Maybe it’s the need for distraction as the pandemic stretches on, or perhaps it’s all those recent winning streaks, but the TV game show Jeopardy is receiving renewed cultural attention. Since mid-summer, two contestants – Matt Amodio and Amy Schneider (pictured to the left) –...
Eight friends and family members gathered recently for a holiday meal. As the meal went on, conversation drifted into talk of everyone’s jobs. A young woman who had just started her first job after graduate school shared about loving the work but struggling with the lack...
I subscribe to lots of church newsletters, emailed weekly. With these subscriptions often come daily advent devotionals. You know the drill: miscellaneous members and pastors and staff write a short devotional, usually on a Biblical text (that may be referenced in the devotional…or not) and...
One of the challenges for those who serve on church boards is that, well, it is all so church-focused. The people in church ask you about the progress of this church thing or the problem with that church thing. You talk with your fellow leaders...
Let’s face it, finding or keeping one’s balance has never been the easiest thing in the month of December. Calendars crowd us with events. Cultural expectations for comfort and joy abound, keeping everyone too busy to have much of either. All the markers of the...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Ben Johnston-Krase (Farm Church) about moving past superficial gratitude, disentangling it from material abundance, and its revolutionary character....
Just as most pastors and church board members were easing into a few Thanksgiving days of leisure and the anticipation of a “more normal Advent,” news of Omicron filled our feeds. The groans and exclamations—"Not again!”—could be heard everywhere. Certainly, it was the most common...
Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! - Isaiah 58:1 About the last thing most pastors feel like right now – along with their church boards – is a trumpet. Worn down by months of uncertainty, discord over masks and more,...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with Dr. Donyelle McCray (Yale Divinity School) and the Rev. Dr. Tom Long (Candler School of Theology) about their new book of Advent Devotions, the "disappointing Jesus", and what's required of us....
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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