A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. Proverbs 15:4 My prayer today is simple: “LORD, allow my words to be seasoned with both truth and grace; may they build up and not tear down; may they heal and not destroy.” I...
Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! 2 Corinthians 4:15 Sometimes when you are born into dysfunction, you just learn to live with things. Sometimes when you are confronted with chronic ailments...
In a conversation recorded back in February, The Ministry Collaborative program staff (Mark Ramsey, Jennifer Maxell, Adam Borneman, Adam Mixon, and Ryan Bonfiglio) discuss technical vs. adaptive leadership, imaginative space, and whether we truly believe God's plans are better than ours....
The greatest commandments are these: Love the LORD with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31). I used to think that hate was the opposite of love, but I've since learned that hate is the absence of...
In a conversation recorded back in February, The Ministry Collaborative program staff (Adam Borneman, Jennifer Maxell, Mark Ramsey, Adam Mixon, and Ryan Bonfiglio) discuss the danger of complicity, the lure of co-dependency, and the critical importance of relationships....
We often face circumstances that don't make sense - situations that challenge both our faith and our rationality. The longer I live, the more often I find myself confronted with these types of things. One might think that this would leave me discouraged and broken,...
In a conversation recorded back in January, The Ministry Collaborative program staff (Mark Ramsey, Jennifer Maxell, Adam Borneman, and Adam Mixon) discuss the power of curiosity, the importance of facing reality, and how we can derive hope from younger generations....
Content Curator Adam Mixon returns to speak with the Rev. Dr. Joe Scrivner (Stillman College, Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church) about critical race theory, American Christianity's historic complicity in perpetuating racism, and how charity is used as a substitute for justice....
In a conversation recorded back in January, The Ministry Collaborative program staff (Mark Ramsey, Jennifer Maxell, Adam Mixon, and Adam Borneman) discuss hope, our death-denying culture, and the critical role that grief can - and should - play in our post-pandemic ministry....
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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