Free Range Priest.
Like the chicken?
YES!
Because it’s still ministry, it just tastes better.
[Here if you need me: frcathie@freerangepriest.org]
Someone asked me recently how I would explain what I do to a 5th grader and I said:
I write about how church could be for people who are in it.
And I write about what church is for people who are curious about it.
I’m an ‘old-school’ mainline clergy person: I’ve got a seminary degree and two decades of congregational experience under my belt. I came of age in a church that was declining but still able to live in denial about that.
I never thought I’d want to do anything except serve full-time with a parish.
But then a few things happened:
I started serving as a Canon - sort of an ‘in-house consultant’ on the staff of the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
Because of this, I really got to know a lot of clergy and congregations - 60 of them in my ‘region’, most of them small - and I saw how much they were all struggling to continue to do and be church in the ‘old school’ model: a building, a professional clergy person, a set of programs, and one set group of people who support it all.
I began to truly understand the free fall that mainline denominational church finds itself in.
I just knew there had to be a better way - a way to work through and get rid of a lot of the ‘stuff’ of church - the 20th century institutional systems and ways that are holding us back - while supporting and maintaining and celebrating and sharing the ‘Good Stuff’ of church. The love of God and the Good News of Jesus Christ that we all need, now more than ever.
And I became inspired.
'But you only work on Sundays...'
Just before the turn of the century, I served at a church in New York City. Fortunately, the congregation owned an apartment building where the staff lived, so we didn’t have to pay rent. The commute was very convenient - a ‘secret’ door at the back of the church that led directly to the building next door.
And then:
I quit my very wonderful job and set out on my own.
I became a ministry entrepreneur.
I started an LLC - and I trademarked the name ‘Free Range Priest’.
I got the pension fund to let me continue to be part of it
and I gratefully convinced my Bishop to let me set out on my own.
Not entirely on my own! Not by a long shot. I take the ‘priest’ part as seriously as I take the ‘free range’ part. I’m completely committed and accountable to the church. And I’m seeking and supporting ways to make it better..
I’ve been ‘Free Ranging’ for almost a decade now, so on top of ministry experience, I’ve built my own small business, and I know the solopreneur ropes (and I like to apply them to the church!)
And it just so happens I love all things tech!
In a weird move by the Holy Spirit, my last secular job before I went to seminary was as the executive assistant to the Chair of the Computer Science department at Duke University. In the mid-1990s.
In order to do that job, I had to learn to code - and create rudimentary websites, long before there were any kind of commercial ‘website builders’. I loved it!
I have never looked back - keeping my skills up to date and utilizing as much technology as possible - with and for clergy and congregations.
Why subscribe?
If you are clergy, a member of a congregation, or just curious about the future of church, Free Range Priest is the place for conversation, support, ideas, inspiration, and optimism about where God is calling us in the digital age.
[Also - because I can’t help myself - you’ll get a lot of stories about running, my adorable Great Dane, my superhero husband, and photos of the sunrise.]
You can subscribe - or upgrade - your subscription here:
Here’s what you get:
I publish my main blog on Tuesday mornings (as often as humanly possible).
I also publish Notes daily - inspiration, other people’s writing, random thoughts I’m having about my work.
For paid subscribers, I post a sermon workshop of my own preaching thoughts and structure on Wednesdays.
Also for paid subscribers, I host a chat of thoughts/questions that have come up during the week.
And in an effort to practice what I preach - creating new ways of doing and being church - I’ve started a ‘gym for your soul’. It’s a separate publication, where you can be a free or paid subscriber if you like:
Because it’s a lot, I put out a digest on Saturdays!!
So that’s a little about me! I have tons of passion and optimism about the church. I love God, I follow Jesus, I support clergy and other ministers serving in new ways, and I am in the miracle business.
Free Range Priest. I like to call it ‘Cage Free Ministry’.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
