Most ministers know that church feels harder.
They just don’t know what to do about it.

That’s why Free Range Priest exists - and especially Cage Free Ministry.

Since I started my own ministry in 2016, I’ve been thinking:

there has to be a better way.

So I’ve developed a multi-faceted ministry around sharing what I’ve learned about what is working for sustainable, joyful ministry:

• For clergy and lay leaders

• For members of congregations

• For denominations and dioceses

• For those who are Christian (or want to be!) who want less of the ‘stuff’ of traditional church - and more of the Good Stuff

• For all of us who want to live a life bound by practices and beliefs that bring us closer in relationship with God - thus closer to love, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, purpose, and JOY.

If you’re ready for the adventure of what the future of church could look like - and how to grow in your own Cage Free Ministry, this is what it could look like…

Start right now: your six-word mission statement

Earnest Hemingway was famously asked to write a six-word novel.
This is what he came up with:

For sale.
Baby shoes.
Never worn.

Being forced into a narrow framework helps us get to the essence of who we are and what we are trying to do.

It’s hard, though! But also fun.

Create a six-word mission statement for your ministry - in fact, see if you can create a few of them. Maybe even 10 or so.

Don’t worry if it makes grammatical sense. Just reach for the most specific and meaningful words you can find.

A lot of congregations and ministries create ‘mission statements’ that are really descriptions (‘we’re an open and joyful community of faith’’).
Your mission statement should have a good action verb in there somewhere!

• Free Range Priest is reimagining ministry in the digital age.

• Substack Seminary is building the future of church - together. (technically seven words, but tiny words like ‘and’, ‘the’ and ‘of’ can be snuck in to make it make sense!)

• Trexo: a gym for your soul is ancient Christian practice for modern life.

Now it’s your turn! See how many you can come up with for your own ministry.

Share your 6 word statement

(if you share yours with me - and you can share as many as you like - I’ll keep an archive of them (anonymously!), and give feedback on them as I can).

Develop your Cage Free Ministry by using one or more of these ‘lenses’ to make small, practical changes for more ministry JOY…




the System

How we organize ourselves as the church

Vision: Agile, Networked, Technology-based, focused on Christian Practice and small Worshiping Communities.

Find your way towards understanding how the wider system of organization, administration, and communication
impacts your ministry.

Then learn which small changes you can make in your context to serve sustainably inside, outside, our alongside the institutional church.

the Community

What we do and believe as the church.
Vision: Welcome, Belonging, Formation, and Practice.

Find your own community here - practice the faith with others, give - and get - support for innovative ministry, meet other ‘weirdo’ pastors who might be collaborators - or friends.

Then apply what you’re learning to how you’re sharing ministry with others.

the Minister

How lay and ordained leaders serve God and the church together.

Vision: GRIT!!

• God (Wondering where God is in the midst of all this)

• Root (Focusing on the ‘root’ over the ‘fruit’ of Christian faith)

• In charge (Not being ‘in charge’ of congregations)

• Task-based contracts (Not doing ‘everything’)

• !! (…and giving up trying to save the institution!)
  

Find new ways to serve ministry together - clergy and lay, communities and pastors - beyond the ‘standard’ vision of one salaried minister in charge of one set group of people, a building, and some programs.

Then see how even the simplest change in expectations can yield profound spiritual - and church - growth.

The church is changing in unprecedented ways.
Ministry is no longer working the way it used to.
We need to learn to bridge the 1st and the 21st centuries.
We need to learn to bring church to people.
We need to break out of the cage of the 20th century model that is collapsing.

We need more ministry JOY.

We need Cage Free Ministry.

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

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

Subscribe now

Sign up for the Newletters - and manage your preferences HERE.

‘Ask Father Cathie’ is live the first Wednesday of the month at noon Eastern

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

Here’s the most recent AFC posts …

Need more guidance and direction?

