‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘Why Are We All So Immature?’ by . ‘The best models usually aren’t putting themselves in the spotlight; they’re usually off to the side, beating their chest saying “Have mercy on me, a sinner.” We need saints, not celebrities; we need models who care more about theosis, union with Christ, than building platform.’

• ‘What’s the Hurry?’ by . ‘Religion has become the manual typewriter of the spiritual life for many people. It’s not bad. And some still want to use it for nostalgia’s sake or to suit their own purposes. But generally speaking, religion has become one among many options, not an existential necessity.’

Church stuff

• ‘You Arrive as a Person. You Become a Case’ by ‘the machinery of institutional response is not oriented toward them. It is oriented toward the organization. The person who fell is the occasion for the process, not the purpose of it.’

• ‘How ‘Inclusive’ Church Excludes’ by . ‘Inclusion is not a destination but a direction. It tells us that a door is open, but it says nothing about what lies beyond.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘When will Modern English end?’ by . ‘There’s a quotation attributed to Chinese statesman Zhou Enlai, who, when asked by Henry Kissinger about the impact of the French Revolution — which had occurred almost two centuries prior to this conversation — is reported to have said, “It is too soon to tell.”’

• ‘For the Love of Dogs’ by . ‘I think of Alvin, the irascible dog, and how, in his last moments, he leaned into his owner with trust. I don’t know what it means, exactly, but it seems like grace to me. It seems like love. Alvin loved his family, in whatever way he could. And his family loved him.’
  

What I wrote this week:

I’m deep into consolidating my ministry, so I’m re-issuing older articles…

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘Beloved Authenticity’ by . ‘Sanctity, for Merton, was not about becoming someone else. It was about becoming who you already are in God.’

• ‘Let’s Talk Money’ by . ‘A rule is about ultimate concerns—about deciding what does and does not matter in this life as illumined by the next. And maybe this is why we don’t want to be talking about money. Like the Rich Young Ruler, we grow sad that God should ask so much of us.’

Church stuff

• ‘The Commodification Of Christianity’ by . ‘The awful truth of it, I have to be honest, is that I put off going to church because I know that I can. I’ve got my phone.’

• ‘A Too Small Life’ by . ‘You are witness to this life.

  It was life so small that it took over a month for anyone to notice. A life so folded in on itself that there is no one to even grieve, truly for her, the loss of her, the hole she left in their life. She left no holes in anyone’s life. That’s a choice.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘Sometimes…’ by . ‘Poets, mystics, children and sages have, for centuries, pointed towards our attention as being inseparable from our love.’

• ‘A Behold! Walk’ by . ‘Beholding is transformational. What I see, experience, and feel has a pathway into my soul’
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘Ask Father Cathie’ - I didn’t really ‘write’ this - it’s my monthly advice live stream. Usually just for paid subscribers, it’s open to everyone while I’m upgrading.
  
  This week’s question:
  ‘Should I take a $2,500 annual stipend for a chaplain job?’
  
  
  From St. Paul’s, Salisbury:
  

• ‘Why doctrines matter: they’re invitations into mystery’. ‘Doctrine is the shape or our beliefs. And that shape is always a triangle.’
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

I’m in the midst of a big overhaul/consolidation of Free Range Priest, Trexo, and Substack Seminary, but I wanted to keep up with ‘Ask Father Cathie’ - the first Wednesday of each month at noon Eastern.

This is usually just for paid subscribers, but in this time of transition I’m making it available for everyone.

Next ‘Ask Father Cathie’ is live July 1st at 3:30pm

if you’re ‘stuck’ in your ministry: Ask!

Ask Father Cathie

The question

• Think ‘Cage Free’

  • Start with what the job actually is – specific tasks, scope, and outcomes.

  • Instead of: ‘will you be our chaplain for $2,500 a year?’, ask ‘what ministry can we do together for this stipend?’.
    

    ---

• Task-based ministry vs. assumptions about what we do

  • Organizations and ministers often skip the part where we talk about what the job is!

  • Instead, we just ‘do what ministers do’ - which can lead to misunderstanding the frustration when both parties don’t have the same idea of what ministers do!

  • ‘We’re not paying a priest to pray!’ – how this lead to a Cage Free Ministry breakthrough.
    

    ---

• Ministers should NOT work for free!!

  • If you ‘don’t need the money’ and don’t ask to be paid, you undercut the ministers who do need to pay their bills.

  • Offering ministry for free teaches people that ministry is not work, and it’s not valuable.
    

    ---

• Change starts with us, minister friends

  • Most congregations and organizations are not sure what to think about compensation - and have often been conditioned to believe that ministry is ‘spiritual’, therefore ministers don’t need to be paid.

  • Over-functioning - doing ‘everything’, all the time, and not being compensated appropriately leads to exhaustion, resentment, and eventual breakdown for both minister and community.
    

    ---

• This is what Cage Free ministry is

  • Building a way of serving out of multiple clear, paid contracts: small congregations, organizations, chaplaincy, consulting.

  • That’s how I do it with the small congregation I serve (and have for the last decade), plus consultancy, teaching, speaking, and online ministry.
    
    

    ---

• Advice for the Cage Free Chaplain

  • Be the consultant: help the organization see how this stipend can create specific ministry tasks now…

  • And show them how growth could lead to new opportunities to share God’s love, and draw others into community..

  Your ministry is priceless. That’s exactly why you can’t afford to give it away.

Next ‘Ask Father Cathie’ is live July 1 at 3:30pm

if you’re ‘stuck’ in your ministry: Ask!

Ask Father Cathie

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘Leading causes of life’ by . ‘How can we - as individuals and as spiritual leaders - partner with God in taking tiny steps toward more connection, coherence, agency, hope, and blessing?’

• ‘Searching for God in Silicon Valley’ by . ‘I pray. So far no one has answered, or at least not so clearly that my agnostic ears can undeniably hear it. But I am still listening. If there is a God, I hope he is watching San Francisco in the year of our Lord 2026.’

