Where's the Good Stuff this week?

Friday 8/14/26 roundup of what I've discovered on Substack

Aug 14, 2026

‘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:

'The institutional church is collapsing and we're not sure what to do'

Fr. Cathie Caimano

Aug 6

'The institutional church is collapsing and we're not sure what to do'

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God stuff

‘What They’ll Say At Your Funeral’ by Jake Owensby. ‘I’ve tried to live that way. Fought my own crookedness, called it discipline, called it grit. It got me somewhere. But it never got me to beloved. The Gospel offers us a radically different view of character formation.’
‘Ask a Priest: Sin, Sex & Our God Given Desires’ by Pastor Sierra Ward. ‘Sex is dangerous, it’s dangerous inside and outside of marriage. It shapes and bonds and destroys and builds. Be very careful how you wield your power — it can continue to bring you close or separate you from all that is good.’

Church stuff

‘I Want To Serve a Dying Church’ by Anthony Robinson. ‘Only a “dying church,” that is a church that knows its utter dependence upon this God, and not upon its own reputation, past greatness, resources, endowed funds or programs, can truly live.’
‘Everyone Hates Evangelicalism. Is It Even Worth Salvaging?’ by Griffin Gooch and Bonnie Kristian. ‘I suspect evangelicals have been a little too eager to believe caricatures about ourselves. As I’ve begun telling people about this book, I’ve encountered a real eagerness for it in some people—like they’re hungry for permission to be openly happy about their own tradition.’

Other stuff

‘Exactly what I wish I’d known when I started on Substack’ by David McIlroy. ‘If your Substack homepage is just a scroll of every post you’ve ever published, it’s time for a small upgrade. Create a “Start here” or Table of Contents post to guide readers to your best work.’
‘Hearing Your Stories: Abby Heffern’ by Terrell Johnson and Abby Heffern. ‘I may not be the most impressive runner with the most impressive results, but I keep coming back year after year. And because I keep coming back, I keep growing. I keep getting better. I keep finding out what else I’m capable of.’

What I wrote this week:

‘Can you describe your ministry in 6 words?’ ‘Congregations and other ministries often create ‘mission statements’ that are really descriptions … or they’re super-long but don’t really say anything - when I teach preaching, I call this ‘blah blah blah Jesus’!’
‘We don’t think our way into believing.’ ‘These Practices existed before the divisions of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. They unite all Christians because they’re foundational to all traditions.’