has certainly shown us how innovation can happen even when times are very tight and squeezed. That’s when the best stuff comes forward. There’s much for us to learn from pandemics past.
[bctt tweet=”Innovation can happen even when times are very tight and squeezed. In fact, that’s when the best stuff comes forward.” via=”no”]
I love that. It reminds me of the Great Depression and how many people flourished during the Great Depression because they had to think of new ways of providing services and products to people that they needed at that time. It’s a very similar thought process that you’re bringing up. That’s phenomenal. Let me ask you this. Your name has a special meaning, especially your last name. Tell us about the meaning of your name and its significance for you.
The Significance Of My Name: A Journey Of Transformation And Faith
When I went to seminary, following my friend there, when I got the call to ministry, I felt like God whispered a new name to me, and it’s my name now, Rebekah Simon-Peter. Rebekah was a biblical figure who didn’t follow the order of the day. She followed God’s prompting instead, which I did. Simon was a Jew who followed Jesus. In the process, Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter. Carrying that spiritual transformation within my name has felt very meaningful to me. It’s very biblical. When big things happen in the Bible, people usually get a new name.
New Book And Contact Information: Resources For Church And Business Leaders
I love the name that you have and that you’ve been given through your transformation. It has deep meaning. Thank you for sharing that with us as well. What’s next for you, Rebekah? Tell us about your upcoming new projects or new directions. What’s going on?
I’m working on a new book. This is my passion project. It’s going to be a 40-day journey of transformation. I’m passionate about Christians advancing from discipleship to apostleship, not only believing in Jesus but learning to believe like Jesus. If you can believe like Jesus, you can be a co-creator of miracles. It’s the coming together of many years of research, study, teaching, writing, and preaching in this book. It’ll be coming out in October 2025. I don’t have an official title yet but look for something along the lines of 40 Days of Transformation.
How exciting. You might have to come back and tell us about it once it’s ready to be released and come out. How can people reach you? Who should reach you about what? Tell us also about your latest book before your current book comes up.
Please reach me at my website, RebekahSimonPeter.com. There’s a place to sign up for my blogs, reach out to me, or get me a message directly. I look forward to hearing from you. I’m especially interested in working with church leaders and other leaders like faith-based leaders and nonprofit leaders who are interested in creating cultures of renewal in their setting. I also coach entrepreneurs because this has been an entrepreneurial, spiritual endeavor for me for many years. I love speaking to audiences to inspire them, inform them, and give them tools to take away so they can begin to put their big dreams into practice.
You mentioned my book, Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World. That’s available on Amazon, as are all my books. I love teaching the three S’s of post-pandemic community, which we can learn about being social, spiritual, and of service. Also, the three forms of spirituality the church needs and how that relates to business. Those are some of my passion ideas that I’m sharing with others and infusing into the world.
Closing Words Of Wisdom: Living Your Faith At Work And Letting Your Light Shine
Thanks for planting that seed for people to go and read that book and learn more about these three S’s post-pandemic and all the other wisdom you’ve built into the book. It sounds like people can call you for speaking engagements and your consulting work. That could be church leaders and also entrepreneurial leaders. That’s RebekahSimonPeter.com. That’s a great deal. Rebekah, you’ve shared many insights that are relevant for business executive leaders. What additional or closing words of wisdom would you like to leave for my community of executive business leaders?
Thank you so much for asking that. You have the power of God within you. God has placed you in the position you’re in right now for such a time as this. This is a time for innovation, caring about people, bringing unity, and lifting our highest values in a time when those are challenged regularly. I encourage you to live your faith at work. Let your light shine. It may sound trite and small but it is not. Be salt. Be light. Let your light shine. Take the courage that God is using you in very powerful ways.
Thank you so much, Rebekah, for being here and sharing those words of wisdom. They go with the word of the year, which is light. We’ve been talking about how light leads to love, and leads to life. Being the light at work is a good deal. Thank you so much for everything you’ve shared. I appreciate it.
Thank you, Dr. Karen. It’s been such a pleasure to be with you.
Likewise.
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We’ll close this segment together with Rebekah Simon-Peter by reading John 14: 12-14, which says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will also do, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
I want to remind everyone that Rebekah has been talking to us about miracles, being bold for Jesus, and stepping out for those things beyond our reach. That fits with Jesus’ notion of greater works because we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us, as God leads us to whatever those greater works may be. Sit at the feet of Jesus. Hear the message. Step out boldly in His power and do all He has called you to do. Have a fabulous day. We’ll see you next time.
