I'm Father Cathie*, and I am your Free Range Priest

I'll help you re-imagine your ministry, escape denominational collapse, find the joy of serving as you are called, and make sharing Good News sustainable.

Sep 17, 2025

*(yes, I go by the title ‘Father’. If you want to know why, you can find out HERE).

I am so glad you’re here. I really am.

I pray for you every day: I’m praying for all those who are navigating ordained (or professional lay!) ministry in today’s church - especially the mainline church.

Because we’re living in a time of a lot of confusion and uncertainty.

And ministry is getting harder.

As systematic, institutional changes put increasing pressure on mid-20th century institutions (like the mainline church), it gets more and more difficult to keep doing and being church like we always have.

The strain of declining numbers and resources, plus the increasing administrative and organizational burden (because our institutions still rely on 20th century thinking), is robbing us of our ministry JOY.

The joy of our calling to share Good News. The joy of serving our ministry as we are called: following Jesus and sharing the love of God in a world that so desperately needs it today.

This is where I started on January 1, 2016: increasingly aware of the struggles of ministry (I’d experienced a fair number of them by then), and thinking to myself:

’There has to be a better way.’

Today, I’ve been ordained for 25 years (and a Free Range Priest for almost a decade now), and I think I’ve found that better way - one that carries with it the faith tradition we bear, and serves using new systems and frameworks for the mission of the church.

I call it moving from trying to bring people to church, and learning how to bring church to people.

Serving as a Free Range Priest has deepened my sense of calling and returned me to the JOY I felt in seminary days when I imagined how I might best serve God and the church.

It’s also taught me a few things along the way about the future of church and what it might look like.

And how to be prepared for it.

I really want to share them with you! Things like:

How to understand systematic change (instead of continuing to do the same things over and over again and expect different results).
How to think differently about how clergy and congregations serve in ministry together (that is more sustainable for both, spiritually and financially).
How to build a ministry that is a business (and borrow small business tactics for sharing the Gospel).
How to make technology the center of your ministry, not an add-on (hint: church management software (Planning Center) and subscriptions (Substack) figure prominently in this.

The whole theme of this Substack is:

Practical ideas and wildly optimistic theories about how the Holy Spirit is transforming the practice of ministry.

I promise you’ll find an abundance of both in this place.

I have been praying for you, because I have been praying for the church to find its way towards thriving again.

And you are a crucial part of that.

Your ministry, your calling, your unique way of sharing the love of God through your gifts - all of these things are so important to the future of church.

And too important to continue to be stifled by committee meetings, budget woes, and having to work a secular job just to pay your bills.

Welcome to Free Range Priest. It’s still ministry - it just tastes better.

Me?

I’ve been an Episcopal priest for 25 years, and Free Range for the last 10. I’ve served congregations large and small, from NYC to KS. I’ve served as an ‘in-house’ consultant to 60 (mostly small) congregations and the clergy who serve them.

I see what’s wrong with the system - and how the good news of the Gospel keeps busting through.

I believe we can find a path to the future of church - together.

I think we need to bring church to people.

When I’m not thinking about church or you can find me spending time with my awesome husband and my adorable Great Dane, out running somewhere, or taking pictures of the sunrise.