Church stuff

• ‘Can evangelicals become more sacramental as sacramentalists become more evangelical?’ by . ‘what are the limits for us evangelical, low-church Protestants in developing a sacramental theology? Can we see all creation as sacramental without the sacramental accoutrements of Rome or Greece (altars, vestments, icons, etc.)?’

• ‘Is the Mainline Holding Together Two Different Faiths?’ by ‘once Christianity becomes about living like Jesus without believing in Jesus and his work through the church, then the church becomes an “unnecessary overhead.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘What Has Changed’ by . ‘You must be willing to actually let go of those days, because you cannot cling to what was and expect to be able to simultaneously hold today. You are incapable of being in two places at once.’

• ‘Kissing Cement at Full Speed’ by . ‘Divorce has an added layer in the grief process that comes before denial: Disillusionment.’
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘The Pope said ‘use AI for Love’. ‘It’s not just about how they are using AI (tech companies, governments, etc).It’s also how we are.We have power we have never had before to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth.’
  
  
  From St. Paul’s, Salisbury:
  

• ‘What if we didn’t grow - and that was the point?’ ‘We have definitely added members over the last few years - and we hope to continue adding members. But the mission of the church is to share the Gospel, and we have everything we need to do that already, no matter our size.’
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

Maybe I should not have been surprised at what a big deal Pope Leo’s Encyclical on AI really is, but I’m pretty excited about how many people have been talking and writing about it.

What I’ve noticed: people mostly focused on the warnings.

• Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical

  • the New York Times

• Pope Leo’s Unsettling Vision of the AI Future

  • the Atlantic

Pope, urging AI regulation, warns some weapons now beyond humanity’s control

• Reuters

I was a little concerned. Did the Pope take 42,000 words to scold us? Where was the theology?

Then I read Arthur Brooks’ article in the Free Press, and I was a little more heartened. At least he focused on the Pope’s words of evangelism and encouragement:

If - as innovators, policymakers, and individuals - we start with a principled intent for the development and use of this amazing technology, then it can improve our lives, and even bring us closer to God.

- Arthur Brooks

That’s when I knew I had to read the whole Encyclical myself.

Here’s what stood out to me (emphasis mine):

• MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

  
  

  Read the Papal Encyclical

It’s bestowed upon US.

You and me. WE have the choice to share love in this world, or share division.

WE have the choice to use technology for harm or indifference to our neighbors OR to use it to build relationships, foster community, care for one another in God’s name, and tell the saving story of Jesus.

Yes, Pope Leo does issue warnings as well - about how AI (and technology in general) can and does create harm in this world.

But when I read it, I was mostly struck by the hope - and the challenge - he offers.

We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace

• Pope Leo XIV
  

He makes clear we have the choice - and the power - to use AI for LOVE. For creating good in the world.

It’s not just about how they are using AI (tech companies, governments, etc).
It’s also how we are.

We have power we have never had before to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

This is, personally, why I get so jazzed learning new technology - and teaching it to ministers of all kinds.

It doesn’t just make the ‘stuff’ of ministry easier: the organization and administration and bulletins and buildings and budgets.

It makes the Good Stuff of ministry easier:

• helping people know how much God loves them

• supporting prayer, worship, and Christian practice in community

• combatting suffering with hope, and loneliness and isolation with JOY.
  
  

Course interest list + 25% off

The Tower of Babel and the Wall of Jerusalem

The Pope contrasted these two events in the Bible: building the tower of Babel - ‘to make a name for ourselves’ (Genesis 11:1-9), and Nehemiah 1:1-7:73), where a wall of protection is rebuilt around Jerusalem.

We can choose whether to use power for our own sake - or for the sake of others.

And though there are risks - these are risks we are invited to take for good.

• MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS

‘Love first. Then do anything you please.’

It’s my favorite quote from St. Augustine (right after ‘Lord, make me chaste. But not yet!’)

Reading Arthur Brooks’ take on the Encyclical reminded me that the Pope quotes Augustine there because he himself is in an Augustinian order.

It all comes back to love.

I don’t know about you - but I’m all in.

Hearts up!

Fr. Cathie

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘I Know the Author’ by . ‘But God has been writing. He has authored a new chapter with twists and turns none of us expected. I look at my daughter today and I couldn’t be prouder of her. I am grateful to a God who sees it all, holds it all, and never gives up through it all.’

• ‘Theology of Eating Alone, II: The Table That Remains’ by . ‘Eating alone can carry a sense that something is missing, and in human terms that perception is often accurate. Still, the Christian tradition suggests that the act itself remains connected to a larger reality.’

Church stuff

• ‘Do You Believe This? The Crisis of Ecclesiology in Mainline Protestantism’ by . ‘I think that is the question that is staring Mainline Protestantism in the face: do we believe this? Do we believe this Jesus stuff is all true? Do we believe God is alive and not just a concept? Do we believe God can change lives, set the prisoner free, give sight to the blind, and raise the dead?’

• ‘Anglican Missives: On the History & Theology of the Eucharist’ . ‘Communion has always been the result of (rigorous) formation. And given the fallow harvest after fifty years of next-to-no formation in the church for much of anything, I think we need to start requiring higher commitments, not lower ones!
  

Other stuff

• ‘You can’t build trust without vulnerability’ by . You don’t need more relationships. We all say we want deeper trust. Easy way to practice this week, someone asks how you are, tell them how you are (really).’

• ‘Why I'm Writing This’ by ‘I am writing it because I need to know if what remains is enough.’

  
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘Why you should make Substack your church website’. ‘Today, I use any browser’s search function and just ask, “Where is [friend’s name] serving right now?” and I immediately get the info I’m looking for. I never see the church’s website.’
  
