In the spring of 2025, as I was wrestling and discerning a new way to do ministry in this century, I noticed I was receiving three different emails a week, from three different men named Mike, via Substack.

I value what these men offer to the ministry and leadership landscape, yet something made me wonder “Can I create a Substack? I have something to share too.”

I launched She Leads Because She Believes as a faith and leadership space for women to find connection, encouragement and faith filled conversations. After a decade in local church ministry, I had sermons to re-share, thoughts on current leadership trends and highlights of other women leading because she believes. I invited my friends via text and posted my Substack weekly in a Facebook group designed to foster relationships and communication.

While my Facebook grew never quite found it’s groove of shared connection and online community, in the Substack world I found my own online community of leaders, pastors, writers, dreamers and believers ready to talk openly about the changes coming to our beloved church state of today, and welcome an emerging new reality of greater reach, impact and Christ celebration. Instantly, I felt less alone, wild and weird for saying out loud the things we all see, yet don’t want to know: church attendance, membership, funding, baptisms, transformation and community impact are on great decline. Pastors, leaders and life long believers are worn out by the energy consumed in church maintenance, doing what we always did and hoping 2002 will return.

More so, non-believers and younger believers are giving up on the idea that gathering in one place, one day a week, actually leads to a new life emerging, especially when the hour is filled with announcements, unexplained liturgy and messages missing the good news.

Instead of being shunned, silenced or told to simply hold on tight despite the rising tide and sinking ship, on Substack I found people actually trying, experimenting and daring to do something new while sharing about it too!

Enter in Fr. Cathie Caimano and Free Range Priest. First off, “Father”, for a woman? Tell me more. After learning her story of refusal to adopt modified rules as a female clergy in the Episcopal Church, I was even more drawn into her living reality of diversified income, selling impactful content, training and digital ministry structures while serving a local church.

I instantly knew I found my people doing exactly what I feel called to do. Seeing my dreams alive through other people is one way God continually affirms and confirms my plans, proving I’m not the only one to dream so big, so I don’t have to be afraid those dreams are too silly or weird.

Fr. Cathie, with a few other wild and wonderful ministry leaders of today, started Substack Seminary in order to invite clergy, leaders and believers to not only envision a new way to lead ministry in this century, but to also provide tactical tools, honest reflections and real life conversations with current practitioners doping ministry in a new way today!

Substack Seminary offers quarterly topics with weekly discussions designed to push each participant to dive deeper into their true calling lived out today, in reality. With weekly conversations published between the leaders, participants get to hear how others are dealing with the exact same questions, at various points in their ministry experiences and careers. The knowledge, stories and laughter shared between real people living real lives today is priceless.

But, that’s not all! The greatest gift Substack Seminary presents is a community of real life connections with real live people also willing to wrestle with the ever changing landscape of ministry today, walking side by side as co-pilgrims on a journey that glorifies Christ and reminds us we were never designed to do this alone. Substack Seminary affirms the need for new ways to live out ministry today, provides the tools to continually discern new possibilities and equips participants with fellow laborers unwilling to give up on the power of the good news.

She Believes Community, a faith and leadership space that meets in person, wouldn’t exist without the digital space Substack Seminary offers to wonder, wrestle and recognize how God is at work building something new. I can’t wait to see what else God will do!

Substack Seminary is hosting an online retreat - July 10th, 11:00am - 2:30pm Eastern.

We’ll workshop four ministries that feel ‘stuck’ on their next steps and share our wisdom and feedback.

Retreat registration includes an application if you want your ministry to be included. From these we’ll select the four ministries that are the best fit for live focus.

Come ready to learn from other ‘weirdo’ pastors, offer your own experience and insight, and if your ministry is selected, let the group help you discern how best to share Good News in your context.

The retreat fee is $150 - it’s free to those already enrolled in Substack Seminary.

If you enroll at Q3 (for the full year), the $150 retreat fee will be deducted from the $750 enrollment. Q3 begins August 2, and enrollment opens July 10.

• Recapping the year so far

  • Substack Seminary is “the home for wayward, orphaned pastors” – ministers experimenting with cage-free, nontraditional forms of church in a changing landscape.

  • 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)?

    ---

• 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 she was replicating old systems in new settings and how telling her story helped her see where she was still stuck.
    
    

    ---

• Q2: Sustainability

  • Quarter 2 was an 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.

    ---

• Q3 & Q4

  • Quarter 3 (startsAugust 2) will be theology and community: how ministry is actually ministry - preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and forming community both online and in person.

  • Quarter 4 will 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.
    

    ---

• July 25 online retreat

  • You preview the online retreat where current participants will submit one concrete place they feel stuck; the group will workshop each for about 20 minutes with the group.

  • The retreat will be free for enrolled partners; others can pay to attend, and if they later join Substack Seminary, their retreat fee rolls into their annual enrollment.
    

    ---

• Why this community matters

  • Substack Seminary has become a real community of peers: clergy and lay leaders who discover that their problems are not unique - they’re almost eerily the same.

  • Long-term clergy groups and retreats that have sustained you for decades and imagine a future in-person Substack Seminary retreat shaped by prayer, silence, conversation, and a very Episcopal cocktail hour.
    

    ---

• Open season until August 2

  • During the break between quarters, the livestream space is open to everyone, not just paid subscribers, so folks can get to know you and see what Substack Seminary is about before the next enrollment window.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

Members are even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

Subscribe now

If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

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The chair business that never was

Most people who have began some kind of creative or craft hobby eventually face the same question:

Could I sell this stuff!?

