#27 - Pastoral Ministry & Emotional Wellness ft. Dr. John Auxier

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Dr. John Auxier:
It's easy to kind of be complacent and we're all trying to be good citizens and, and, and being careful to make sure that we're protecting our, our flocks and ourselves from contamination. And that needs to happen. We should be careful about contact. But I think that doesn't mean we have to tread water entirely. And so I think we've got to sit down and really take some think time and say, what is it that's going to prepare me for the future and prepare our congregation and our family for the future? I mean, at multiple levels. I think you need to, we need to start thinking about those questions.

Welcome to the BCMB podcast, Pastor to Pastor. This is a podcast by the British Columbia Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. We want to help equip and encourage pastors, churches and anyone else who wants to listen in and be more effective in their ministry. This is Episode 27, Pastoral Ministry and Emotional Wellness with Dr. John Auxier.

Rob Thiessen:
Hey, everyone, this is Rob Thiessen, it's the BCMB pastor to pastor podcast, and I want to welcome you. Thank you so much for taking time out today to be with us and to listen in on this conversation with Dr. John Auxier. I am super grateful that Dr. John made time here for this conversation. He is a professor at the,he teaches at Acts, Trinity Western, Counseling and Pastoral Counseling. And he's just a wonderful brother in Christ. And we're just looking forward to him sharing with us some words of encouragement to us as pastors on our emotional wellness, on dealing with grief and trauma. And these are live issues for us. So can I call you John through the conversation?

Dr. John Auxier:
I think you better.

Rob Thiessen:
Okay. Perfect, John. Again, thank you for being with us.

Rob Thiessen:
And just tell us, tell the audience, people listening a little bit about your journey and the community that shaped your faith. It's a question I often start with and love to hear about that in your life.

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, thanks and thanks again, Rob, for inviting me. So it's a real honor to be able to support my brothers and sisters in the, in the MB community here in B.C. So thanks for asking me to participate. Well, I was raised in a Presbyterian church down in the US where I'm originally from. And it was, it was, it was a good church with solid teaching. But I just didn't come to faith in that church. My mom was quite involved in it, but I never quite understood or grasp the gospel. And I became a Christian when I was about 15 through the Ministry of Young Life at one of their camps in Colorado. And that really was, that was a total life changing experience for me. I never had gotten it before then, but I really understood that Jesus died on the cross for me. And he, he, he wanted me to respond to him. And, and so that's how I became a follower of Christ. I was discipled by friends and Young Life who took time to build into my life as a high school student and then went off to University, University of North Dakota, actually, and was involved in the Campus Crusade for Christ there for four years as a student leader. And that was another great discipleship experience to, to work with the Crusade staff and, and be in a community of young believers at the university.

Dr. John Auxier:
And so when I think about the influences on me, that was you know, those were, those are major influences and. There's probably more to be said, but that's kind of some more formational experiences, I guess I got involved.

Dr. John Auxier:
Also, I should say, with the Evangelical Free Church, down in the States, I was a Free Church youth pastor for about seven years, and I was a pastor of an Evangelical Free Church in Arizona for about five years. And so that's been my, kind of my lifelong connection. Though I've had connections to Baptist churches and, and Presbyterian churches, the, my main connection has been with the Evangelical Free Church.

Rob Thiessen:
Great. Well, thank you. That's, you've got pastoral ministry in your background. And, and so I know one of the questions that I wanted to just have you talk to is how you got into the field of, of counseling as a pastor and, and your interest also in supporting people in pastoral ministry, helping to equip them to, to deal with the trauma and grief that they often encounter in their ministry. So what, what stirred you to get into this field?

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, I, I mean, I've had long and winding career where I've done a lot of different things. So as I've mentioned, I was the youth pastor and I probably still in my inner core think of myself as a youth pastor. The just in my mind set a little bit, but I never set out to be, and go into the ministry. Actually, when I went off to seminary, I went to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I wasn't even sure what I was going to pick up and study there, but I thought I was going to get a calling, maybe into some sort of para church ministry and youth work like young life, which had been so important to me. What happened was I ended up doing studying with John Woodbridge and David Wells at Ted's in doing a master's degree in church history. And so I, for the number of years, thought I was going to get a Ph.D. in church history. That turned out not to work out, but I did along the way pick up a MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and. Found myself getting involved in youth ministry, which wasn't my, actually in a local church, which wasn't my plan, but we know how the Lord works with those plans, you know that we have. So having done that, I for seven years, I moved on to Arizona. I was in New Jersey at the time, then moved to Arizona and was starting graduate studies and ended up working in the area of rehabilitation counseling and rehab counseling is focused on kind of the treatment of disabilities, including problems with drug and alcohol use. So my focus was actually on addictions for my PhD. At the same time I had fallen into another ministry, so the local church that I started to attend had gone through a number of splits and were struggling, and so they called me to be their pastor. And so I was pastoring and going to school and.