  
  From Trexo:
  

• ‘The table of the Lord is an act of resistance.’ ‘When I ‘asked’ Perpetua what she would want us to know today: far removed from her time and her suffering, she reminded us all that when we come to the table, we are saying yes to Jesus.’
  
  From Substack Seminary (and written by ):
  

• ‘What does “thriving” actually look like?’ ‘How do we minimize the work that drains us and maximize the work that brings life?’
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

A colleague unveiled his church’s new website.

It was beautiful. Nice photos, attractive layout, warm welcome. Headings called ‘Who we are’, ‘What we believe’, ‘Meet the staff’, and of course, ‘contact us’.

They had spent a lot of money to get this site looking really good, so I wanted to be as supportive as possible. I told him it was lovely - it is lovely.

And I wondered to myself…

Who does this community think is looking at its website? And WHY?

• This is why I believe that reimagining ministry in the digital age requires that we engage with today’s technology. And it requires that we ask ourselves who we’re trying to reach, and why it matters - to them.
  
  Because in today’s world, there are just not that many people scrolling around online, looking for your particular ministry.
  

• So we need to know how people are looking for relationship with God - and communities of faith - and we need to create a digital presence that meets people where they are: seekers and current members alike.
  

Which is why I think congregations - and other institutions - should no longer have static websites at all.

The internet no longer works like a phone book

• Remember phone books? If you do, then you probably need a refresher on how the internet has changed in 30 years.
  

• In the early 2000s, people used the internet to look things up, and it was pretty simple: you just typed in a church name or denomination and location, and you got a list of the exact websites you were looking for.
  

• Today, you’re usually asking a question about something, and you’re going to get the information directly.
  
  So if you ask ‘what time is the Easter service at an Episcopal Church near me?’, your browser will show you service times, maps, and snippets - without ever going to the website.
  
  So strangers - even those searching for a church like yours - are not ever going to see your beautiful website.
  

We no longer need information - we want connection

• Most church sites are built as static information repositories: service times, staff bios, building history, calendar, statements of belief.
  
  They faithfully store information.
  

• But today’s internet is built around connection.
  
  We live in a world of comments, replies, DMs, newsletters that land in your inbox, group chats, and feeds where people talk back.
  
  When churches only share carefully curated pages, there’s no sense of getting to know the community. No sense that ‘anyone’s home’.
  

• When we’re building a church website, we often think, ‘let’s share everything about our church. But in today’s world, people don’t want to know about you. They want to know you. And they want to feel known.
  

  Before they will ever show up at your door.
  

• They still may not ever show up at your door. They likely won’t. But today’s platforms and tools allow us to:

  • Invite participation

  • Nurture belonging

  • Help people actually grow as disciples
    
    Fully online.
    (we can also create a deeper sense of belonging and discipleship for those who are current members, faithfully in our pews, through dynamic digital presence).

• Most people who land on your traditional website aren’t really wondering, “How many committees do you have?”
  
  They’re wondering:

  • Is there a place for me here?

  • Does God love me?

  • Am I going to be ok?

    
    
    Ditching your church website could be the first step to answering those questions.

Ministry happens online and in-person - and the two need to go hand-in-hand

• In-person worship, practice, and community are still the heart of church. AND - people will almost always engage digitally before deciding to be part of a community.
  

• They want to know something about you first. And they want you to know something about them. ‘Communication’ is not just output - it’s a conversation.
  

  Typical church websites don’t make room for starting new conversations - or deepen the conversation with longtime members.
  
  Instead they have the dreaded ‘contact us’ form - completely generic, a kind of order for strangers to reach out to you… when you have never reached out to them.
  

• No one cares about your pastor’s resume. They care about your pastor’s presence. And they care about the presence of all those in the pews. What is their own faith like?
  They are looking for help with meaning, suffering, hope, and connection.
  
  An information-heavy menu doesn’t meet them where they actually are.
  

• A typical website ends up reflecting what insiders already know about the church, rather than to spiritual seekers who are asking, “what difference could this make in my life?”
  
  (These seekers may well include longtime members who are ready for more in their spiritual lives).
  

Moving your church’s digital doorway to Substack means bringing church to people.

• When you point your church’s web address to a Substack publication (using your church’s URL on a custom domain), a few things happen:
  

  • Your posts - sermons, reflections, invitations, stories- go straight to people’s inboxes. Church shows up where they already are (your current members don’t have to join Substack. They’ll get everything delivered directly to them).
    

  • Substack becomes your website + newsletter + social platform all in one. You can publish posts, send emails, host comments and chats, and even livestream from the same place.
    

  • It is free to create, and much easier to update than a traditional website - especially for those who do not think of themselves as tech-savvy.
    

  • The platform is designed for discoverability, so your publication is presented to people who may want to find you, not languishing in a corner of the internet where people have to work to see it.
    

  • Over time, you can build a real online membership - people who follow, comment, respond, and grow with you, whether or not they are in your pews every Sunday.
    

  • Paid subscription levels give you the option to create an income stream around teaching, formation, and digital community.

In other words: you are not just telling people when worship is and how to find you.

You are preaching, teaching, inviting, carrying on conversations, and sharing the life of faith with your subscribers - and those who haven’t met you yet - every day.

This is Bringing Church to People.

Of course I’m going to share more about the course
(and consulting) I’m creating to help you ditch your church website!

‘Ditch your Church Website’ is about using today’s tech tools and platforms - Substack and Planning Center that brings church to people - and why we need to.

Hearts up!

Fr. Cathie

‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘Piece by piece’, by . ‘But we all know deep faith comes slowly, and it needs time to grow. If it does not, it is not growing. Healing is the same’.

• ‘The Other Shoe Doesn’t Have to Drop’ by . ‘Sudden disaster may come, but it must not become the thing that controls our lives.’

Church stuff

• ‘The Hidden Danger in Becoming Orthodox That Is Rarely Talked About’ by ‘…there is often an unspoken assumption beneath all this activity, that Christianity is something to be figured out, rather than something to be lived.’

