The Ministry Collaborative Podcast: Highlights from Our First Year
Garrison Keillor is credited with observing, “Nothing bad ever happens to writers. It’s all material.” By this he meant, of course, that it is from experiences, good and bad, that the author develops a story line – a making sense of the experience. The result...
Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington are the top four college football teams this year. (Penn State and Michigan fans, please forgive me!) When your favorite team scores a touchdown and the camera pans the end zone, what scripture verse is ALWAYS there in bold...
Check out Macedonian Ministry Fourth Quarter Newsletter featuring Glacier Presbytery....
O God, on this Christmas day, please come into my heart and soul and quench the deepest thirst of my life. May I remember that no tangible gift I can receive, nor any earthly thing, can ultimately satisfy me. May I realize today, O God,...
Trustees at a Pennsylvania Medical Center did a patient survey to determine which of their employees were most helpful in contributing to the health of their patients. Although many doctors and nurses were singled out...
[info-box] Guest Writer: Rev. Shannon Spencer Chaplain, Swannanoa Correctional Center For Women Founding Executive Director, Asheville Poverty Initiative [/info-box] Their names were Rose and Cliff. It was their first time joining us. They'd heard so much about our community they felt the need to try us out. "We kept hearing about...
If Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer, and Anderson Cooper had been alive and if television had been in existence in 1809, the morning and evening news would have focused on Austria. The big news in 1809 was Napoleon Bonaparte leading the French army across Austria. While...
Since the Council of Nicaea the global church has strongly affirmed that Jesus was fully human and fully Divine. Certainly this seasons of Advent and Christmas uphold the Divinity of Jesus. That he was born a tiny, vulnerable baby in humble circumstances notwithstanding, in his...
Have you ever been stuck? Not sure how to proceed? Are you asking questions like: “Should I change jobs? Should I say “yes” to the opportunity that is before me? Which road should I take?” God can’t steer a parked car. So…proceed in the direction that...
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I was the Facilitator for the first New York City cohort, and at the time, I was working in theological education on Christian leadership formation, so it seemed like a natural fit. What I discovered, though, was something quite different from my “day job.” While the content and topics of the curriculum was a crucial part of our gatherings, it was the community of mutual care and support that made the content relevant, not the other way around. And second, having three years of strong bonding created an extraordinarily resilient community that, in turn, was able to build up resilience in our leaders. I think every member of my cohort went through significant seasons of both joy and heartache, professionally and vocationally, during our time. And the cohort, in turn, lived out the exhortation of Romans 12:15, “rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep,” with a depth and integrity that I have rarely experienced, and often doing both in the same gathering. It was a privilege and a blessing to me and my own faith and ministry to be their facilitator, and I am eternally grateful to the Ministry Collaborative for calling me to that work!”
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was unique to my particular situation. It was needed, appreciated and healing. It was affirming. Most valuable was the unspoken understanding of what we all were facing in our ministry context. There was a sense that we could finish each other’s sentences. Solidarity and empathy.”
Graduation Date:
May 23, 2021
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was unique to my particular situation. It was needed, appreciated and healing. It was affirming. Most valuable was the unspoken understanding of what we all were facing in our ministry context. There was a sense that we could finish each other’s sentences. Solidarity and empathy.”
Graduation Date:
May 23, 2021
“I truly looked forward to this every week. The discussion topics, activities, and small group conversations were all very rich and meaningful. This experience gave me space to reflect on what’s happening right now in my congregation and community. It helped me to think about what might be next in my own ministry. It offered some very concrete ways I might work on equipping leaders in my congregation. I really enjoyed meeting colleagues from different places, denominations, and contexts–and learning from their experiences and reflections. I also appreciated hearing further conversation and reinforcement in the podcasts.”
Graduation Date:
July 14, 2021
“The experience was, in one word, enriching. It was timely as well. I was at a critical point in my own ministry and this literally breathed life back into me. The time went by so fast that I didn’t even realize two months had passed. To be able to share that type of camaraderie with other preachers, and realize that my struggles are not isolated, was liberating.”
Graduation Date:
March 18, 2021
“It was great to find confirmation and affirmation of my ministry through the voices of other pastors. I particularly enjoyed the focused time on talking about each of us as individuals and pastors, and not so much on what our churches look like.”
Graduation Date:
January 31st, 2020