A few years back, during COVID, I started making Adirondack-style wooden chairs from some online plans a relative shared with me. She wanted the chairs, knew I had some basic woodworking skills, and commissioned me to build them.

I enjoyed the project.

I even made a couple for my own family.

Then something happened that probably feels familiar to many of us.

A neighbor stopped while driving by, admired the chairs, and asked about them.

And immediately my brain shifted from:

This is fun

to:

Could this be something more?

When hobbies become systems

I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I think materials ran around fifty dollars per chair. Each one took a few hours to build, plus additional time for painting or staining.

The relative who first commissioned me suggested selling more online.

So I did what everyone does:

I checked Facebook Marketplace.

Sure enough, people were selling similar chairs for somewhere around $120–150.

And while I never built a spreadsheet or pro forma, it became obvious pretty quickly:

If this was going to be worth my while, I’d need an assembly-line type system.

And that realization stopped me cold.

Because I already knew what assembly-line work felt like.

Substack Conversation archives

The hidden cost of “making it work”

During seminary, I worked at a lumber warehouse that also built modular wood decks. When business slowed in one division, we’d get shifted into repetitive assembly work.

The kind where you drill the same hole into the same product again.

And again.

And again.

I learned something there:

Once something becomes work, it often stops becoming fun.

Obviously ministry is still work. There will always be administrative tasks, difficult conversations, and obligations we don’t enjoy.

That’s not the point.

The question is different:

How do we minimize the work that drains us and maximize the work that brings life?

Redefining what thriving means

This is why I think ministries and initiatives need to become clearer about what it means to thrive.

Even highly successful public speakers—people charging five- or six-figure speaking fees—often admit the lifestyle becomes exhausting.

Travel.
Hotels.
Time away from family.

Part of why they charge so much is because the compensation has to justify those costs.

But most of us in ministry operate in a very different financial ecosystem.

Which means thriving cannot simply mean:

more revenue
more exposure
more opportunities

Sometimes thriving looks smaller.

To stay with the speaking example, maybe thriving means:

• limiting overnight travel

• staying closer to home

• accepting fewer opportunities

• even sacrificing visibility or income

Because for that person, thriving doesn’t mean maximizing revenue.

It means preserving joy.

The deeper question

This is where sustainability becomes personal.

We spend a lot of time asking whether a ministry can survive financially.

That matters.

But another question matters too:

Will this way of doing ministry still feel life-giving five years from now?

Only you can answer that.

And if you don’t know yet—now might be the time to ask.

Why this matters for Substack Seminary

This is the kind of work we’re doing in Substack Seminary.

Not simply helping people build ministries or projects—but helping them think honestly about what sustainable thriving actually looks like.

Because faithfulness is not just about endurance.

It’s about building work that remains meaningful, joyful, and grounded in real life.

If you’re trying to clarify what thriving means for your calling—not somebody else’s definition, but your own—this is the work.

Join us.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

We’re even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

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If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

And a lot about being fairly compensated for our ministry.

First, we went back to last week’s theme: sharing your ministry.

To talk about Loren’s new book!!

Read more

The question we’re asking

This week on Substack Seminary, we are talking about an important—but often overlooked—idea in ministry:

sustainability.

Or said differently:

viability.

And right away, there are two important tensions worth naming.

Not everything important is sustainable

First, just because something isn’t sustainable doesn’t mean it isn’t important or impactful.

Disaster relief is an obvious example. If you were starting a tornado relief ministry in your area, you would obviously hope it’s a one-and-done effort. Tornadoes ripping through your community every week would not be sustainable for anyone.

Similarly, writers like and Erin Cash have noted that churches can still be vital and faithful even if they are unlikely to exist long-term—such as congregations in dying small towns.

The point is to understand your context.

Is your ministry:

• responding to a short-term crisis?

• serving a declining population?

• addressing a temporary but urgent need?

If so, plan accordingly.

Substack Conversation archives

Not everything sustainable matters

But the reverse is also true.

Just because something is sustainable doesn’t mean it is impactful—or even alive.

Many churches with large endowments have relatively low per-capita giving. More, most of us probably know congregations that are financially secure but spiritually stagnant: a handful of attendees, little vision, and minimal interest in renewal or mission.

Sustainability alone is not the goal.

A ministry can survive long after it stops bearing fruit.

Faith, planning, and “God invented math”

Still, if you believe your ministry is addressing an ongoing need—and you hope it will endure—then planning matters.

Yes, I believe in trusting God.
Yes, I believe faith sometimes requires risk.

But as others have said:

“God invented math.”

I think of Abram and Sarai. God called them into an unknown future, but they still brought cattle and livestock with them. They trusted God while also preparing for the journey ahead.

The Apostle Paul made tents.

Faith and sustainability are not opposites.

Planning for the journey ahead

None of us fully know where we are going to end up.

But many of us sense that God is calling us somewhere new.

The question is not whether we trust God.

The question is:

How do we create structures, rhythms, and plans that allow the work to endure along the way?

Maybe that means bivocational ministry.
Maybe it means slower growth.
Maybe it means redefining success entirely.

Whatever the path, sustainability is not about control.

It’s about stewardship.

Why this matters for Substack Seminary

This is the kind of tension we’re exploring in Substack Seminary.

