The Ministry Collaborative Podcast: Highlights from Our First Year
From Guest Writer: Rev. Joseph F. Scrivner, Ph.D. Pastor of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, Professor, Stillman College I’m a Christian. I believe God became a human being in Jesus Christ to save sinful humanity. I’m a pastor. I serve a small Presbyterian congregation. I’m a partner. I’ve...
A friend of mine was selected by President George H.W. Bush to be the United States Ambassador to Austria. During a time when he disagreed with the President about foreign policy, the Ambassador was summoned to the White House for a meeting in the Oval...
Tom Cousins, the Atlanta developer whose philanthropic heart has led him to dedicate his resources to breaking the cycle of poverty, told me about a dream he had one night....
Be honest. Do you know anyone who is hard for you to love? A family member? Your boss? A colleague at the office? A neighbor? As Charlie Brown used to say in the old “Peanuts” comic strip, “I love humanity… it’s just people I can’t...
Reverend Dr. Tom Tewell reflects on the current election year and wonders what Abraham Lincoln would lift up if he was running for president? He believes Lincoln would lift up the following: Civility Work for the common good Faith in God Watch Rev. Dr. Tom Tewell describe...
If Monday Night Football had been covering the events of 1,000 B.C., ancestors of Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, and Al Michaels would have been providing commentary for a Super Bowl-like gladiatorial contest between the heavily favored Philistines and the underdog Israelites. The Philistines were led...
You may be asking what was Sully Sullenberger’s secret? As we reflect on how we are procrastinating in our own lives, we can take away some inspiration from Captain Sully Sullenberger, a U.S. Airways pilot, who made a successful emergency water landing on the Hudson...
In this passage, the people of Israel were on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Fourteen months earlier, they were led out of captivity in Egypt into the wilderness of Sinai. God led them by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire...
The last check my father ever wrote was consistent with the way he and my Mother lived their lives. My parents were generous people: with their time, their material goods, their home, their ideas, and their money. Their simple philosophy of life was to give away...
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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