Become a paid subscriber to Free Range Priest and get the free subscriber benefits:

• A copy of the ebook ‘The Free Range Priest Way’ (available exclusively to paid FRP subscribers
  

  This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

  
  
  

• 10% off all Cage Free Ministry courses
  

  This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

  
  

  
  

  Cage Free Ministry Courses

• The ‘Ask Father Cathie’ monthly live stream (1st Wed. of the month at noon Eastern), plus the link to ask your questions.
  
  
  

  This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

• All the paid benefits of Trexo and Substack Seminary.
  
  

Founding Members of Free Range Priest get the whole pathway towards Cage Free Ministry

Get every part of every Newsletter: Trexo, Substack Seminary, Cage Free Ministry

AND … a yearly 1-1 ministry check in (plus all courses are free).

A yearly check-in is someone who knows your ministry, is watching it change over years, and offering you specific feedback for how you’re bringing church to people sustainably and JOYFULLY.

Founding subscription: $350

Subscribe now

The church is changing in unprecedented ways.
Ministry is no longer working the way it used to.
We need to learn to bridge the 1st and the 21st centuries.
We need to learn to bring church to people.
We need to break out of the cage of the 20th century model that is collapsing.

We need more ministry JOY.

We need Cage Free Ministry.

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

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

Subscribe now

Sign up for the Newletters - and manage your preferences HERE.

Church is no longer working the way it used to.

The stress of holding up the institution is costing us our energy for sharing the Gospel.

Most of us know this and we’re:

a) in denial

b) panicking

c) just not sure what to do about it

If you’re a c), Cage Free Ministry is for you.

‘Here’s what’s falling apart. What do I do?’

I get a version of this call (text, DM, email…) on a very regular basis.

I want to help everyone individually - and I can’t.

I can’t afford all the hours in my day, and honestly, most ministers can’t afford a lot of 1-1 time with me, either.

So I decided to use this space to share everything I’ve discovered about the future of church from over a quarter century of priesthood - and a decade of being Free Range - in ‘bite sized’ ways, to create a coaching and consulting system that’s easy to access from different perspectives and budgets.

Free Subscribers to the Cage Free Ministry Newsletter get:

• The Free Range Priest blog

• Monthly coaching emails

• The ‘six word mission statement’

• Trexo (Christian Practice) and Substack Seminary (Ministry Community) Newsletters

• Weekly Good Stuff from Substack.
  

All designed to inspire and challenge you as you create your own Cage Free Ministry.

Need more guidance and direction?

Become a paid subscriber to Free Range Priest and get the free subscriber benefits:

• A copy of the ebook ‘The Free Range Priest Way’ (available exclusively to paid FRP subscribers
  

  This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

  
  
  

• 10% off all Cage Free Ministry courses
  
  

  This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

  
  

  
  

  Cage Free Ministry Courses

• The ‘Ask Father Cathie’ monthly live stream (1st Wed. of the month at noon Eastern), plus the link to ask your questions.
  
  

  This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

• All the paid benefits of Trexo and Substack Seminary.
  
  

Founding Members of Free Range Priest get the whole pathway towards Cage Free Ministry

Get every part of every Newsletter: Trexo, Substack Seminary, Cage Free Ministry

AND … a yearly 1-1 ministry check in (plus all courses are free).

We start by meeting - to get to know your ministry and its challenges and joys. Then a yearly check-in with someone who knows your ministry, is watching it change over years, and offering you specific feedback for how you’re bringing church to people sustainably and JOYFULLY.

Founding subscription: $350

Subscribe now

The church is changing in unprecedented ways.
Ministry is no longer working the way it used to.
We need to learn to bridge the 1st and the 21st centuries.
We need to learn to bring church to people.
We need to break out of the cage of the 20th century model that is collapsing.

We need more ministry JOY.

We need Cage Free Ministry.

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

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

Subscribe now

Sign up for the Newletters - and manage your preferences HERE.

The church is stuck.

• Stuck in 20th century organization and administration.