Not simplistic answers, but honest questions about ministry, leadership, sustainability, and faithfulness in a changing world.

Because viability matters.
But viability alone is not enough.

If you’re trying to discern what kind of ministry is worth sustaining—and how to sustain it faithfully—this is the work.

Join us.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

We’re even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

Subscribe now

If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

As mentioned earlier this week in ’s write up, there is usually an underlying fear associated with pitching a project …

Read more

The question we’re asking

This week at Substack Seminary we’re asking the question:

How are you sharing your ministry?

While there is definitely an evangelism side to this in that we are working out of calling that we believe God has placed on our lives to share the good news of Jesus, I’d like to explore for a moment the other aspect of this—marketing.

In the initial email for the week, the question was asked:

“Where and how do people find you?”
“Walk us through the actual path someone takes from ‘never heard of you’ to raving fan.”
“What’s working? What feels uncomfortable or confusing? Where do you feel most like yourself in how you share your work?”

I especially want to explore the question:

“What feels uncomfortable or confusing? Where do you feel most like yourself in how you share your work?”

Where it gets uncomfortable

A while back, I was reading a post from author and Executive Coach . In his Substack article from a few months back he shared:

“Most of us have something we know we need to do…A career move that scares us. Starting a business. Writing that book. Stepping into a leadership role... Whatever it is, we know. Deep down, we know.”

But we don’t move on it, and the reason we don’t move “sounds really responsible,” Foster says, “even wise.”

Foster suggests we make comments like:

“I just need a little more time.”
“I want to make sure I’m fully prepared.”
“I’ll start when the kids are older. When the money’s right. When I feel more confident.”

And then, Foster names this harsh but important reality:

“that’s not wisdom talking.”

Instead he says:

“That’s fear wearing a very convincing costume.”

Substack Conversation archives

Naming the real barrier

For many of us, especially pastors and ministry types, what feels uncomfortable or confusing is the very fact of even trying to “market” ourselves at all.

We have been rightly trained that ministry is a calling by God, and a humble, sacrificial one at that.

This is all true.

But I also think that a lot of the uncertainty and ambivalence around marketing ourselves comes down to what Foster names:

fear.

For me, it was fear of looking foolish, or ill-prepared, or inadequate. Something like that.

I always assumed I needed more information, more learning, more data before I could really put myself out there and say I had something to offer.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was just fear—fear of looking stupid.

The deeper question

So maybe the real question isn’t just:

How are you sharing your ministry?

It’s this:

What’s your fear? What’s holding you back?

Why this matters for Substack Seminary

This is the kind of work we’re doing in Substack Seminary.

Not just thinking about ministry, but naming what actually shapes how we show up in it.

Because until we name the fear, we’ll keep disguising it as wisdom.

If you’re trying to move forward in your calling—and something keeps holding you back—this is the space to do that work.

Join us.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

We’re even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

Subscribe now

If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

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Where I started

I grew up in a conservative context and attended a Baptist Bible college—back when it was quite literally named Baptist Bible College.

Bible colleges tend to differ from other theological institutions in one key way: they are shaped by a strong missionary perspective. The college I attended focused on training missionaries to share the gospel overseas, as well as pastors and ministry staff for local Baptist churches.

There are parts of that world I’ve left behind.

But one thing has stayed with me:

the clarity of purpose.

Clarity we don’t talk about anymore

In that context, there was very little confusion about what ministry was for.

If a group of students went out into surrounding neighborhoods to knock on doors—and that did happen—everyone knew exactly what it meant to “share the gospel.”

More importantly, everyone knew what counted as transformation.

We were trying to move someone from point A to point B:

From no profession of faith
to a clear, identifiable profession of faith

That clarity drove everything—alignment, collaboration, urgency, and shared effort.

Substack Conversation archives

What changed

In the nearly twenty years I’ve spent in mainline Protestant contexts, I’ve often found the opposite dynamic.

There is far less agreement on what the gospel is—or what it means to share it.

This isn’t primarily a theological critique. It’s a practical one.

When you can’t name the transformation, you can’t organize around it.

And without that clarity, it becomes much harder to align people, energy, and resources toward a shared outcome.

The problem with vague outcomes

Too often, especially in mainline settings, we default to language like:

• “finding community”

• “gaining a greater sense of purpose”

These are not bad outcomes.

But they are also not unique to the church.

People can find community at CrossFit.
They can find purpose volunteering at an animal shelter.

If our outcomes aren’t distinct, our work becomes indistinct.

What clarity looks like

The point here is not to settle the theology of evangelism.

The point is simpler—and harder:

What transformation are you actually aiming for?

After someone engages your ministry, what is different in their life?

One ministry I work with, , names this clearly. They exist to help worship leaders get off the treadmill of chasing Sunday after Sunday—and toward a vision rooted in Psalm 1:

A leader planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in season,
not burning out,
prospering in what they do

That’s a defined transformation.

When I work with pastors, churches, and nonprofits, I’m trying to help leaders move from feeling like they’re banging their head against a wall to becoming leaders with clarity, energy, and forward momentum.

Start smaller than you think

Clarity doesn’t require grand ambition.

In fact, it often requires restraint.

Not:
“We’re going to solve world peace.”

Not even:
“We’re going to feed the entire community.”

Maybe it’s:

“We want to make sure kids come to school on Monday with a full stomach.”

