You’re looking for what they don’t teach in seminary
Maybe you’re a chaplain. A church consultant. A podcast host. A church planter. Maybe you’re pastoring a traditional congregation and finding ‘Cage Free’ ways to share ministry inside it.
Maybe you’re doing all of this at once.
You see what’s happening to the church, and you’re already responding. That makes you a pioneer, which is a great word for a hard job.
Being early means working without a map. Usually without a net. And it’s lonely. It can be exhausting.
Substack Seminary is where we build the map and the net together.
We work from the 12 rubrics of Cage Free Ministry built around:
the System: how we organize ourselves as the church.
the Community: what we do and believe as the church.
the Minister: how lay and ordained leaders serve God and the church together.
You'll learn them the way we’re learning them: by practicing, discovering, and building sustainable, JOYful ways of bringing church to people.
Substack Seminary is part of
a Free Range Priest paid subscription.
During Quarters, we’ll explore these themes:
Q1: Vision & Systematic Change
Q2: Structure & Business Model
Q3: Theology & Community
Q4: Technology & Collaboration: Starts October 5 and runs through November 19, 2026!
Paid FRP subscribers join Conversations live on Thursdays at 3:30 Eastern (during Quarters), and get the replay in the Cage Free Ministry Coaching email that comes out on Tuesdays.
All subscribers get the Wednesday (during Quarters) Substack Seminary blog - paid subscribers can comment and interact.
You don’t have to do this alone. Subscribe to join the ‘home for weirdo pastors’.
Substack Seminary might be the place for you if…
You’re a lay or ordained minister (or thinking about becoming one, or on your way)
You’re building something outside the institutional box (or inside the institution, trying to build a new ‘box’).
You’re seeing the changes in the church and responding creatively - or want to!
You’re ready to describe what you do, who you’re trying to reach, and how it gets financially supported (we talk about money a lot).
You’re longing for real community, collaboration, people who see the same things you do - and are pioneering how to respond in new ways.
You really want honest, helpful critique of what you’re dreaming of and how to make it a reality.
Substack Seminary may NOT be for you if:
You’re not ready to challenge the traditional church model - or not ready to be challenged yourself.
You don’t have time to devote about five hours a week during Quarters (with time off between) to building your ministry.
You don’t have space to give as much support as you want to receive.
You’re not ready to think about how what you’re doing right now as pioneering the Future of Church.
Substack Seminary is NOT a traditional seminary.
It is:
A community where you don’t have to add a whole paragraph of explanation after you say ‘I’m a ‘Cage Free’ minister’.
A development, networking, and training community for ministers.
A workshop – where you bring the real ministry you’re tinkering with and work on it in public with others.
A formation hub – where you get weekly teaching, questions, and practices that help you grow into the kind of minister needed for the Future of Church.
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.