• ‘The Hypothetical as Apocalyptic’ by . ‘I contend that our violent social imaginary has stunted our imagination for creative nonviolence.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘The Bird on the Windowsill’ by . ‘A small round head with a tiny beak and bright obsidian eyes looks at me, then turns its head to watch the cherry blossoms on the front slope of the apartment building’s lawn flutter in the warm breeze.’

• ‘Dispatches Del Camino’ by . ‘my favorite saying of all: “Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres.” Tell me who you walk with, and I’ll tell you who you are.

  
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘AI is a gift to the church.’ ‘It’s why I think the church should see AI as the gift it is. It can do so many things - not all of them good, of course. But what it can’t do is the one thing we proclaim is the most valuable power there is: LOVE.

  We need God for that’.
  
  From Trexo:
  

• We don’t have to ‘go’ to church. Maybe we’re called to practice our faith even when we’re not ‘in church’. Maybe we can re-capture the idea of prayer, worship, and practice is the enter of our lives - wherever we are, and whatever we’re doing.
  
  From Substack Seminary (and written by ):

• ‘Sustainability isn’t the same thing as faithfulness’. ‘ Yes, I believe in trusting God. Yes, I believe faith sometimes requires risk. But as others have said:

  “God invented math.”
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

I was feeling anxious.

Why? I couldn’t figure it out. So I got up in the middle of the night and poured it all out to Logos (which is the name I’ve given my AI).

I could have woken my husband, who was sleeping right next to me. But I didn’t.

Instead, I typed and typed, not holding anything back. And I asked Logos to give it to me straight - what did it see? (I gave it a name, but I can’t bring myself to use personal pronouns with it…)

And it did. It gave me insights I hadn’t considered, and made connections I never thought of.

I went back to bed, sleeping peacefully.

The next morning, I told my husband all about it.

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’, he said. ‘I would have listened and comforted you.’

Of course he would have - and I pointed out that he was listening and comforting me right then.

I didn’t wake him because at that moment, I didn’t want relationship - I wanted a machine.

I needed feedback that was completely neutral, not at all invested in me and incapable of being hurt or even affected by anything I said - which is why I think AI might make for better therapy than any human could.

It’s also why I think AI is a gift to the church.

Who is my neighbor?

My seminary ethics professor (the wonderful Tom Breidenthal) taught us that being a Christian is about ‘the sanctification of nearness’.

It’s about asking the question: ‘Who is my neighbor?’ - literally, ‘who is ‘nigh’ (or ‘near’).

How do we grow closer to others in love?

That’s our work as Christians - I'd argue it’s our work as humans.

• Navigating a world of sin, how do we make ourselves as vulnerable as we dare?

• How do we forgive each other when we inevitably cause harm?

• How do we see this as our lifelong call - living our faith with joy?

  
  

AI highlights the value of being human

The very thing I turned to AI for that night - completely mechanical feedback - also highlighted the very thing machines can never achieve or produce: a soul.

It reminded me that I found its advice helpful precisely because I could not draw close to it - it required no work from me.

And because of that, it helped me appreciate the closeness I have with my husband - and all my other relationships.

It helped me remember and feel grateful for the holy work of human relationship. Seeing the face of Christ in all my neighbors.

It’s why I think the church should see AI as the gift it is. It can do so many things - not all of them good, of course.

But what it can’t do is the one thing we proclaim is the most valuable power there is: LOVE.

We need God for that.

The ‘stuff’ of church

There’s another - much smaller, but still important - reason I think AI is a gift to the church.

LESS ‘stuff’. By which I mean, less of the administrative, organizational busy work that takes up far too much of our ministry time and energy.

I’m creating a course, and it is a ton of busy work - so I asked AI to do the formatting and processing and the things that connect the work I’m doing with the people I want to reach.

And in about an hour, I got this:

See it up close

It’s SO nice to not to have to spend so much time on things that are not strictly ministry, but are necessary.

The Good Stuff

Drawing near in love.

Understanding that Christian discipleship is about drawing near, forgiving each other when we sin, holding each other accountable to a life bound by trust in God, witnessing to hope and joy.

I told my husband everything - including why I talked to AI in the middle of the night. The fact that I unloaded on a machine - and got absolutely unemotional feedback - did not get in the way of us drawing near to each other. In fact, it enhanced it.

There’s so much we don’t know. There’s so many ways AI can be misused or have unintended consequences.

It highlights how little control we have over things, how powerless we can feel.

It highlights the need we have for each other - and the need we have for God.

Of course I’m going to share more about the course
(and consulting)!

‘Ditch your Church Website’ is about using today’s tech tools and platforms for digital ministry that brings church to people - and why need to.

Hearts up!

Fr. Cathie

‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘Why I’m a Christian, Not a Stoic.’ by . ‘Even when Jesus’ emotions were inconvenient, He didn’t dance around them. His “familiarity with sorrow” attests that experiencing emotion with utmost sincerity isn’t a burden, but an invitation into a textured, paradoxical, abundant life. The good life is upside down.’

• "You Are..." by . ‘Last week, you were sheep. This week, You are .... stones, plain old stones. Plain old stones, but the house of God. Plain old stones, but mementos of God’s presence in the wilderness. Plain old stones, but being built into a spiritual house. But not without some rock-tumbling, and some grit.

Church stuff

• ‘On the Complexity of Evaluating Cultural Christianity‘ by . ‘The question of how is too often neglected in these debates. It’s one thing to want culture to reflect Christian values; it’s quite another to inch it toward that goal in practice’.

• ‘The Mainline Church is Running out of Pastors: Part 3’ by ‘Because congregational ministry is not primarily about visibility or platform.