Or:

“Every child in our county has food for the weekend.”

Clear. Concrete. Actionable.

Why this matters for Substack Seminary

This is the kind of clarity we’re working toward in Substack Seminary.

Not just naming problems—but defining transformation.

Because if you can’t name the change,
you can’t build toward it.

If you’re trying to get clearer about what your ministry actually does—and what difference it makes—this is the work.

Join us.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

We’re even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

Subscribe now

If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

In Week 2, Q2 of ‘Sustainability’ at Substack Seminary:

Describe the person your ministry is for—demographics, spiritual location, hunger, obstacles, even a name. What do they need that they can’t find anywhere else?

Read more

The question we’re asking

This week in Substack Seminary, we’re wrestling with a simple but uncomfortable question:

Who is my ideal client?

In many mainline church contexts, the instinct is to be inclusive and welcoming. That instinct is good. It reflects something essential about the Christian message.

But it often leads to a problem.

When inclusion becomes ambiguity

Too many churches try to be all things to all people.

And in doing so, they end up saying nothing clearly to anyone.

The message becomes a kind of religious-sounding gobbledygook—language that feels spiritual but doesn’t actually connect.

Not because the intention is wrong.
But because the audience is undefined.

Substack Conversation archives

How we were trained

This isn’t accidental.

Many of us were trained this way.

I remember in seminary being coached to strip prayers of anything that might be offensive or misunderstood.

You’ve heard those prayers:

“To all that is holy…”
“To the divine we pray…”

They’re technically inclusive.

But they’re also forgettable.

Because the goal wasn’t clarity.
It was avoidance.

What clarity actually requires

The goal is not to offend.

The goal is to know who you are speaking to.

Even in preaching, one of the most consistent pieces of guidance is this:
preach to a specific person—even if they’re imagined.

Because specificity creates resonance.

The same is true in ministry, communication, and leadership.

You have to be clear:

• Who are you trying to reach?

• Who will benefit from what you offer?

• Who might not?

• What are their struggles?

• What are their desires?

Clarity about your audience is not exclusion. It’s effectiveness.

Why this matters now

In a time of institutional decline and limited capacity, churches can’t afford to be vague.

Trying to reach everyone usually means reaching no one.

But when you name your audience clearly, something shifts:

Your message sharpens.
Your energy focuses.
Your impact deepens.

Why this matters for Substack Seminary

This is the kind of work we’re doing in Substack Seminary.

Not just thinking about ministry in general—
but getting clear about who we’re called to serve.

Because calling without clarity leads to frustration.
But clarity creates traction.

If you’re trying to name who your work is actually for—and how to serve them well—this is the space to do that work.

Join us.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

We’re even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

Subscribe now

If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

Kicking off Quarter 2: Sustainability

• This week we came live on Wednesday - because Cathie and Sierra were both in North Carolina!

• We started with defining our individual ministry and names.

• As Cathie pointed out, your ministry name is not the name of the church you serve (like St. John’s or Grace Church).1

• Your individual ministry is about who you are, what you do, who you serve, and how you bring people closer to God—it prevents us from being over-invested in a single location.

  

Ministry Identities and Structures

• Sierra is actively grappling with separating her identity from her roles, recognizing that her local church, the new denomination, and her personal ministry are all separate things.

  • She bought the domain for her denomination, New American Orthodox, after Cathie encouraged her to create that separation.

  • Her local church is St. Jacob’s: a place to wrestle with God, and her Substack, The grappling with God, aligns with that branding but serves a different audience.

  • The goal is to formalize these separate entities so they are sustainable and don’t solely depend on Sierra.

• Loren is exploring different names to capture his work:

  • His current podcast is Future Christian.

  • He bought the domain for New Era Pastor, a name suggested by a colleague, which speaks to operating “on the edge of institutional bounds” (also, Taylor Swift!)

  • His blogging site is The Church Nerd.
    
    

• Cathie organizes her multiple efforts under her “umbrella ministry”:

  • The main ministry is Free Range Priest.

  • Sub-ministries include Substack Seminary and Trexo (a “gym for your soul”).

  • She holds the domains Trexo.church and Substackseminary.org.

  • Her service to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is structured as a contract with Free Range Priest, clarifying that it is St. Paul’s ministry, not Cathie’s.

Naming our ministry and how it forms us

• Defining our ministry clearly helps set boundaries, stating what we are not doing—like fixing the boiler or being constantly stuck in budget meetings.

• Loren shared the story of the drummer who lost his hearing as an analogy, illustrating that our core purpose must transcend any specific church job, so we’re not lost if we lose a position.

• We discussed the frustration over the ease of getting ordained online, which Cathie and Sierra agree devalues the formation, preparation, community support, accountability, and licensing required for professional ministry. Cathie compared this specialization to medical specialization.

Should your ministry be your website?

• Cathie is focused on organizing all ministry efforts into one place and creating a network to connect people across different channels.

• Sierra noted that her Substack content creation is “haphazard” but admitted she could combine her efforts more.

• On the Substack vs. Website debate, Sierra finds traditional websites easier for practical information (like service times), while Cathie suggested ways to structure Substack to serve that function. Loren emphasized the importance of recognizing tool trade-offs and focusing energy where it counts.

• Cathie believes 21st-century ministers need technical skills and an interactive online platform to engage people outside their hyper-local area, especially as church attendance declines.