• Stuck in institutional decline and precariousness.

• Stuck in endless commissions and committees to understand how we are stuck.

• Stuck in having SO much Good News to share in a world that so desperately needs it - constrained by a model of church that is barely compelling anymore.
  

  

  ---

Cage Free Ministry is about YOU getting 'unstuck’.

• It’s a Newsletter that’s part of Free Range Priest.

• It’s a monthly coaching email with practical ideas and wildly optimistic theories about how the Holy Spirit is transforming the practice of ministry.

• It’s a doorway to courses, consulting, and every way I can think of to support you as you develop your ministry to bring church to people.
  
  

  Cage Free Ministry Courses

  
  When I tell people I’m a Free Range Priest, they say:
  ‘like the chicken?’
  and I say: YES.
  Because it’s still ministry, it just tastes better.
  It’s Cage Free.

Start Now:

Become a free subscriber to Free Range Priest, and you’ll be on your way to becoming Cage Free:

You don’t have to do this alone

Free Range Priest is an umbrella ministry, where you’ll get monthly blogs. When you subscribe, you’ll also be subscribed to Cage Free Ministry, and three other Newsletters (unless you want to opt out of any of them - at any time).

* You need to be subscribed to Free Range Priest to update your preferences

Join other Cage Free Ministers - and ‘weirdo pastors’! - at Substack Seminary, where we’re building the Future of Church - together.

Join the Trexo: a gym for your soul - and learn to practice the faith like the first Christians did.

Get Weekly Good Stuff - a round up of writing on Substack this week that’s moving, entertaining, inspiring, and thought-provoking…

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

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

Subscribe now

Read more

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

Here’s what I said:

1. Christianity is about ‘nearness’. It’s about who is my neighbor - and how close they come.
   
   That’s what we do in Christian c…

Read more

It was a great party.

Laughing, dancing, eating good food (and a little wine), catching up.

Then a friend of a friend - someone I’d met only once - grabbed me and said,
‘You’ve got to help my congregation’.

I immediately sat down. (My husband was not thrilled.)

She poured out a story I’ve heard a hundred times (not an exaggeration):
church looked fine on the outside, but nothing was working the way it used to. Too much work. Not enough people. Budget woes. Exhaustion. Conflict. Leadership confused, stressed, unsure what to do.

I gave her my best advice. Then I went back to dancing.

At the end, I told her: have them call me - the leaders who are afraid.

Of course the call never came.

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

Subscribe now

This is the joy and the challenge of being ‘Free Range’.

Everyone wants it to be easier to be in ministry today - clergy, lay ministers, congregations, denominations, dioceses, etc.

I get weekly calls, emails, texts, social media messages, smoke signals, the works. People launch into their stories of ‘stuckness’.

At the same time, the big, systematic changes required to really move into the Future of Church are scary.

They seem like too much work. We don’t really want to do things differently. We’re too exhausted - and have too few resources, to muster this kind of transformation.

(Incidentally, if you’re organization really IS ready for this, call me! I really can help. Or better yet, sign up for 30 minutes on my calendar…)

Free consult

So here’s some advice for free

(and some advice you have to pay a lot less for than traditional church consulting…)…

#1:

WE have to be the change.

The most common question I get:

’How do I get my congregation to change?’
(also insert ‘priest’, ‘bishop’, ‘denomination’, ‘church board’, etc).

The answer: You don’t.

• We cannot get others to change (repeat that as your mantra).

• Institutions are not built for change - so they aren’t going to (or if they do, it will be very slow)(repeat this, too).

• The change has to come from us, individually - and most of it is changing our perspective, our vision. (‘Be the change’. Repeat as needed).
  
  

And we can change our vision.
We can learn to see what is the Gospel and what is the institutional ‘stuff’ around it.
And we can learn to lean into one and have the courage to let go of the other.

#2
You don’t have to grab my arm at a party.

(though BLESS the brave person who did!)

