'We can start something new, but we need to stay connected'
Thursday livestream Conversations at 3:3opm Eastern
You are not alone.
This is one of the reasons we started Substack Seminary - so those of us doing Cage Free Ministry could feel connected.
Pastor Sierra Ward hosts our weekly livestream Conversation - Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (during Quarters - and sometimes between them!) - with cohosts Fr. Cathie Caimano Loren Richmond Jr. and an assortment of Substack Seminary Participants (maybe you?).
We follow the themes of the Quarters, and talk about what this means for our own ministries, and the Future of Church.
Here’s some bits of wisdom that have come from the Conversation so far:
Rest, prayer, walks and naps are required!
As ministers, we carry the tradition with us in an embodied way - we have to create space for this to happen.
Emphasizing that people aren’t paying for you time, but for a lifetime of experience, formation, and wisdom.
‘What are the moments in ministry that I really feel like this is working?’
‘When push comes to shove, it’s about what we decide to do right now’
Defining chaplaincy as evangelism in the best sense: reminding people God is with them and they are not alone.
People crave connection with God and community, and they don’t have experience with church.
Valuing ministry as work, setting boundaries around tasks and availability - and how working for free is not helping!
How systems, especially in institutions like churches and hospitals, are built so that success requires constant heroic effort from someone - and how this needs to change!
Leaning into a real rhythm of worship and practice actually changed my life.
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Become a paid Free Range Priest subscriber to join us for livestream Conversations, replays, and the Chat.
Substack Seminary runs in Quarters — four per year (each quarter lasts for an intensive seven weeks), each built around a single theme.
There are about three weeks between each Quarter - you’ll still have access to the community space and there will still be livestreams (sometimes), but everyone gets some breathing room.
During Quarters, we’ll work intensively on our own ministries - and you’ll be invited in to see us do this, and to share what you’re doing - via the chat and the live stream comments.
What we’ve talked about so far - and what we plan to talk about:
January 12 - February 23, 2026
Q1: Unstuck Church
How institutional patterns and 20th-century assumptions about full-time clergy and programs are crushing both pastors and congregations.
Reflecting on recognizing where we are replicating old systems in new settings and how telling our stories helps us see where we are still stuck.
April 13 - May 25, 2026
Q2: CREATE SUSTAINABILITY - Structure & Business Model
Exploration of what sustainability really means and what ‘thriving’ looks like spiritually, emotionally, and financially for ministry in the 21st century.
Good ministry needs the focus and clarity of good business - serving a particular people in a specific way without burning out.
Aug 3 - Sept. 14, 2026
Q3: BRING CHURCH TO PEOPLE - Theology & Community
will be theology and community: how ministry is actually ministry - preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and forming community both online and in person.
We’ll look at it from four areas: Welcome, Belonging, Formation, and Practice.
October 5 - Nov. 16, 2026
Q4: CONNECT IN AGILE NETWORKS - Technology & Collaboration
We’ll focus on technology and how digital tools are not a separate world from ‘real church’ but one of the main ways relationships and ministry begin and grow now.
Writing for Substack Seminary
Writing for Substack Seminary
Paid subscribers can pitch an article with a Substack Seminary byline: highlighting their ministry, their learnings, or their take on the Future of Church.
You may also be invited to participate in the live stream Substack Seminary Conversations.
This is where collaboration and networking meet development and training.
What does it mean to be a minister in a church that no longer works like it did in the 1960s (or even the early 2000s)?
We started Substack Seminary because the ministry we’re doing didn’t seem to fit into any model of training and development for ministry.
And because we didn’t see any one else trying to equip today’s ministers for the Future of Church.
So we decided to do it ourselves - and we’d love it if you’d join us.
If you’ve felt orphaned by the traditional, institutional church model and your’e already dreaming about what comes next - or already building it - this is your place.
You’re not weird.
You’re early.
And now, you’re right on time.
You don’t have to build it alone.
The blogs are free - you’ll receive them as part of your Free Range Priest subscription.
Paid subscribers come to Thursday live streams (3:30pm Eastern), and get replays and chat invites on Mondays (during Quarters)
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.
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