• Sierra doesn’t like streaming full church services but sees value in sharing sermons online to serve her “outlying congregation”. She celebrated the internet’s ability to connect and build niche communities with very little effort.

  

V. Substack Seminary Retreat

• We plan to hold an online, half-day retreat this summer - looking at dates

• We hope this online retreat (and Cathie and Sierra’s visit) will be a precursor to an in-person retreat in the near future.

• Anyone planning to join Substack Seminary in Quarter 3 is welcome to sign up for the retreat when it happens.

• We look forward to seeing everyone’s responses to this week’s discussion!

Ready to be all-in?

Upgrade to the Founder level (‘Enrollment’) and become a Substack Seminary Participant, and join the year-long development, networking, and training community for ministers.

We take on one theme per Quarter and admit new enrollees four times a year on rolling Quarters (so if you start at Q2, you’ll get Quarters 2, 3, 4, then 1, and so on…)

During the Quarters - we’ll have weekly topics, homework, check-in with your ministry partner(s), and chats.

When the year is through you’ll have built your own roadmap for your ‘Cage Free’ ministry - and be part of a community that’s building the Future of Church - together.

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Why we’re asking this question

This week in Substack Seminary, we’re wrestling with a simple question:

What’s in a name?

In most organizational development work, naming comes last. You focus on mission, purpose, and structure first—then worry about brand identity.

That’s usually good advice.

But I’ve started to wonder if, at least in ministry, that order might be incomplete.

Names as stories

In The Stories Congregations Tell: Flourishing in the Face of Transition and Change, the authors argue that congregations are guided by the stories they tell about themselves—both explicitly and implicitly.

That shift matters.

Because if ministries are shaped by their internal narratives, then names are not just labels.

They are identity-forming tools.

Names help a community “identify and clearly articulate who they are and are not, and how their organizational past, present, and future link together in their context.”

Substack Conversation archives

Why this matters now

We are in a moment of profound transition—especially within the church.

And in moments like this, clarity matters more than ever.

The authors note that “storyline consistency is an important hinge” for flourishing in times of change.

A name won’t solve everything.

But it can anchor a ministry’s identity when everything else feels unstable.

A good name holds the story together.

Reality and aspiration

There’s another tension the book names that’s worth holding onto.

The stories congregations tell “speak to both reality and aspiration.”

That’s the balance.

A name should:

• reflect who you actually are

• while also pointing toward who you are becoming

Dream—but stay grounded.

Don’t let aspiration outrun capacity.
And be honest about whether your structure can sustain the identity you’re claiming.

A simple framework

If you’re trying to name a ministry, this framework is helpful:

• Descriptive-empirical: What is going on?

• Interpretive: Why is this going on?

• Normative: What ought to be going on?

• Pragmatic: How might we respond?

If you can answer those questions clearly, you’re already close to a name.

The deeper point

The authors write that “stories are the currency of congregational flourishing.”

I’d push that just one step further:

Names are the currency of your flourishing.

Because a name doesn’t just describe what you do.

It tells people who you are—and who you’re becoming.

Why this matters for Substack Seminary

This is the kind of work we’re doing in Substack Seminary.

Not just building projects—but naming them.
Not just launching ideas—but clarifying identity.

Because in a time of transition, clarity about who you are—and who you are becoming—matters more than ever.

If you’re working on something new, or trying to name what God is calling you into next, this is the space to do that work.

Join us.

Ready to be all-in?

Upgrade to the Founder level (‘Enrollment’) and become a Substack Seminary Participant, and join the year-long development, networking, and training community for ministers.

We take on one theme per Quarter and admit new enrollees four times a year on rolling Quarters (so if you start at Q2, you’ll get Quarters 2, 3, 4, then 1, and so on…)

During the Quarters - we’ll have weekly topics, homework, check-in with your ministry partner(s), and chats.

When the year is through you’ll have built your own roadmap for your ‘Cage Free’ ministry - and be part of a community that’s building the Future of Church - together.

Subscribe now

The quiet bias in funding

I was recently talking with a nonprofit leader whose work is closely tied to churches.

She’s applying for a major grant. The challenge is that the funder has a long history of supporting established, legacy organizations.

At one point, I said—only half joking—
why does this funder keep investing in organizations committed to maintaining the status quo?

She laughed. Then agreed.

Institutional gravity

What’s at work here is something like institutional bias—or what I’d describe as institutional gravity.

Funding tends to flow toward what already exists.

Not necessarily because it’s most effective.
But because it’s familiar. Recognizable.
Considered Less risky.

Established organizations have:

• name recognition

• infrastructure

• a track record

But they also often carry inertia.

They are slower to adapt.
Less flexible.
More invested in maintaining what is than exploring what could be.

The irony no one names

Here’s where it gets more complicated.

An established organization she was in conversation with suggested they might contract with her to help lead the very work she was proposing—if they received the grant funding.

In other words:

The innovative work would still be done by newer leadership.
But the funding would flow through an older institution.

It’s not malicious.

But it does raise a question:

Why not fund the work where it is actually happening?

Why this matters here

Substack Seminary exists in that space of emergence.

We’re not a legacy institution.
We’re not trying to preserve an inherited model.

We’re trying to make sense of what comes next—and help others do the same.

We may not be able to change how grant systems operate overnight.

But we can help you think clearly, act faithfully, and build something real in the middle of it.

If you’re working on something new—and finding that existing systems don’t quite know what to do with it—you’re not alone.