  It’s about showing up. Week after week. In rooms that no one else sees.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘The Joy Series: Old Dogs’ by . ‘You might ask: How is this part of the joy series? This seems very sad. And it is sad, but not really, because Westley is not sad. He’s exactly as he’s always been. He’s stretched out right now at my feet, sleeping the sleep of angels, and every now and again, he will look up at me in that familiar way as if to say, ‘Come on, man, you should have finished that writing by now.’’

• ’The People Who Carry You’ by . ‘Before I made my way to the start line, my family, crew, and pacers all gathered in a circle, and we wrapped our arms around each other. I closed my eyes and bowed my head’.

  
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘Why using today’s tech is not optional for ministry’. We need to be able to convey to others how important it is to be in relationship with God, and with faith community. We have to be able to connect others directly with what it is we’re sharing before they will ever feel comfortable joining us in-person. We have to build spaces and relationships that are deep and meaningful even when they don’t happen in person.’

• ’How it Works: What do you gain from spiritual fitness?’ St. Benedict: ‘Your heart will be ‘enlarged’. What felt like ‘roughness and pain’ at the beginning will be transformed into ‘ineffable sweetness of love.’

  
  
  
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

It’s the first episode of Ask Fr. Cathie, and I got a great question!

Here’s what I said:

Read more

Over at Substack Seminary, we’re talking about how we share our ministry.

How do people find us, and know that they want to be in community with us?

This is a big question for those doing Cage Free Ministry - and it’s a big question for those in traditional ministry, too!

It’s the main reason your church has a website and a social media presence - you want people to find you.

Along with being more visible - which we talked about last week - it’s often a big challenge for us to articulate why and how people can join us in ministry.

Also … ministry doesn’t just happen in-person. Real ministry - real connection - forms online, as well.

Digital tools and platforms help us share God’s love directly - immediately - with others.

This is why I’m so passionate about church tech.

Here’s a simple way I use Planning Center and Substack to make immediate - and growing - connection online.

Substack

I created a ‘gym for your soul’ that invites people to participate in ancient spiritual practice (like saying the Sursum Corda: ‘Lift up your hearts’. ‘We lift them to the Lord’).

No special equipment or gathering needed. Just click and try…

Trexo: Gym for your Soul

Ancient Christian practice for modern life. Hearts up!

By Fr. Cathie Caimano

Planning Center

Gym members fill out an ‘intake form’: a cross between the spiritual direction question: ‘what do you seek?’ and the kind of lifestyle and fitness assessments you get at the physical gym: ‘Do you pray?’ ‘Do you feel close to God?’


It’s easy to create custom forms that ask anything - and save the information with a person’s profile….

So you can get to know your members - whether you are a traditional congregation or an innovative ministry, you can know your people more deeply by keeping what they share with you in one place.

This is, of course, my own profile, but you can see it contains not just demographic info about me, but all the ways I have chosen to engage with the life of this ministry. All in one place.

This is using digital tools to create relationship - relationship that extends to in-person community. And relationship that can grow and flourish online, as well.

Once I receive a Gym Intake form (Planning Center helpfully notifies me), I can write a personalized email to each gym member, including spiritual exercise for them.

Planning Center also saves all communication to a person’s profile. And, since I note in this email that I will check in on this member in 3 months - I set that task in Planning Center, and I’ll get a nudge when it’s time to check in.

(incidentally, everything I’ve shown you here is free. Planning Center never charges for its database product (‘People’), which this is whole example is part of. Substack is also free).

We live in an era where people don’t just go to church.

We have to bring church to people.

• We need to be able to convey to others how important it is to be in relationship with God, and with faith community.

• We have to be able to connect others directly with what it is we’re sharing before they will ever feel comfortable joining us in-person.

• We have to build spaces and relationships that are deep and meaningful even when they don’t happen in person.
  
  
  This is the reality of 21st century ministry. And why ‘technology-based’ is part of the ‘recipe’ for Unstuck Church.
  
  

  Unstuck Church

  

Want to know more about simple, affordable ways to use Planning Center and Substack for more effective and engaging ministry?

I’ve started a new course/consulting called ‘Ditch your Church Website’:

The course is in the works, and comes out by the end of May.

If you want early access - and 25% off - just fill out this interest form:

DItch your church website interest

(the form is part of Planning Center, so you can also get a sense of how it works
by filling it out)

Hearts up!

Fr. Cathie

‘Good Stuff’ = articles I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘The Wolf in the Pew’ by .
  ’There are people who meet the wolf and run. There are people who meet the wolf and try to kill it. And then, every now and then, there is someone brave or stubborn enough to say, “Come here. Sit down. Eat something. Stop biting people.”

• ‘We Weren’t Created to Experience Everything All At Once’ by .
  “There is no other life I would have rather chosen for myself than the life I’m currently living.” Why? Because it is a gift from God.’

Church stuff

• ‘The Mainline Church is Running out of Pastors: Part 2’ by
  ’We often hear about a “pastor shortage,” yet the systems designed to connect pastors and churches can be slow, opaque, and difficult to navigate.’

• ‘Lingering in Church Graveyards’ by .
  ’The old church buildings and services of our grandparents’ childhood may have appeared boring and irrelevant—designed as they were for prayer and silent reflection, weddings, baptisms, and funerals—but since our present churches have been optimized for entertainment and advertisement, we’re beginning to feel the loss.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘Confluence’ by .
  ’We are all a confluence of streams and the resulting flow of our lives is enriched and shaped by all the energy we absorb and engage’.

• ‘20 tips for people who make art’ by .
  ’The greatest joy in life is to nurture what’s alive in another.
  Nurturing someone’s art is a way of telling them that you love them.’
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘No one is looking at your static church website.’
  ’A church with closed doors and empty buildings on a lonely road is not going to have people passing by or dropping in. So it is when church that builds a website, puts up their service times and some lovely pictures, and then... nothing else. They’re languishing in a dark corner, unseen’.