Dr. John Auxier:
You know, doing a lot of things and I think I was attracted to counseling. My, my gifted area, I would say would be teaching. And so I think I identified in college that I was probably had some teaching gifts. So in some ways I went into counseling as a vehicle for my teaching calling as opposed to primarily for, you know, for therapy.

Dr. John Auxier:
But along the way, in fact, I'm not sure people would have predicted I would have been a particularly good counselor. I don't know that I would have said I'd be a particularly good counselor, unfortunately, as a pastor.

Dr. John Auxier:
Because I was more, I was more interested in theology and I hadn't taken as many practical courses, and so I sure could have used some help, being a better, being a better minister of the gospel in terms of hands on pastoral care. I really didn't know too much. And the, but I ended up in that area of caring for people through, through the work of rehabilitation counseling. And so I ended up becoming, along the way. I burned out in several of my ministries, a couple of times in ministry along my 12 years of service. I had that experience that's been very informative to me in terms of, understanding where people are at, I think. I've been a psychiatric social worker and a drug and alcohol counselor in the state of Arizona, I've been a Rehabilitationist, and certified in that field, and then I've also been a I'm currently a clinical fellow at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. So it's, I've been, it's a long and winding road I've been teaching at, in the Acts counseling program since nineteen ninety five. We immigrated up here to Canada with my wife and I and all our kids are proud Canadian citizens. Congratulations. Well, thank you. And so. So I think it's a, I'm not too sure I'd recommend my scenic wandering journey to where I got, but I ended up in the, the calling of teaching and as well as being able to come alongside folks and help them, hopefully through the Ministry of Professional Marriage and Family Therapy. So that's been a unique honor to be able to do both those things.

Rob Thiessen:
Obviously, all those experiences for you to be able to now bring them together, to bear in people's lives a real gift.

Rob Thiessen:
And John, I want to just talk to you about our current situation now. As we're recording, we're still in the thick of this Covid crisis. And I think there's a lot of questions, questions about the future, questions about re-opening things. And, and I think we have questions about how we're doing. Talk to us a little bit about what some of the risks are to, to for a pastor or a leader to their own emotional health and well-being. What are the burnout risks in a situation like we're in when there's so much uncertainty?

Dr. John Auxier:
Boy, you know, it's, it's I, I wish I could say I had a great solid answer for that. And I think that's one of the things we're all struggling with, Rob, is because we don't know what the future looks like. Usually when we're in a burnout type of situation, we've had, there's been a trajectory where we've gradually had some of our, our way of handling things has gotten eroded over time, and some folks who may have felt that already maybe feel further burdened. They may be, they feel relieved because some of the, some of the day to day pressure may be a little bit lighter because there's less, you know, less visibility, I don't know. But I think it's, the big question. There's so many unknowns and there's so much out of all of our control in terms of government policy and expectations and about what will be, will there be long range effects on, the economy and therefore also on our churches and our ability to function in the future. And so I think those are. I think that's haunting all of us. I wonder if leadership at high levels should sit down and not only think about the immediate challenges, which is churches offerings are, have fallen typically for most ministries.

Dr. John Auxier:
And start actually looking at scenarios and understand, trying to understand what the future might look like and try to create a positive into the future, because I think that if we just get lost in the day to day, then we're not going to be very well equipped for whatever emerges. And it's easy to kind of be complacent. And we're all trying to be good citizens and and, and being careful to make sure that we're protecting our, our flocks and ourselves from contamination. And that needs to happen. We should be careful about contact. But I think that doesn't mean we have to tread water entirely. And so I think we've got to sit down and really take some think time and say, what is it that's going to prepare me for the future and prepare our congregation and, and our family for the future? I mean, at multiple levels? I think you need to, we need to start thinking about those questions.

Rob Thiessen:
But what what advice, encouragement would you give to pastors for in terms of self care for for themselves during, during a time of uncertainty like we're in now?