Join us.

Do more than read along from the sidelines

Become a Substack Seminary paid subscriber to join the conversation.

Our rollicking weekly livestream (hosted by , with co-hosts , , and occasional Substack Seminary Participants), goes in depth on all things ‘Future of Church’ and ‘Cage Free Ministry’

We’re even starting a denomination.

Join live Thursdays at 3:30pm Eastern (we read comments in real time) and get the recording in your inbox on Friday.

Bring your own questions - and where your ministry is ‘stuck’.

Subscribe now

If you’re already a paid subscriber, enjoy the Conversation archives…

Substack Conversation archives

Picking up from last week

Last week, I wrote about how we can’t imagine the future alone—drawing on insights from the book Imaginable: How to Create a Hopeful Future by Jane McGonigal.

The core idea from that blog, based on her book is this:

Imagination doesn’t fail because we lack ideas. It fails because we lack the right people.

If you missed that piece, it’s worth going back—because what follows builds directly from it.

Clarity without movement

One of the hardest moments in ministry isn’t confusion. It’s clarity.

You see the shifts.
You understand the limits.
You can name what needs to change.

And yet—nothing around you seems to move.

That right there is what’s so hard. You see things so clearly, yet others do not…

The missing piece

In Imaginable, McGonigal describes how our relationship to the future depends on more than calling or urgency.

It depends on belonging—meaning, finding a group of people who can understand, support, and encourage your imagination.

This is especially important for pastors and church leaders, as your church community may not initially be that community where you find belonging.

The point is this—many leaders don’t lack vision.
They lack a community that shares it.

Where burnout actually begins

Burnout is rarely about workload. People will work long and hard when there is energy and momentum towards a hopeful future.

But, when you feel like you are carrying all of that yourself? Well, that’s absolutely a recipe for burnout

Holding urgency no one else feels.
Seeing limits no one else names.
Trying to move something that isn’t ready to move.

Clarity without belonging is not sustainable.

What we’re trying to build

If your calling has outgrown your current community, there are only a few real options:

• Find others already doing the work

• Step into a different community

• Or begin to build one

Not later.
Now.

This is why Substack Seminary exists.

Not as content, but as alignment.
Not as ideas, but as shared imagination.

If your calling has outgrown your current community, the answer isn’t to shrink your vision. It’s to find the right people.

That’s what we’re trying to build here.

Join us.

OPENING: We’re Live - From a Car in South Dakota and an office in North Carolina

Cathie and Sierra discuss that next week is Holy Week, which means — as every minister knows — that April seems a long way away. But it’s not.

“That’s a really good reason to sign up for Substack Seminary now — because it’s about to get really intense with Holy Week, and then it’s Easter, and then ministers all over the world will lie down for a little while... and then we’re going to start this thing.” — Cathie

The Church is in crisis - and money is at the center of It

The uncomfortable truth churches are collapsing not because of a lack of faith, but because of a lack of sustainable financial models.

• Baby Boomers are the backbone of congregational giving - and they are aging out

• Even a thriving church has a decade at most before its primary givers are gone

• The endowment trap: Cathie tells the story of a Kansas church with $3 million sitting in the bank while their dream project (a school for underserved kids) died for lack of willingness to use it - and the congregation slowly followed

“If the church dies and you still have all that money in the bank, what are you doing with it?”

Cage Free Ministry — rethinking ‘bi-vocational’

The word ‘bi-vocational’ needs to go (when it means ‘you’re not getting paid for your ministry’.

• Ministry isn’t a job — it’s a vocation. You can’t clock out of it

• “Cage Free” ministry (task-based contracts, multiple contexts) is actually less risky than a single-congregation call right now

• Cathie’s model: paid for specific, agreed-upon work at a congregation AND online, while remaining a priest with every fiber of her being

“Cage Free. Because you just deserve to get paid.” — Cathie

Sierra adds the generational lens: millennials are reshaping what commitment looks like - and the subscription model may be exactly the right framework for the next generation of ministry relationships.

You Can’t Imagine the Future Alone

We talked about Loren Richmond, Jr.’s recent blog for Substack Seminary, based on Jane McGonigal’s book Imaginable: “You Can’t Imagine the Future Alone.”

• The future of the church won’t be figured out in isolation

• The most meaningful things in life are the relationships we build

• Substack Seminary exists to be those people for innovative ministers — the ones in the trench with you

“We’re not islands. We’re not alone. The most meaningful things are the relationships we have with each other.” — Cathie

What Substack Seminary actually is (more than a networking group)

Substack Seminary is:

• A covenant Christian community for ministers thinking outside of the institutional box.

• A think tank: bring your business plan, your fears, your bad ideas, and your good ones

• A collaboration incubator — Cathie, Sierra, and Loren literally met online and built something together. More of that is the goal!

• An accountability structure — someone to say ‘you’re doing better than you think’ AND ‘wait, are you sure about that?’

Loren does something like what BNI and other business networking groups do — but shaped around ministry, covenant, and the Gospel.

What’s new in Q2 — Sustainability as the theme

Q1 taught them a lot. Q2 is building on it:

• Theme: Sustainability - the scary, necessary, urgent thing

• Homework: Yes, there is homework (Sierra’s fault, apparently)

• Partners: Members will be paired with one or two others for deeper conversation across the quarter

• Live streams: Ongoing, with the possibility of featuring your ministry, your struggles, your wins

• Big news: Cathie and Sierra are meeting in person for the first live stream of Q2

The weirdos table has seats

Substack Seminary calls itself ‘the home for orphaned weirdo pastors’ - tongue in cheek, but also kind of accurate. Ministers are a particular kind of strange, and that’s a feature, not a bug.