I really, really want to talk with everyone - all the time! - about how to re-imagine ministry. But it’s seriously not practical.

Which is why I’m extremely excited to start:

‘Ask Father Cathie’

advice for those experiencing church ‘stuckness’ and ministry that feels ‘caged’ by institutional collapse.

Once a month - the first Wednesday of the month, starting May 6, I’m going live at noon Eastern to answer your questions.

It’s for paid subscribers only - both the submission form and the livestream - but you can get a whole year of Free Range Priest (all the articles and the advice, plus discounts on mini-courses) for $80.

Completely affordable - and doable - bite-sized church consultation.
One small change of vision at a time.

So pretend we just bumped into each other somewhere, or take the email you were about to send me, and instead, submit the form below and send me your worst place of ‘stuckness’…

(and if you haven’t upgraded to paid yet, do that now and then submit the form…)

Ask Father Cathie’ is live the first Wednesday of the month at noon Eastern

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

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

Bite-sized ways that YOU can re-imagine ministry and get ‘unstuck’.
Get:
Christian Practice. Ministry Community. Small, practical changes. Good Stuff.
Subscribe to re-discover ministry JOY.

Subscribe now

It was Easter Sunday, 2016

I was scheduled to supply at ​St. Paul’s Episcopal Church​ in Salisbury, NC.

I knew from the minute I walked in that this was a special place: a small church with a big spirit. I loved the time I spent there.

Afterwards the senior warden called me. “We’re looking for a new vicar, and we want you to be that person.”

But I had just started a new ministry - I had just gone ‘Free Range’. Precisely because I knew the struggles that congregations - and clergy - were facing.

I said no.

But still … I felt something very holy about serving alongside them.

So I proposed another possibility to St. Paul’s:
what if we designed a new way to serve ministry together, that best supported everyone sharing the Gospel with minimal stress?

Over a decade has passed since then.

And along the way, we’ve worked out what I call ‘Cage Free’ ministry - a way to get to the most important parts of ministry - prayer, worship, formation, hospitality - with as little institutional ‘overhead’ as possible.

We’ve figured out 5 steps to Cage Free Ministry with a congregation (paid subscribers, see below)…

Join us at . A place where innovative ministers - lay or ordained, serving in a traditional congregational setting or setting out on their own as entrepreneurial clergy and faith practitioners -

can find a community for ministry development, training, and support.

It’s where ‘Cage Free’ ministers of all kinds feel less alone.

You’re not weird - you’re early. And now you’re right on time.
Join Substack Seminary - a year-long development, networking, and training community for ministers.

Substack Seminary

Cage Free Ministry Basics

1. Clergy (and professional lay ministers) on task-based contract.

A new minister shows up at a congregation - what is the actual work they’re supposed to do?

Often enough, this is never spelled out!

Clergy do what they think clergy should do (they lead worship, they preach, and then what? Pastoral care? (what does that mean, exactly?) Christian formation (what does that mean, exactly?)

Clergy end up doing everything. And congregations just assume that this clergy person will do what the last one did (why shouldn’t they?) And they basically expect full-time work regardless of whether it’s part-time, because clergy are usually doing everything.

The simple yet paradigm-shifting solution to this: a contract that states exactly what work is being done by the minister. Based on the task, not the time.

It’s not about ‘30 hours a week’, it’s about ‘preaching on Sunday’ (how many Sundays? What about other days/services? etc)

2. Clergy not ‘in charge’ of congregations

The 20th-century model of church is clergy as CEOs of small non-profits - making decisions for the community on everything from service times to personnel to programs.

In the Cage Free model, clergy serve alongside congregations, bearing the sacraments, Scripture, and traditions of faith. Praying and leading worship. And supporting the leadership of the lay ministers - and the whole congregation.

It’s not the clergy person’s church!