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, I mean. I don't think that this is always the answer to everything, but I think that if you have,

Dr. John Auxier:
Somebody who you can turn to, who the you know, who might be a professional counselor, who is a Christian, who might, who understands pastoral life and the challenges, almost all of those folks haven't gone away. They're almost all operating their practices. You know, through through the Internet, and so that's not ideal because it's not ideal not to be face to face with somebody and have that, that connection, but that's still a really useful resource. And I think of a pastor is really feeling depressed and low, they ought not to hesitate to reach out and ask for some help in that way from a professional. And we're fortunate, particularly in the Lower Mainland, of having lots of good counselors and our marriage and family therapy program that Acts has trained a lot of them. But there's, that would be one thing that's just an option for people. I'm not trying to sell it. I'm just saying, you know, I think that's something. I do think that. Part of the issue when one gets depressed is having to get out of your head a bit and be able to be more active and. It's tougher when we are somewhat confined and limited about how do I actively participate in things so but.

Dr. John Auxier:
It means, finding a way to get myself up off the couch and get myself moving and find a way to use that reflective time, which I could just dwell on the things that are not happening or the pain I'm feeling, but beginning to try to say, how can I turn this into a constructive time between myself and the Lord and a reflective time through a daily journal or prayer journal, reviewing as we evolved in God's word on a daily basis, just taking more extensive notes and putting it out on paper, the struggles that we're having. I just think that's a really, like building the art of self reflection is one of the key things that I would recommend to young pastors as a godly way of building a sustainable life in ministry. And if we don't have godly self reflection happening, our chances are that we're going to become too focused on the task and the work and the demands and expectations of others and not, and disconnected from our own hearts and disconnected from God's heart.

Rob Thiessen:
John, is when you describe godly self reflection that way, I think of how a lot of even, even ancient writers of medieval times, of the Luther's and, and others, I think they include that in prayer, like it's a spiritual discipline that's a part of prayer. So it's. And I think sometimes we think of prayer just being our time of intercession or following the Lord's Prayer. And when I hear you saying is that it is sitting down and asking the question, where am I? What's going on internally? Maybe in terms of what is God teaching me? How am I reacting that that's an incredibly valuable part of health?

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, I think to yeah, Rob, and I think that along that lines, it's like Philippians four says that, you know, that in everything with prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God that, you know, surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And I think Paul specifically says in everything. And that's sometimes for us that tends to be just about requests or tends to be, you know, the, the positive things.

Dr. John Auxier:
And I, and I think in everything really means also in the painful things. It's laying out the pain we're feeling. I mean, we see it in the Psalms all the time. David doesn't hold back. I mean, he just says, says it like it is, you know, I feel like I'm being torn asunder. I'm you know, I don't know. There seems to be no light. I don't know what's going to happen. Where's God, you know? Well, as Christians, long time Christians, we feel that way, too, sometimes. Where is God in all this and or where, I feel cut off from him today? Laying that out on the table is also a way for us to be open to the Holy Spirit, working to respond. But I think when we hold it inside, as something we can't talk about or don't know how to talk about it. It then betakes on more power, is almost a secret reservation we're having in our faith. And reality is, those are common questions that we all struggle with and, but we have to put them like David did, we have to put them down as our own psalms of our own moments and our own hard questions that we ask of God. And then along with that, we think about what the book of Hebrews says that he who seeks after God must first believe that he exists. And then he's the rewarder of those who seek him. And so we, we don't just lay them out as recriminations against God when we're disappointed or overwhelmed or feel abandoned by him. But we also turn to him and say, this is how I'm feeling now. What, what do you want to say to me and we think about what is, we think about what his word says to us, and then we listen to him in the Holy Spirit to say, what do you need to say to me, to God? You know, but but we have to first get honest with God about what's going on.

Rob Thiessen:
When you, in your observation of what's going on right now around us with a Covid crisis, what are some of the, the things that, what, how would you describe what people are experiencing, maybe what some of the emotional needs? Who are the vulnerable people? What are they struggling with? The pastors and caregivers need to be attentive to during this time.

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, you know, obviously, I think everybody's probably doing similar stuff where church staffs are probably, have sliced up the congregation and making sure they're contacting people regularly or they're having their small group leaders make sure that they're trying to connect with their small groups and stuff. I mean, one of the, one of the challenges is that I've heard of and I'm not sure of the incidence level, I don't have any data or stats behind it or whatever it is.