• Q2 starts April 13 (the Monday after Easter Monday)

• Price goes up April 3 (yes, that’s Good Friday — purely calendrical, apologies)

• Limited to 10 enrolled members

• Sign up at SubstackSeminary.org — choose the Enrolled (Founder) level

• Already a paid member? It should prorate — if not, reach out directly

Blessed Holy Week to all of you. Walk through it. Don’t rush past it. And then — come join us on the other side.

Subscribe now

On belonging, calling, and why imagination fails in isolation

I recently finished the book Imaginable: How to Create a Hopeful Future by Jane McGonigal. It’s not a religious book, but it names something I see all the time in ministry—and frankly, in my own life.

The book is about imagination. Not in a vague or inspirational sense, but as a discipline. McGonigal argues that our ability to picture a different future—clearly, concretely—is one of the most important drivers of change.

That part wasn’t new to me.

What was new, or at least what I needed to be reminded of, was this:

imagination doesn’t fail because we lack ideas. It fails because we lack the right people.

That hits, doesn’t it…

McGonigal describes four ways we relate to the future: calling, belonging, hope, and power.

Most of us, especially in ministry, tend to fixate on calling.

We ask:

• What is God asking me to do?

• What problem am I meant to address?

• What future am I supposed to help create?

And for many pastors and leaders, those questions are not abstract. The challenges are real, visible, and pressing.

But there’s a second dimension that often goes unnoticed:

belonging.

Belonging, in McGonigal’s framework, is about whether you are connected to others who see the same future you do—who are working toward it, who recognize the problem, who share the urgency.

Without that, something subtle but significant begins to happen.

You can have clarity of calling and still feel disconnected from the future.

You start to sense that others aren’t as invested.
That the change you see isn’t shared.
That the work ahead is yours alone to carry.

And over time, that gap creates strain. It creates fatigue. It creates exhaustion.

Not because the calling isn’t real.
But because it isn’t held in common.

There’s no one to walk alongside as you take that journey of faith.

What struck me most is how practical her conclusion is.

If your sense of calling outpaces your sense of belonging, you have a few options:

• Begin to form that community yourself

• Find others already working on the problem

• Or Step into a different community that recognizes the work

Even one or two people aligned around the same future can change your sense of what’s possible.

Trust me on that.

But also, consider that it raises a harder question—not about imagination, but about reality:

What happens when your calling outgrows your community?

I don’t think the answer is to work harder or wait longer.

I think it has something to do with finding the right people.

That’s what we’re trying to do here. Stay Tuned…

If you are serving in a church sustained more by memory than momentum, this conversation is for you.

Substack Seminary exists to help pastors and church leaders think clearly about capacity, sustainability, and leadership in a post-growth church.

If you’re tired of being told that bigger is the only faithful option, and you want language and frameworks for leading well within real limits, this is the space for you.

Join us.

I. Now enrolling for Q2 of Substack Seminary

• A. What is it?

  • An experimental, entrepreneurial space to reimagine and reinterpret ministry in the 21st century.

  • Described as a networking, support, and training group - a “clubhouse” for ministers who don’t fit the institutional mold, even if currently serving within it.

  • Referred to as “a place where you’re not weird, you’re early” and a “home for orphaned pastors.”
    
    

• B. Program Structure

  • A year-long program divided into quarters.

  • Each quarter is a short, intense period (about seven weeks) focused on a theme and weekly topics, followed by a time off.

  • People can enroll at the start of any quarter (e.g., Q2, Q3, Q4, Q1 for a full year).

  • Q1 was the first quarter; Q2 will have more structure, homework, and interaction to “stretch people from where they are.”

II. Theme for Q2: Sustainability

• The main theme for Quarter 2 is sustainability, focusing on “A business model for your ministry.”

• Key questions to be discussed include:

  • What do you charge for your ministry?

  • How can your ministry be sustainable for your life and the ministry itself?

  • What is the transformation or “good news” you are hoping to bring to people (What’s your ‘why’?)

III. Expected Outcomes and Benefits of Substack Seminary

• A. Expected Outcomes for Members

  • Developing a roadmap and framework for their own ministry.

  • Networking and community with like-minded ministers, leading to potential collaborations and bartering for services.

  • Training and being challenged to bring their vision to fruition.
    
    

• B. Personal Benefits Shared by the Hosts

  • Loren Richmond, Jr. shared that the program helped him find clarity on what he wants and doesn’t want to do (e.g., realizing he doesn’t want to be a solo lead pastor, but is still excited about pastoral care).

  • Cathie Caimano emphasized the goal of helping “orphaned ministers find their way back to ministry joy”—releasing stress from institutional collapse, money worries, and overwork to focus on what they are called to do.

  • The community addresses the sense of loneliness in entrepreneurial ministry.

IV. Ministry Identity and Naming

• The conversation shifts to the importance of naming one’s ministry (the starting point for Q2).

• A. The Power of a Name: A ministry’s name is both descriptive and prescriptive, guiding actions and shaping the story.