Personally, as a Free Range Priest who has been serving with a small congregation for a decade, I:

• Don’t have a key to the buildings

• Don’t know what their budget is

• Don’t attend any meetings (unless I’m specifically invited - for a reason)

Cage Free Ministry is about being a ‘consultant’ for the ministry of the congregation or community.

3. Asking ‘Where is God in this?’

After clarifying what our job is NOT, it’s important to clarify what it is:

Theological presence and process.

Helping others grow in their relationship with God, and helping them become the disciples they’re called to be.

The ‘cage’ of the institutional church often puts clergy in the role of social worker, therapist, community organizer, business manager, and other jobs best suited for those who are so called.

As ministers, we have a very important calling, and it’s important to keep this central:

Sit with people and ask where God is in this. Tell them where you see and feel God’s presence. Create space for discernment and listening for God’s voice.

Don’t solve or fix. Be a faithful presence.

4. ‘Root’ not ‘Fruit’ of Christian ministry

Churches should not be doing ‘outreach’.

This may seem contradictory to our faith - because of course we’re called to love and serve our neighbors!

But this is the ‘fruit’ of Christian ministry.

Ministry is where we share the root.

There is nowhere else in today’s world for people to learn and practice and experience the Christian faith than in church (or participating in another ministry).

Ministry should focus on forming disciples - who then feel compelled to share the fruit of Christian ministry in their community.

5.Focus on sharing the Gospel - NOT saving the institution.

This step requires brutal honesty and not a small bit of courage.

Most ministers and lay leaders are exhausted because they are trying SO hard not to let the institution collapse on their watch.

• ‘We’ve got to meet our budget’

• ‘We’ve got to bring in new members’

• ‘We’ve got keep this small group of people happy’

• ‘We’ve got to find more people to help with this program’
  
  

Or else - what?

Or else the church doors could close. Or else the minister’s hours will have to be reduced (or at least their pay…). Or else we might have to let someone go…

The painful truth: the institution is collapsing anyway. We can’t save it through the force of our will.

The Good News: We can let it go. We really can.

If we focus on the love of God, and loving and serving our neighbors, if we preach the Gospel and use our energy to share it - then we know God is leading us forward into new ways of being and doing church.

We just have to follow faithfully.

And be not afraid.

The ultimate goal of Cage Free Ministry isn’t efficiency or

cost savings—though it provides both. It isn’t even supporting clergy and small congregations - though it does this, too!

The goal is breaking out of the institutional cage that is crushing us - and sharing more Good News that is giving us life.

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

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

Subscribe now

Sign up for the Newletters - and manage your preferences HERE.

It’s 4:22am.

I’m an early riser, but this is getting ridiculous. I wake up at 3, then convince myself I must get at least one more hour of sleep.

Lately I’ve been playing a game with myself like I’m a kid - ‘you can’t get out of bed till the big hand hits 5’.

So I lay here and worry.

Maybe it’s not worry - it’s more like simply being overwhelmed. I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

I’ve always been a big picture person, and things come into my head fully formed. Then I feel like I have to produce every last detail of this vision today.

I’m always kind of amazed at myself that I think I can do this. I’ve grown to appreciate my own heedless optimism - my sense that of course I have endless time and energy.

But of course I don’t. And I have even less when my body is revved up before I even open my eyes.

Hearts up!

During Lent, I’m inviting paid subscribers into my process (or in this case, into my creation of a process…) while I sort out how to:

• Develop Christian Practices to share with individuals and communities

• Build a network of innovative ministers

• Walk with the small congregation I serve as they face the challenges of today’s church landscape and get ‘unstuck’

• Create a series of ‘mini consultations’ I’m calling ‘re-imagination packages’

It’s sort of like inviting you to watch while I rehab a house - there’s things that are messy and hard, but underneath, there’s good bones.

I’ll also keep you updated on the training and the fasting, in case you’re interested.

I’m building all this into what I’m calling the Stained Glass Project - all four of my separate ministries (the Four ‘Panes’) and how they work together…

My work is about turning my own spiritual life inside-out.

