The Ministry Collaborative Podcast: Highlights from Our First Year
December is no sooner over than January is upon us, trailing annual meetings and new officer trainings with it. Even if your church board turnover keeps a different calendar, this is always a good moment to think about how to do that turnover well. How a...
The story goes that a couple trying to find a country inn got hopelessly lost, so they stopped at a local store to ask for directions. “Sure,” the clerk offered. “Just go down this road for a couple more miles. You’re going to turn right...
I think one of the most important words Jesus ever spoke was the word “today.” Give us today our daily bread. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Zacchaeus, hurry and come...
What is the thread that binds together your faith community, especially in a time when our whole social fabric seems so ready to unravel? For sure, it is not Robert’s Rules of Order, or a contentious vote on the issues of the day where you can...
So many of our posts urge church boards to risk more, to be bold, to try new things. We continue to be convinced that this is a moment for congregations and their leadership to appreciate the ways God’s Spirit is moving us in new directions...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Dr. Scott Black Johnston (Senior Pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, NYC) about his new book, loving your enemies, and striving for grace....
One of the terms that has found new life and meaning during the pandemic is the well-worn word pivot. Everyone, it seems, has been pivoting all over the place. Indeed, we wouldn’t be surprised if your church board has discussed and enacted several pivots of...
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with the Rev. Amy Miracle (Pastor of Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Columbus, OH) about innovation fatigue, the myth of normalcy, and why her church has found authenticity in online worship....
Executive Director Mark Ramsey speaks with our founder, the Rev. Dr. Tom Tewell, about the needs he and Tom Cousins saw fifteen years ago that led to our founding, what changes he has seen in his decades of ministry, and what it is that persists....
”
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