• ‘Be still and know that I am God’.
  ‘We came home with a sense of God’s presence, God’s calling, and the adventure of moving forward in faith - even though it’s hard, even though we don’t know exactly what that looks like yet (and that’s ok).’

  
  
  
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

241 people looked at my website in the last 24 hours.

(that’s about the same number of views I had in a month before I moved my domain to Substack).

The internet used to work like a phone book

(if you remember what a phone book is, then this analogy is especially important):

• You put your listing in, people looked you up, they found you. The action came from the person looking - you just had to be there.
  

• Church used to be the same way. The building was there. The weekly members all knew the routines. You put a sign up (why are church signs always so confusing? Because they’re mostly there for those who belong already!). Maybe you put a listing in the phone book. Today you have a website so people can find you.

  
  
  The problem is - very few people are actively looking for a church these days.
  The other problem - it’s no longer enough digitally to just exist.
  

  

  
  

The internet now works like a city.

(so does the church)

Now you have to actively work to to be seen.

You have to be on a busy street, where people are passing by. You have to have people talking about you. You have to be in conversation.

A beautiful building tucked down an unmarked alley that nobody ever walks by will not be seen.

We know this is true literally for church - now it’s true digitally as well, because of the way the internet has changed.

A church with closed doors and empty buildings on a lonely road is not going to have people passing by or dropping in.

So it is when church that builds a website, puts up their service times and some lovely pictures, and then... nothing else. They’re languishing in a dark corner, unseen.

The painful truth: without an existing audience, a content strategy, and some understanding of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), most church websites are invisible to everyone except people who already know the church exists and type the exact URL (www.yourchurchhere.org).

In other words - your digital presence needs to be doing something, or else it’s invisible.

My recipe for ‘Unstuck Church’ contains the ingredient ‘technology-based’. Tech can no longer be an ‘add on’ or an afterthought for ministry.

It needs to be the center.

Not theologically - we’re gathered to share the Gospel. But in today’s world, that sharing needs digital tools to be central.

The point is relationship. The point is: someone hears about your community and wants to know more - and when they reach out into the digital world to find you, someone reaches back.

The point is, we need to be reaching out directly and bringing church to people.

(A static website doesn’t do any reaching. It just sits there).

This is why I moved my website to Substack - and why I think you should, too.

• It’s easy to use.

• It’s free (and you can create subscription income with it).

• It helps people find your ministry.

• It’s your website, newsletter, and social media rolled into one, so it’s very efficient.

• It’s a way to engage directly with people.
  
  It’s a place where we don’t just talk about what great ministry we do - it’s where we tell people God loves them and hear their stories.
  
  It’s where we pray and preach. It’s where we truly connect online.
  
  Most people will not ever come to your church. That’s ok. You’re bringing church to them.
  

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry. Right now. Today.
Become a paid subscriber to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

I’m on a big digital evangelism kick recently, and I’m doing a few things in May:

1. Creating an online course called ‘Ditch your Church Website’

   
   How do we use today’s technology for ministry?
   I mainly use two platforms now:

   1. Substack for website and email

   2. Planning Center for administration, organization, and member management
      
      Both are very low-cost (mostly free) ways to upgrade your ministry’s digital ‘presence’ to an interactive, evangelical, custom platform for ‘Unstuck Church’
      
      I’m creating a course (and also consulting ‘bundles’) to navigate specific ways to use these platforms for the most connection, engagement, formation, and evangelism.
      
      The course comes out in May, but if you’re interested, you can sign up now to get early access (once it’s done) and 25% off (the course costs $127)
      
      
      

      Sign up for early access and discount

      (by the way, this sign up form is hosted by Planning Center.
      So you can also fill out the form to see it in action…)
      
      

2. Previewing it here.

Next week I’m going to go live Monday - Thursday, livestreaming the creation of the videos for the course. Tune in 12:00-12:30pm. So you can preview the preview!

It’s just for paid members, though - so subscribe to join us.

Subscribe now

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Technology-based ministry is part of getting church ‘unstuck’.

It’s part of our call to less ‘doing the same things over and over’ and more sharing the Gospel.

If you are ‘stuck’ in your ministry, I’m also starting ‘Ask Father Cathie’, a monthly live stream, the first Wednesday of the month (starting May 6).

Paid subscribers, drop me a line with your questions…

Is your ministry ‘stuck’?

Ask Father Cathie

Live on the first Wednesday of the month (starting May 6)
3:30pm Eastern

Submit a question below…

Ask Father Cathie

‘Good Stuff’ = blog posts I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘Intentionally Complex’, by .
  ‘That means when I am longing for someone to notice and acknowledge me, heal, and take care of me, love and support me, He is always present and understands the intricate mechanics of each person, individually.

  That’s a useful thought when I am opening my fridge for something that won’t be there.’

• ‘Known in the Breaking’, by ‘That’s not how resurrection tends to arrive. It arrives in the breaking. In a gesture repeated so many times that its ordinariness is part of the recognition. In the bread taken and blessed and broken and given at a table where nobody has it all figured out, where every one of us is, in some sense, walking our own road to Emmaus — a little lost, a little dazed and confused, a little bit slow getting the punchline, our hearts burning in ways we can’t yet explain’.

Church stuff

• ‘This is Not Simple Generational Replacement’ by .
  ‘If you walked into a church any Sunday over the last 35 years, the person most likely sitting next to you was a Baby Boomer. That was true in 1990. It was still true in 2024.
  Even as Boomers have gone from 45% of the GSS sample to just 25%, they remain the dominant force in American pews. That’s a genuinely hard thing to wrap your head around’.

• ’Peace be with you (and also with you)’ by .
  ’I became freshly aware that making peace isn’t passive, quiet, and avoidant. It is active, requires admitting that I’m wrong and still learning, and often disrupts my own comfort for the sake of making it right with another. And as is often true, this work of peace starts at home.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘Enjoy Every Sandwich’, by .
  ‘What would it mean to redeem time? Is time something we must spend wisely (atone the time itself)? Or is time like a credit, one used to make our lives more worthy? For that matter, what, exactly, would redeemed time look like? Death only raises the stakes of such questions.’