• B. Personal Examples of Prescriptive Names:

  • Cathie Caimano’s ministry, Free Range Priest, came from a nickname that shaped her unique relationship with her church (serving as a consultant rather than a traditional rector).

  • Loren Richmond, Jr. was called a “new era pastor.”

  • Other Substack Seminary members’ names: Sierra Ward: St. Jacob’s Church (where they wrestle with God), Richard Hussong: No Lost Sheep, and Thea Curry-Fuson: She Believes.
    
    

• C. Ministry vs. Church: It is crucial for ministers to understand “you are not your church” and that their ministry has its own mission, distinct from any single congregation they may serve.

V. Challenging the Institutional Model

• Substack Seminary is seen as a space to discuss how to build something new and is a “laboratory for what is being born into the future of church.”

• A. Institutional Critique: The old model of church is described as “not working” and sometimes “structured against growth,” often leading to pastors being underpaid and overburdened with administrative tasks.

• B. Reclaiming Focus: The hosts advocate for “getting rid of the stuff,” such as unnecessary and time-consuming board meetings, to focus instead on living life with God and each other in community.

• C. Equipping Others: The role of the minister is seen as an “connector and a developer” who equips the congregation to use their God-given gifts for ministry in the community, rather than being the sole provider/performer of ministry.

VI. Enrollment for Q2

• Quarter 2 of Substack Seminary, focusing on sustainability, starts April 13th.

• Enrollment is at the “founder level” (called Enrollment) for $600 a year.
  
  
  

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Conversation between Cathie Caimano and Sierra Ward

Sierra is the pastor of St. Jacob’s ( ) and the founder of the New American Orthodox denomination.

• Orthodox: The denomination emphasizes “right belief” informed by an Eastern Orthodox framework. This centers on the idea that God is not distant, but is already close, interested in reconciliation, healing, and restoration, in contrast to a Western focus on appeasing God through purity rules.
  
  

• American: The “American” aspect is an embrace of the present-day context, which includes the freedom to challenge the status quo and a commitment to being defined by what the church is, rather than what it is not (i.e., not anti-Catholic).
  
  

• New: The denomination is “new” because it is a “lab” that is intentionally forward-looking, seeking restoration and new life, rather than merely going back to the “old old.” The newness also allows for agility without the “heavy administrative bureaucratic structures” of mainline denominations.
  
  

• Core Practices & Vision: New American Orthodox is committed to celebrating women in ministry and views all human beings as the image of God. Its unique “faith thread” involves weaving together Christian and Jewish traditions (like incorporating Old Testament festivals such as Shavuot) and American cultural touchstones (like incorporating Juneteenth) to deepen engagement with God’s story.
  
  

• Structure: While currently small, the long-term vision is to be an “association” that can be replicated in other communities, rather than just Sierra’s local church. Sierra views the process of establishing boundaries and doctrine as messy, requiring formalization from others—like Martin Luther needing a Melanchthon—but finds current oversight and support through a local ministerial association and Substack Seminary.

Outline of the Conversation

Introduction to New American Orthodox

• Cathie Caimano and Sierra Ward live between Quarters of Substack Seminary.

• Sierra is returning as a guest practitioner for Q2.

• Cathie introduces the topic: Sierra’s denomination, New American Orthodox, and the meaning of its name.

The Impetus for Starting a New Denomination

• Sierra felt “unhomed” and unrepresented in previous church experiences.

• Desire for a church that celebrates women in ministry and affirms all as the image of God.

• The conviction that there is an “empty space” and room for “another way of being.”

• Vision for replication to build something helpful for future generations, not just a local congregation.

• Comparing the process to Martin Luther, a “crank” who started a new path unintentionally.

Deconstructing the Name

The “Orthodox” Part (Right Belief):

1. Inspired by the Eastern Orthodox belief that God is close, interested in healing, restoration, and reconciliation.

2. A rejection of the Western church’s tendency to focus on appeasing God.

3. Reading the Bible with the framework that God is already present and humanity has wandered away.
   
   

The “American” Part (Context):

1. Acknowledging the American tradition of challenging the status quo.

2. Not defined by what it is “not” (e.g., not anti-Catholic), but by its American context.

3. Recognizing that parts of Eastern Orthodoxy may not fit their current context (e.g., Sierra is a woman).
   
   

The “New” Part (Forward Movement):

1. New because it is unseen and looking forward to resurrection and new life.

2. Embracing a reforming idea, but not simply trying to revert to the “old old.”

Discussion on Institutional Structure and Boundaries

• Cathie expresses concern about the word “denomination” implying institutional bureaucracy and “red tape.”

• Sierra embraces the idea of setting boundaries and “policy” (like the intent of Leviticus) to define core beliefs (e.g., for women in ministry).

• Plans for ordination and new churches are in development; the current model is more of an “association.”

• Sierra sees herself as a pioneering “crank” who needs collaborators (”a Melanchthon”) to formalize the ideas.

• Unique practices include weaving together Christian and Jewish tradition, such as celebrating the festival of Shavuot and incorporating the American holiday Juneteenth.

• The value of being a “lab” that can pivot without bureaucracy.

Conclusion and Substack Seminary Promotion

• The need for oversight is currently fulfilled by a local ministerial association and Substack Seminary.

• Substack Seminary provides support, training, and community for ministers doing innovative, “orphan weirdo” ministry.

• ‘You’re not weird - you’re early. And now you’re right on time.

• Next quarter starts on April 13th.