Dr. John Auxier:
There are some families where there might be pressure, especially, I think, part of the joblessness situation or income loss that could stimulate a lot more friction at home. I think, especially for men. When we aren't working and we, we kind of define ourselves by our work in our jobs, if, if that's the case and I've been laid off, I might be receiving EI or some other help, which is great. But there can also be cases where I just feel like I'm not, I don't respect myself. I'm angry about not being able to work. It's a way I've regulating my life and organized my life and now I'm at loose ends. And I think maybe one of the things that pastors need to talk about more often, too, is how, how do families cope with stresses when that's happening.

Dr. John Auxier:
And it, I'm not saying this isn't the case for women as well. It's not that, I just and of course, here in the Lower Mainland, there's hardly anybody who doesn't have both mom and dad working to some degree because it's so hard to survive here financially. But I think especially for men's ministries, maybe it's a time for men's ministry to not just be totally deactivated to make sure that we're reaching out to the men in our church who are, who are struggling because they're, their jobs are on the line or they have been laid off and, or there's so much uncertainty around that because that's such a big part of male identity.

Dr. John Auxier:
It can be also for women, too. So I wouldn't say it's never at all, but there's a kind of historic tendency for men to define themselves by their work. And when that's in jeopardy, I think that creates unique stresses that we could come alongside in ministry more deliberately.

Rob Thiessen:
We, this is a time, like we were talking about before, where there, the usual pattern structures are not there.

Rob Thiessen:
What, but how much of our life is dependent and our sense of well-being on the structures that we create and that we follow. And, and now those aren't there both for, for men and women. It's turned on its head. We're at home. Everybody's thrown in the home, like you said. Then where even in some cases, on lockdown. What, what kind of a kind of stress does that create in our lives? And, and also maybe you could even talk to the importance again. You mentioned the discipline of self reflection. What other structures can a pastor who is still working, a lot of our pastors are still working during this time? What kind of structures can they bring into their life to, to ,to try to maintain their own health and sense of well-being, to avoid burnout and depression. Those patterns.

Dr. John Auxier:
Now, this probably and I think the challenge is there's no one size fits all answer to that because people are wired differently and families operate different, different kinds of styles. And so I'm not always sure how to reply to that.

Rob Thiessen:
I'm sure the introvert is quite happy with all the free time to reflect and read, go for quiet walks.

Dr. John Auxier:
Or, I mean, it can be, if the introverts there and all the kids are home and then there's no, you can't go to the office and now they don't have any time. So I know. And it cuts all different ways. I think, you know, one of the things it's hard is that oftentimes if, if there was a lull in ministry or a lull, then this for anybody ministry or, you know, not, what you'd plan a family trip or something, well you can't do that. You know, you can go to the playground. You know, there's just a few parks.

Dr. John Auxier:
You can go for a walk in and even then you've got to be vigilant and so on. So that's, boy that just makes it so difficult I think. Having said that, I think that. You know, there's an opportunity that we have, to focus on family in a way that we haven't, and I think sometimes what's happened if we've been very busy or there's unaddressed issues in our lives, now we're thrown together and some of those issues are bound to arise and seeking help, you know, asking, calling your pastor and asking for their advice, the seeking help from godly friends who you can trust to, to chat with. I can think of a conversation I had not too long ago with a young, young man, and his wife was frustrated with a number of things. And, and she could really use an outlet, somebody to regularly talk to, but she just doesn't have anybody to talk to. And so consequently, it tends to be all on his lap. And in some ways it's good for her to be able to talk to him. But it's also, if she debriefed a bit outside and got some other insight, it'd probably be helpful to her, especially it was a, you know, a godly person who really supports the marriage and just could be a sounding board for her to blow off steam, you know.

Dr. John Auxier:
But I think we. It, it, it underlines in a way, it really brings home to us the need to have connection with others because we're missing it. And, and so and I guess that I think it's kind of glib to say it, Rob. So I hate to say it, but I think in the middle of this complex time, especially with the uncertainty that's existed for all of us in ministry and out of it, how can I, how can I make this? How can I look back and say, I took stock and we corrected course as a family or as a couple. That I did something different than I normally did. I said I want to find a way to use this constructively. And there's probably a number of ways to do it, but. I wonder about how we could make more constructive use of this unique time, because it won't be forever. It's going to go away. Things will get back somewhat to normal. We'll see what the new normal looks like. But for now, it looks like being cooped up together, it looks like having a lot less scrutiny on our time, it looks like, but also means time's available for connecting to our spouses or our children.

