'Unstuck' Church
We know what’s not working for church in the 21st century.
How do we get to what is working?
A ‘recipe’ for the future of church.
The institutional church is collapsing - this is no longer in question. We’re living through a time of great upheaval in the church.
But the Gospel isn’t going anywhere. Neither is the Body of Christ.
What’s no longer working is the organizational and administrative structure that thrived in the mid-20th century.
60 years later, it’s caging us in. And institutional church is STUCK - and seems to be unable to free itself.
I’m not sure we can change that.
But I am sure that as individual ministers and communities, we can get ‘unstuck’. And I’m pretty sure I’ve found a ‘recipe’ that we can follow to move our ministry into the 21st century.
And share the Gospel more joyfully and sustainably.
Ready to get ‘Unstuck’?
1. Work with me directly.
Schedule a free 30 minute consult to talk about custom consulting, retreats, speaking, and training for Unstuck Church:
2. Subscribe to Free Range Priest.
Become a paid subscriber for:
Weekly insights and actions for Cage Free Ministry and Unstuck Church
Monthly ‘Ask Father Cathie’ livestream (+ submit your own questions)
Discounts on all Ministry Reimagination Mini courses
Become a Founding Member for:
all of the above, plus all mini-courses free
a yearly 1-1 consultation with me.
Automatic paid membership to Trexo and Substack Seminary
’Unstuck Church’ is:
1. Agile
How is your ministry sustainable, and how is it flexible? Able to meet the challenges you’re facing, experiment with solutions, and thrive.
For example: Can you cut programs that aren’t thriving, let go of staff you cannot afford? More crucially: are you prepared to step out in faith to try a new way of being in ministry even though it’s likely to fail?
2. Networked
How are you connected with other faith communities, the community at large, other businesses, others in ministry, in ways that are mutually supportive.
For example: are you renting your space or using your property in both evangelical and financially supportive ways?
Are you contracting with other ministers for Christian formation (like Trexo), administration, or technology?
3. Technology-based
I highly recommend (and can help you navigate) Planning Center for administration, organization, and communication and Substack for online engagement and building community (it’s time to get rid of your website and move it to Substack..).
How are you using technology natively - not as an add-on to the ministry you’re doing, but as the center of the ministry itself?
4. Focused on Christian practice...
How can our communities spend more (most) of our time, energy, resources, etc on learning to be followers of Jesus, and sharing that with others?
Can we be brutally honest with ourselves about how much of our ministry actually revolves around growing in our own faith and sharing it with others? And can we be agile, network and technology-based enough to help make it more?
5. ...and small worshiping communities
Small is where it’s at! People are longing for community, and community is in the DNA of the Christian faith. Small communities have the intimacy and space to really connect.
They are also where members are truly lay ministry leaders, and we can foster their leadership and participation in worship as central to our life of faith.
Most people who go to church spend most of their time there on Sunday morning.
How do we move from church being something ‘produced’ by a handful of paid staff/volunteers, that members attend to:
equipping everyone for Christian practice and worship and their part in the life of the church.
Helping all members learn the basics of what we do in worship and why, making it easier to be part of worship, and most of all, truly connecting everyone to the power and presence of God.
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.