The Ministry Collaborative Podcast: Highlights from Our First Year
The pain, grief, dislocation, and uncertainty generated by this pandemic feel endless. As it turns out, so do the lists. Top Ten Comfort Foods in Quarantine Fifteen overlooked movies of the 1980’s Essential TV shows to Binge Today (yes, it is time to watch The Wire if you...
In the days after the deaths of C.T. Vivian and John Lewis, which happened on the same weekend in July, the digital displays outside Lincoln Center in New York City – usually pre-occupied with upcoming performances but mostly blank amid the pandemic - displayed alternating...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with writer/scholar Dr. J. Kameron Carter (Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington) on what the Underground Railroad and Dietrich Bonhoeffer can teach us about faithfully confronting the challenges of 2020....
In a round table conversation recorded prior to COVID-19 shutdowns, The Ministry Collaborative program staff (Jennifer Maxell, Mark Ramsey, Adam Borneman, and Adam Mixon) discuss how cultivating joy is an act of faithful resistance against materialism, anger, loneliness, and violence....
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Jemonde Taylor, Rector of St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Raleigh, NC, about how the historically Black congregation history of relocating multiple times continues to inform and shape their agility and witness....
Our colleagues at RootedGood are offering a terrific tool to help pastors and church boards navigate the challenging decision making that is inherent in ministry today as we seek to be faithful to the urgent demands of the moment. Though Digging a Deeper Well is taking a...
In a round table conversation recorded back in January, The Ministry Collaborative program staff (Mark Ramsey, Adam Mixon, Jennifer Maxell, and Adam Borneman) discuss the important and difficult work of telling the truth in ministry....
A recent post by my favorite daily blogger, Seth Godin, contains a great deal of complexity in its few lines: When you talk about your last job, your last vacation, the things that happened when you were 12… What do you lead with? Do you lead with, “I...
In a conversation recorded back in April, Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with Emily McGinley, Executive Pastor of Urban Village Church's Hyde Park location and Facilitator of the Chicago Cohort, about the importance of anti-racism work in shaping church plants with integrity....
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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