Dr. John Auxier:
Yeah, when I think about those kinds of families.

Rob Thiessen:
Yeah, so making the time you and I are in a different stage of life, our kids, I'm assuming your kids are grown up. My kids are out of the house. So it's like you said, every family is in a different situation.

Rob Thiessen:
My heart goes out to pastors and couples who and all the families where all the kids are at home. I mean, on the one hand, it's amazing to get some close time, but, boy, that puts some pressure on everyone.

Dr. John Auxier:
Yeah, well, that, that, what I just said kind of says, is there some way I could, we could do something more with your children and do something more with your spouse, if that's possible, or recognize that one person may be carrying more is more of a load because they're now home and the other person may be continuing to work because they're an essential service of some sort. And so for them, things haven't changed that much. But for the other spouse, it's changed quite a bit. The other, the other area that would be a question in ministry today, I think is a significant number of folks in our churches are single. And so what does it mean for a single person who's lost their social contact, who's now, even if their job is intact, they're working from home. Yeah. Boy, what kind of ministry do we have to our, our single adults who are, often really dependent on their friendships and their social circles and social gatherings. In a way, they've been cut off more, more severely than folks who have a nuclear family around them and.

Rob Thiessen:
Ya, we have a single daughter and we often, we don't want to hound her but yeah, it's a different, whole different ballgame when, when you're alone or I think of a widow or people that are alone. I know it's a big subject, but there is another group of people that I think are vulnerable. And my wife and I were out for a walk the other day and we bumped into to a nurse. And here in BC there's always a lot of comments, well, the hospitals are empty. Why are they doing this? But as we just chatted a little bit with the nurse and she talked about what they have to go through, whether or not the place, the hospital is empty, all the change in procedure, the constant stress of watching and thinking, am I carrying the infection now from one person to another. Just hearing her talk a little bit, I thought, oh, wow, that's an overwhelmingly challenging situation for people. So maybe you could talk just a little bit. I know it's a big subject, but talk about some of these other people who maybe we're overlooking and maybe some people are getting frustrated saying, well, why are they complaining or what are your thoughts on, on some of these other vulnerable sectors?

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, we see in the some of the public service advertisements the faces of first responders like nurses and doctors who are wearing masks constantly and those of us who, who try to wear mask once in a while, can hardly breath ya know. If I had to be at work all day and work five, six hours at a shot, man, it's just exhausting. So I think that's a really great point. And that points to maybe remembering in our congregations the special, the special needs of first responders in general and frontline service workers.

Dr. John Auxier:
The people are getting exposed to the bug or risk exposure to the bug on a daily basis, and then that's what I can think for myself. I mean, the last thing I want to do is get Covid and bring it home, and so my wife catches it, you know. I'd feel terrible if I did that, and so that's one of my motivations for being trying to be careful about good protocols. But if somebody is working in a hospital constantly, how can they you know that the risk of that and going from patient to patient, I mean, clearly, that's why the nursing homes have become such a difficult place, because that's everybody's together so closely and workers go from room to room and they don't know whether they're carrying the bug sometimes, so. That's a that's a real weight on people's souls and hearts and maybe even having the opportunity to connect the various nurses and medical service folks, you know, ambulance drivers and others, the techs and our church congregations and have, a have a, a group conversation about what it's like for you and how can we be praying for you and reaching out to that very overworked and stressed out group. I think the stress level from that I mean, I don't know about you, Rob, but I feel it, too. When you've got to be constantly vigilant, you're kind of on your toes all the time and you can't go out and just buy a milkshake someplace or, you know, you're reluctant to even order takeout food sometimes. And every time you do, you're thinking, how is this going to be it? You know, am I going to run into the wrong person? And if that's affecting me, when I mainly keep to myself, I can't imagine what it'd be like when I have to daily deal with dozens and dozens of people.

Rob Thiessen:
John, there is pastor, and I think, like all leaders, you're, you're up in front of people, it's a time of uncertainty. You feel like I don't know if I really have anything meaningful to say. What would you say to a pastor or a leader who's feeling that I'm out of my league? It's uncharted territory. I'm out of my comfort zone. I don't know what to say. And the temptation to just I don't know, cocoon, avoid it, self-doubt creeps in. What would you say to, to a pastor or a person in a caring role who is struggling with those kinds of self-doubt thoughts?

