The Ministry Collaborative Podcast: Highlights from Our First Year
It’s a trap, especially for church boards. When people come back to worship post-pandemic, then we will be able to feel a vitality again. When we get the right pastor, then things can begin to fire on all cylinders. When these troublesome members leave, then we can finally...
Ministry Collaborative program staff (Jennifer Watley Maxell, Amy Valdez Barker, Adam Mixon, Beth Daniel, Adam Borneman, and Mark Ramsey) talk about the pressure on pastors to react, what it means to trust God fully, and the importance of tethering our stories to the hope of...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty (Presbyterian Foundation) about seeing vibrancy, inklings about what's emerging for the church, and the hopeful growing places in theological education. ...
Ministry Collaborative program staff (Mark Ramsey, Jennifer Watley Maxell, Amy Valdez Barker, Beth Daniel, Adam Mixon, and Adam Borneman) talk about what drew them to this work, what they are seeing in ministry, and what it means to rediscover our love for Christ's missional purpose...
When I was a pastor in downtown Denver many years ago, a well-meaning parishioner would suggest with some regularity that we revise our congregational mission statement. Now, there is nothing I enjoy more than spending months wordsmithing a statement that no one will be able...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Dr. José Irizarry (President, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary) about the connection between practice and knowledge, entering a new context well, and developing better models of leadership. ...
Church boards know this. In your faith community… Not everyone speaks with the same history. Not everyone speaks at the same volume. Not everyone speaks with the same frequency. Certainly, not everyone speaks with the same agenda(!). And, if we are honest, not everyone speaks with the same commitment, spiritual...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Michelle "Misha" Cazas (Westside Church Internacional, Denver) about her conversion to Christianity in her native Bolivia, the importance - and challenges - of ministry with immigrant communities here in the United States, and how God continues to...
Reeling from the impact of the Highland Clearances, early nineteenth-century Highland Scots were desperate to find a way to connect their region’s numerous Lochs (lakes) to provide seamless water transportation for commercial goods—both to stem the tide of emigration and to nurture a new economy....
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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