Heath Hardesty on How Imagination Shapes the Way We See the World, the Disintegration of Our Present Age, and His Book All Things Together.

**Show Notes** - Give to our $30,000 Match Campaign - [Contact Josh from The Pastorate to Give on Behalf of Your Church](mailto:josh@thepastorate.ca) - Contact Jon Wright from Generis - Enter to Win 1 of 5 copies of All Things Together - Heath’s Website - Buy All Things Together **Episode Description** On today's episode we welcome Heath Hardesty, Lead Pastor of Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, California, and author of All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World. Heath's journey into pastoral ministry began as a plumber's apprentice and eventually grew into an apprenticeship of a different kind, one where he learned to follow the call of Jesus and eventually to shepherd a local church. This conversation traces Heath's story, from studying literature and theology, playing in bands, and apprenticing under his plumber father, before a moment of encounter through the Scripture stirred his heart toward a life in the pastorate. Jason and Heath explore Heath’s book All Things Together which offers a vision of Christian apprenticeship built on union, abiding, obeying, and imaging and they discuss why imagination shapes the way we inhabit the world, the role of story in a fragmented age, and what it means to re-inhabit reality in the way of Jesus. In this episode you'll hear: - Heath's journey from a plumber's truck and a music career to the pastorate, - How a moment under a sink, holding an orange-painted wrench like his father, became his inspiration for All Things Together, - Why apprenticeship to Jesus is the essence of being human, not an optional "side quest" for mature Christians, - What disintegration looks like in our culture and in our souls, and why our age acts as an amplifier of fragmentation, - The role of story and imagination in helping people re-inhabit reality in the way of Jesus, - Why "technique" and efficiency are at odds with being stewards of the mysteries of God, - How the greatest gift a pastor brings to a congregation may simply be the person they are becoming. For every pastor learning the slow craft of shepherding, this conversation offers a frame for the work, and a reminder that you, too, are an apprentice. May it encourage you wherever you're serving.