That’s what I’ve finally come to realize. Or at least, today I have that insight…

I love the church. I see how it is struggling. I also see how it can transform. I want to share that - in a way that is transformative for others.

But just like I’ve learned over 30 years as a preacher that every sermon I give is really for me, I’m starting to get it that the only thing I can do as a church reformer is understand and share how following Jesus and practicing the Christian faith is reforming me.

My own struggles in traditional ministry can be traced back to not just institutional collapse, but my own sense that it was my job to keep it going - by sheer force of will. By thinking I was in charge. By thinking I needed to do God’s job for God.

Now, at 4:22am, I realize I’m still doing the same thing.

So I go for a run.

I’m training for a half marathon in April. I’m turning 60 in the fall, and by then I want to be back in really good shape. My fabulous husband is coaching me, and I’ve got 10 hill repeats (plus 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down) on the schedule.

Running is a magic elixer. I often tell myself I don’t have time to run, I have too much work to do, I’m tired, etc., etc. But once I’m out there, my body calms down and my soul fills with joy.

The air is cold. The sun is rising. I feel alive, and I feel God being in charge. I let go of myself.

Hearts up!

I’m fasting, too, for Lent. Following the spiritual exercises I’m developing from the ancient church at the ‘gym for your soul’.

I’m eating, for sure. But a little bit less at every meal, and the simplest foods. I quit eating at 5pm, and break my fast at 6am. It’s amazing how clarifying this is - how it gives me focus.

I realize, although it’s not my nature, that I have to do one thing at a time. I have to discern the next most important thing, and get it done. I ask God to show me what it is.

This week it’s finishing what I call the Golden Document. I’m using AI to build it, and it’s also meant to be for AI to help me run the ecosystem of my ministry.

I can’t do everything myself - but I do have immense technological resources at my fingertips to assist.

The Golden Document is where I’m feeding in every last thought I’m having about how to build the architecture of what I’m envisioning:

• a freestanding ministry of Christian Practice - Trexo.

• a community for innovative ministers building their own ‘faith practices’ - Substack Seminary.

• guidance and direction for a small congregation re-imagining its own ministry - St. Paul’s.

• the theory and principles that undergird it all - Free Range Priest.

The institutional church system is definitely collapsing, and in so many ways I see this as something necessary. It’s time for new systems to be born and thrive.

But it also means a lot of chaos in the meantime. How’s all this supposed to work?

And is it my job to create a whole new system by myself?

Is it? I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like it is. Sometimes I realize how grandiose that sounds - and is. I just have to keep walking the path that God has given me, and trust that it is a small piece of what is necessary.

I think this is what’s keeping me up at night. The feeling of overwhelm.

How to balance how clearly I see things and how strongly I feel called to create with the truth:

• I can’t do it all myself.

• I need God’s guidance and protection.

• I need other people.

I know I’m not alone. I feel God with me. I also have my wonderful partners at Substack Seminary - and , and the amazing people of St. Paul’s.

This week, though, it’s the Golden Document. I just feel like if I can get everything out, and use AI’s help to organize everything I’m envisioning it, then I can share it more clearly with others.

And then maybe I’ll get the courage to let others help me modify the vision, to help me shape it by sharing theirs with me.

Maybe I’ll learn to trust that whatever work is put before me, it is helping me grow closer to God.
And whatever work I don’t get done is doing the same.

Each ministry in the Stained Glass Project has its own Substack site:

Free Range Priest
Substack Seminary
Trexo: a gym for your soul
St. Paul’s, Salisbury, NC

You can subscribe - Free, Paid, or Founding - to each of these to be part of each community.

If you want to be part of everything - and get the discount, and support the Future of Church - you’re invited to become a Founding member of Free Range Priest.

This will give you access as a monthly paid member to all four communities (Subscriptions to St. Paul’s go directly to them. The others support Free Range Priest).

Subscribe now

Hearts up!

Fr. Cathie