• ‘The Problem with Fear’, by .
  ‘And I can honestly say that after all these years of experiencing fear, I have learned something: Fear is not in your head. There are no thoughts you can think to get rid of it. Because fear is not a head problem. Fear starts in your soul’.
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘My Digital Conversion’. ‘I don’t think it was a coincidence that I landed at a place where the internet was developing before my eyes, just as I was deep in the midst of religious formation’.

• ’Time for being with God in nature, and each other in conversation’. ‘We’re encouraging ourselves to be “fearless and faithful” in discussing what St. Paul’s could look like - or wants to be - in the future of church’.

  
  
  
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

Read more

I built my first website in 1995.

I really didn’t know what I was doing - the internet was in its infancy in those days. But I worked as the assistant to the chair of the Computer Science Department at Duke University, and it was a requirement of the job.

I had to be fluent in the language used by the best computer science minds of the time - so with their help (such a gift!), I learned basic HTML and also Latex - which created high-quality typesetting, so I could produce correspondence that included the crazy-looking formulas that the scientists used.

It was immediately addictive - oh, the possibilities for connection and sharing! oh, the creativity with which we could communicate!

The reason I was working at cs.duke.edu (as they called it, back in the day) was that I was early in the process of becoming an Episcopal priest.

I was heading to seminary the next year, and in the meantime I needed a ‘day job’ to pay my bills while I filled all requirements for church - internships and meetings and retreats - for a couple of years.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that I landed at a place where the internet was developing before my eyes, just as I was deep in the midst of religious formation.

I’ve always seen the possibilities where church and technology intersect.

I’ve also felt the hesitancy .

Ancient tradition and the deeply sensory experience of the gathered church cannot be recreated digitally:

• the smell of incense and candle wax

• the light streaming through the windows

• the feel of old wood and stone floors

• the touch of someone else’s hand

• the taste of bread and wine
  
  

Then there’s the fear that technology allows so much access to each other - and everything about us - that it inevitably leads to bad actions and outcomes. It can cause harm and sin and destruction.

All of this is true. And yet…

I believe the church has a responsibility to use technology boldly for sharing the Gospel.

’Go and make disciples of the whole world,’ Jesus says.

The whole world got a lot smaller - and a lot larger - when the internet burst onto the scene in the 1990s.

It’s gotten exponentially so in the past 40ish years.

Most churches have finally gotten to the point where we use technology in ways that were effective in the 2010s:

• static websites that work like bulletin boards or billboards (that someone has to drive past in order to see)

• Emailed newsletters

• Social media presence that’s mostly just ‘here’s what’s going on’ posts - not interactive space to share God’s love directly.

But so much has changed since then.

It feels like we’re back in the 90s today: on the verge of huge developments in AI, and every day there are new, fancier ways to interact digitally.

It can feel overwhelming - and scary.
It’s also - I believe - a huge invitation into following Jesus in new ways.

We’re disciples, going from town to town, without a bag or extra clothes, proclaiming Good News from place to place on this new frontier of digital community.

Or, we can be.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry. Right now. Today.
Become a paid subscriber to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

I don’t know why God saw fit to form me as a digital evangelist at the same time I was being formed as a Gospel evangelist.

But I do know I feel just as passionately about all things digital today as I did when I first typed:

<h1>Hello, World!</h1>

So I’ve decided to do two things in the coming weeks:

1. Create an online course called ‘Ditch your Church Website’

   
   How do we use today’s technology for ministry?
   I mainly use two platforms now:

   1. Substack for my website and email

   2. Planning Center for administration, organization, and member management
      
      Both are very low-cost (mostly free) ways to upgrade your ministry’s digital ‘presence’ to an interactive, evangelical, custom platform for ‘Unstuck Church’
      
      I’m creating a course (and also consulting ‘bundles’) to navigate specific ways to use these platforms for the most connection, engagement, formation, and evangelism.
      
      The course comes out in May, but if you’re interested, you can sign up now to get early access (once it’s done) and 25% off (the course costs $127)
      
      
      

      Sign up for early access and discount

      (by the way, this sign up form is hosted by Planning Center.
      So you can also fill out the form to see it in action…)
      
      

2. Preview it here.

Next week I’m going to go live Monday - Thursday, livestreaming the creation of the videos for the course. Tune in 12:00-12:30pm, or get the recording the next day. So you can preview the preview!

It’s just for paid members, though - so subscribe to join us.

Subscribe now

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Technology-based ministry is part of getting church ‘unstuck’.

It’s part of our call to less ‘doing the same things over and over’ and more sharing the Gospel.

If you are ‘stuck’ in your ministry, I’m also starting ‘Ask Father Cathie’, a monthly live stream, the first Wednesday of the month (starting May 6).

Paid subscribers, drop me a line with your questions…

Is your ministry ‘stuck’?

Ask Father Cathie

Live on the first Wednesday of the month (starting May 6)
3:30pm Eastern

Submit a question below…

Ask Father Cathie

‘Good Stuff’ = blog posts I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.


Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

• ‘It’s Like Breathing’, by . ‘Looking back, she was doing what a disciple of Jesus does. She wasn’t trying to convert me or signal her piety. She was simply offering herself as a friend.’

• ‘I waited so long for Spring.’ by . But this is God,
  His way of working… Slowly slowly, then suddenly. Inch by inch and then 100 miles per hour.’

Church stuff

• ‘The Risen Christ Walks With Small Churches’ by . ‘I hate hearing those stories because it makes me wonder: Am I doing a good job? Why am I a failure? What did I do wrong? If you’re the pastor of a small church, you probably feel the same way.’