Dr. John Auxier:
Well, I mean, I think I. It's a real issue there for us in terms of our vocational calling and feeling like we can't do what we should be doing and, you know, we can't make the, we can only we can make Zoom calls on people, which is awesome. And, and phone check ins on people, which is great. But so many of us, myself included, you know, pastoring situation, we want to, we'd like to be present with people physically and, and, and connect to them that way. So I know that, that's a. That's a real challenge, I guess I'm not sure that that's strictly the question of do I have anything to say? Isn't really a covid question in my mind, Rob, as much as a general question about where I'm at in terms of my spiritual well-being and my emotional health as a pastor. We all have had struggles in our lives when we've been in ministry where, getting up there in front of everybody else and telling them to follow the Lord when we ourselves are not doing well, yeah, it is a painful place to be and. You know, I think one of the things that I think I'm convinced of is. Our need to, we should be.

Dr. John Auxier:
I think that we, we don't always go from a current topic and then go to the God's word and try to address it. I think our strongest point is to continue to preach expositorily and let the word of God lead us and with the power of the Holy Spirit in our preparation and prayer. And then look for those applications that address our life situation because more likely, the Holy Spirit is fully aware of where we're struggling, and I think by doing that, we continue to anchor ourselves in the truth that lasts beyond that current crisis. And this is. You know, it's not that our illustrations may well apply to some of the current struggles we're talking about. I think it should. That's good preaching, but I think it comes first or what is the God's word saying to us. And so I think if we I think it is harder if pastors have tended to be topical in their approach to their preaching strategy. I think that's where I think it can become an overwhelming question about what do I say now because I can simply run out of topics. But if the word but if it's expository preaching makes the word the driver and us the passenger and puts God in the driver's seat.

Dr. John Auxier:
And I think that's so continuing to do that, I think reinforcing that's important. I mean, I would say on a note, an example of this is something that's really I think it was a really a good example as spoken to me as the pastor of our church of Fort Langley, Evangelical Free Church, Pastor Jason, he's elected, wasn't related to covid, but he was planning to go into Philippians. So Philippians, great book because of Paul's in prison and is restricted, you know, so I'm sure that's not an original thought. I'm sure a lot of preachers thought, oh, well, Philippians is pretty good for now, but I think that's been a you know, he's kind of I think he's titiled the series something like messages from lock, the letters from, a letter from lock down, or something like this, you know, because Paul's stuck in Rome with Roman guards and can't get out. And so, but it's not all about that. It's about what is Paul's vision for the Christian life that he's that he's sharing that's outside the bounds of his confinement. And so, anyway, there's probably lots of things to do about that.

Dr. John Auxier:
But I think that's a foundational issue.

Rob Thiessen:
That's really helpful because you're pointing the response to say it's not, it's not actually you that is, should be providing the answers. It's you're taking people to where hope and security can be found in the gospel, in scripture, in the word of God and the character of God.

Rob Thiessen:
And, and that's profound. And a very good reminder for us. Thanks for taking the time to be with us and good conversation to us. Obviously, the things we just, were wrestling with, we're in the thick of it. And I found your encouragement there. You came around again to the word of God for us and for all of us as listeners as this time, whatever stress we're going through, just like any time in life, the importance of quieting ourselves with the scriptures, with the Holy Spirit and being transparent and honest, it's really a core to our our health and well-being.

Rob Thiessen:
So thank you for taking the time, Doctor Auxier. And I think we're going to have another conversation. There are more things to talk about to all of our listeners. Thanks for taking the time to be with us on this podcast. And I encourage you to look to the Lord this week and also give us a good rating on iTunes if you can, so the podcast gets out there. Thanks. My pleasure. All right. Take care, brother. OK. Thanks, John.

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Automated transcription is getting more accurate with each passing day. Lawyers need to transcribe their interviews, phone calls, and video recordings. Most choose Sonix as their speech-to-text technology. Better audio means a higher transcript accuracy rate. Sometimes you don't have super fancy audio recording equipment around; here's how you can record better audio on your phone. More computing power makes audio-to-text faster and more efficient. Do you have a podcast? Here's how to automatically transcribe your podcasts with Sonix. Rapid advancements in speech-to-text technology has made transcription a whole lot easier. Automated transcription is much more accurate if you upload high quality audio. Here's how to capture high quality audio.

Sonix uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence to convert your mp3 files to text.

Sonix is the best online audio transcription software in 2020—it's fast, easy, and affordable.

If you are looking for a great way to convert your audio to text, try Sonix today.