[bctt tweet=”Not only believe in Jesus, but learn to believe like Jesus. Because if you can believe like Jesus, you can be a co-creator of Miracles.” via=”no”]
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I’m here with Jos Snoep, the CEO and President of the Bible League. The Bible League is a ministry that provides Bibles and English instructional materials in the Word of God, as well as trains teachers in their local language and culture to share the Word of God and disciple people. Jos, tell us a little bit about the impact of the Bible League. What’s going on out there?
I met a lady named Nimia. Nimia was born in 1949. She became a Christian in 2002. We were able to invite her to one of our trainings. At the end of the meeting, she stood up and shared her testimony. She said, “This is the first time I’ve received a Bible of my own. I’m equipped to share the Word of God with others.” I thought to myself, “That’s why we are the Bible League. That’s why God called us to be in ministry, to serve people like that and equip them with the right materials and the Word of God.”
Thank you so much, Jos, for sharing that story. I want to let everyone know that you can be part of this movement as well. You can go to BibleLeague.org to find out more about the ministry and also donate. There are many more stories like the one Jos shared about lives that are changed and impacted by God through Jesus Christ.
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I’m here to celebrate the work of the Bible League, which is a global ministry that provides Bibles, ministry study materials, and through activities like Project Philip, teaches and trains local people in how to share the Word of God. The President and CEO of Bible League, Jos Snoep, is here to share a little more about what the Bible League is doing.
The beauty of the local church is that it is the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit calls the local church to be engaged in the Great Commission. As Bible League, we come alongside local pastors. I met a pastor named Rolando in the Amazon. He has a great vision to reach 200 communities with the Word of God. We were able to come alongside him and help with Bibles and resources.
Thank you so much, Jos. We are all partners together. You, the Bible League, are the hands and feet of the local people on the ground. Some partners and donors can be hands and feet to you as you share with others. For those of you who want to be part of this ministry, and I invite you to be a part of it, I’m a part of it, go to BibleLeague.org. See more about the ministry and how you can participate and donate.
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I want to tell you a little about Spirit Wings Kids Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The organization provides profound services for orphans, widows, and families across the globe, especially in Uganda. I’m speaking with Donna Johnson, the Founder of Spirit Wings Kids and a board member. Donna, tell us about some examples of the profound work you’re doing in Uganda.
Thank you, Dr. Karen. We were there and it was incredible. It’s more than an orphanage. We have a soccer academy that keeps the boys off the street. We have a Windows program that matches them with children. It’s a thriving network of entrepreneurs. It’s been such a meaningful blessing to see the work we’re doing there.
Donna, what I love about what you said is that you’re talking about their whole lives. You’re creating families between the widows and the children. You’re also making sure they have recreation and something to do with the soccer academy while looking at the job situation and the entrepreneurial aspect. As a businesswoman yourself who is very successful, you’re right in line with being able to make that difference. Thank you so much for the difference you’re making. I’m inviting everyone to go to SWKids.Foundation and donate. One hundred percent of everything you donate goes to those in need and those receiving services. Thank you so much for donating. Donna, thank you for this ministry.
Important Links
- Creating a Culture of Renewal
- Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World
- Dream Like Jesus
- The Jew Named Jesus
- Green Church
- Green Church Leader Guide
- 7 Simple Steps to Green Your Church
- Rebekah Simon-Peter
- Bible League
- Spirit Wings Kids Foundation
About Rebekah Simon-Peter
Rebekah Simon-Peter is a visionary leader, acclaimed author, and dynamic speaker dedicated to empowering individuals and faith communities to embrace their divine potential. The author of seven books, including Believe Like Jesus: Rising from Faith in Jesus to the Faith of Jesus; Forging a New Path; and Dream Like Jesus, Rebekah challenges and inspires others to move beyond discipleship into apostleship—boldly co-creating miracles with God.
Over the past eighteen years, Rebekah has transformed the lives of thousands of leaders through her award-winning group coaching program, Creating a Culture of Renewal®. As an ordained Elder in the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church, she combines deep biblical insights with practical leadership strategies, helping individuals and organizations cultivate spiritual growth, resilience, and innovation. Rebekah holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont, and an M. Div. and M.A.R. from the Iliff School of Theology. She is a Certified Renewalist.
Known for her engaging storytelling and thought-provoking perspectives, Rebekah is a sought-after keynote speaker who delivers impactful, unforgettable experiences. She leads transformative workshops that equips leaders with the tools to navigate change with confidence and clarity.
A featured blogger for top faith-based outlets, Rebekah’s work resonates with those seeking deeper purpose, spiritual renewal, and meaningful action. Whether speaking to church leaders, faith communities, or individuals on a journey of self-discovery, she invites others to embrace their inner divinity and rise to new heights of leadership and faith.
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