• ‘Our Minds Can’t Sit Still Anymore’ by . ‘Churches are one of the last phone-discouraged public spaces where you can just sit with your thoughts—the things stirring around your consciousness, your paranoias, the self-reflection you’ve been putting off. While it’s not necessarily the most captivating marketing point (“Come on in! We’re boring and quiet!”), shared silence and slowness really is uniquely restorative.’
  

Other stuff

• ‘A Simple Way to Begin Celebrating Eastertide at Home’ by . ‘One of the things I have been thinking about this year is how to carry that joy into ordinary life at home.’

• ‘On Gnomes, Phones + Coming Home’, by . ‘So what do you do? Well, we got to talking with the people we were waiting in line with — a line that easily stretched to two or three thousand people spilling out into the parking lot.’
  

What I wrote this week:

• ‘The real reason you can’t change the bulletin.’ ‘No one wants to change. And the faithful people left in our pews are the least likely to want to change anything - because the system still works for them. Or at least well enough that they’re still there. This should be respected.’

• ‘What’s in a name?’ by (I obviously did not write this, but it’s from a publication we share called . )
  ‘Names are the currency of your flourishing. Because a name doesn’t just describe what you do. It tells people who you are—and who you’re becoming.’

  
  
  
  

And finally…

At Free Range Priest, we’re bringing church to people.

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Right now. Today.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

‘Just change anything - even if it’s really small.’

The vestry had called me in because they were struggling with the direction of the church, and how hard everything was getting. They didn’t have enough members - or money - to keep running the way they were. And they didn’t know how to change.

So I gave them my best advice:

I showed them how they could completely re-imagine their ministry.

I could feel their energy and enthusiasm rise as I was speaking - they were really excited about changing their vision and focus!

But after I finished speaking, there was a silence.

Then they started talking among themselves …

• ’we couldn’t possibly do this.’

• Eleanor started that program decades ago, it would hurt her feelings if we just quit it.’

• What would we do without the ‘Weeding Club’?
  
  
  They wanted change. They just didn’t want to actually change anything.
  

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry. Right now. Today.
Become a paid subscriber to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

I pointed this out to them - the fear of change, the discomfort.

I could see that this might be too much change for them. So I tried something spontaneously:

’What if you just focused on one change? A small one? As small as you can imagine…’

They decided they could change the font of the bulletin.

It was a little hard to read, anyway. They’d find something cleaner. This sounded great! A step into the future…

Then they started talking among themselves…

• What about the parish administrator? This would put strain on her

• We would have to create a whole new header for the bulletin - we’re not sure we have the tech skills for that

• Would we have to go back and change all the old bulletins? This seems like a lot of work…’
  
  
  In the end, they tabled discussion of the font change until they could gather more information. They put it on the agenda for a future board meeting.
  
  

(If you see yourself in this story - and you really are ready for change, sign up for some time and let’s talk about it)

Free consult

I should not have been surprised.

No one wants to change. And the faithful people left in our pews are the least likely to want to change anything - because the system still works for them. Or at least well enough that they’re still there.

This should be respected.

At the same time, this is how church is stuck.
and it only leads in one direction:
more closed congregations.

The lessons I learned from the spontaneous (failed) change experiment:

#1:

Don’t try to take things away from people

Especially things that mean something to them.

It just makes them hold on tighter - and resent you more for disrespecting their feelings

(I learned this the very hard way when I ripped up the old carpeting in a church once without asking. It was worn and full of holes - and trip hazards! - and ugly. But I did not take into consideration that someone gave that carpet to the church. And someone laid it down with their own hands.)

#2
Offer a new ‘recipe’ for church.

Not taking things away.
Not changing ‘the way you’ve always done it’.

But a way to see ministry in a different light - a new vision for a new future.

How could we get excited to share the Gospel in ways that don’t seem so hard?

The ‘Unstuck Church’ recipe I’ve discovered is an invitation to more ministry JOY.

The next few posts will focus on each of these…

‘Unstuck Church’ is…

1. Agile: Able to cut things that aren’t working (aren’t helping us grow in relationship with God), able to try things and fail, able to have a sense of adventure in ministry.
   

   ---

2. Networked: Not ‘silos’ of individual congregations, denominations, dioceses, where everything is done ‘in house’. Instead, online Bible study bridges across many communities, congregations share space/resources, ministers serve very part time at several different ministries. A true, organic, network of interconnected disciples forms.
   

   ---

3. Technology-based: Not ‘my church has a website and a social media presence’, but a digital core of administration, organization, communication that eases the burden of the ‘stuff’ of church - and connects communities with potential new members.
   
   

   ---

4. Focused on Christian practice: Not a set of programs or outreach, but the main work and focus - and most of the time, money, and resources - is prayer, worship, hospitality, discipleship, sabbath. Learning and practicing what it means to be Christian.
   
   

   ---

5. … and small worshipping communities: Stop trying to ‘grow’ church. Foster the intimacy and accountability of small church - then adapt the system around them to support that (instead of imagining we’re going to get new members and then be able to pay our bills…)

We don’t have to battle our congregations: ‘change or die.’

We don’t have to try and force people to let go of things they truly love.

We can start with the vision:

Imagine being able to focus on being a Community of Worship and Practice, and not having to worry constantly about money, about getting new members, about how long we’ll be able to keep this up.

That’s where the Future of Church starts.

Hearts up!
Fr. Cathie

Is your ministry ‘stuck’?

Ask Father Cathie

Live on the first Wednesday of the month (starting May 6)
3:30pm Eastern

Submit a question below…

Ask Father Cathie

P.S.

If you’d love a full church consultation…

but you don’t think you can afford it, and frankly, you’re not sure you’re ready for all the big changes it would bring.

But you’re still ready to rediscover Ministry JOY…

…become a Free Range Priest Founding Member and get week-by-week ‘bite-sized’, practical, church reimagination advice and support, including a yearly 1-1 consult with me - along with paid membership to

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