Substack Seminary Orientation
We're sharing it with everyone because there's still time to join us!
Building the Future of Church - Together
As I was getting ready to send out the Orientation Packet to the Q1 Enrollees, I thought: why not send it out to all subscribers?
It’s too long to include the entire packet in this post, so the whole document is here. Below you will find highlights..
What we need from you
This section is just for enrollees: please pay special attention to this if you are already enrolled!
If you would like to be enrolled, you can still join us…
We are about to step into something new, and something we believe is necessary: a covenanted community of innovative ministers working together to build the future of church.
It’s not seminary in the traditional sense.
We’re not studying for ordination or credentials.
But it is seminary in the literal sense of being the seed of something: an environment in which something originates and from which it is propagated.
We believe that by gathering those who are already cultivating new expressions of ministry - within, alongside of, or outside of traditional denominational ministry - we create the conditions for the future of church to grow.
Over the next twelve months, you will develop a roadmap for your own ministry:
clarifying your calling.
establishing sustainable structures.
grounding your work in ancient Christian practice
collaborating with others doing similar faithful work.
We believe that this will also be a roadmap for a new way of being in ministry together - growing the church through agile, networked, technology-based partnerships across denominations and geography.
You’re not weird - you’re early
In one of the first conversations I had with Loren Richmond Jr. - Substack Seminary Founding Partner - he said:
For the longest time, I thought I was just weird or different, but recently it has struck me that I am just early; meaning my ministry and how it is structured is very early for the future, post-denominational, post-institutional world coming.
The key quality that Substack Seminary enrollees have in common is this ‘weirdness’.
The discomfort we have felt with the traditional church structures - and what we’ve done about it! We are early adapters to the 21st century church mission field.
And now we’re right on time.
But we’re also all doing it alone. Figuring it out as we go. Doing everything ourselves. Wondering if what we’re building will ever be sustainable.
Exhausted from carrying the weight of all this by ourselves.
Substack Seminary began the moment we realized that discipleship always happens in community - and that a community of ministry innovators is something the church needs.
Who We Are
Another way that Substack Seminary is not your typical seminary is that this is not a professor/student relationship. We’re not grading you!
In fact, everyone involved with SubSem - Enrollees, Founding Partners, and Guest Practitioners - will be working on our own roadmaps!
As Founding Partners, we will offer a loose structure as a way to cultivate creativity and foster collaboration. Guest Practitioners will share how the topic of the Quarter and the questions of the week relate to their own ministry.
Together, we will build something new.
Substack Seminary Founding Partners
Pastor, chaplain, and podcaster writing at the intersection of faith, culture, and church renewal. A lowercase-e evangelical exploring theology, discipleship, and how historic faith speaks today—especially why the church still matters.
An Episcopal priest for over 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.
Guest Practitioners
Each quarter welcomes an experienced minister doing innovative work in their own context. They’re not here to lecture—they’re here to process alongside you, share what they’ve learned, and discover new collaborations.
Q1 Guest Practitioner: Pastor Sierra Ward
Thinking about what God is like, how we can follow Him and how we might understand living in the Kingdom of Heaven. Church planting in the Black Hills of Western South Dakota, with my beautiful family and lovely little congregation.
What we’re working toward
Over four quarters, you’ll engage with one essential theme:
Q1: GET UNSTUCK (Jan 12 - Feb 23)
Understanding institutional collapse. Clarifying where your ministry fits and thrives. Thinking organizationally about something new.
Q2: CREATE SUSTAINABILITY (Apr 13 - May 25)
Designing your ministry’s structure and business model. Clarifying your “why.” Building financial viability.
Q3: BRING CHURCH TO PEOPLE (Aug 3 - Sept 14)
Grounding your work in Scripture, theology, and ancient practice. What sustains us for the long haul?
Q4: CONNECT IN AGILE NETWORKS (Oct 5 - Nov 16)
Moving beyond denominational silos. Discovering collaboration. Scaling what God is calling you to build.
By year’s end, you will have: A written roadmap for your ministry. Clarity on your calling and structure. A network of colleagues you can collaborate with and rely on. A sense of how your work fits into something larger than yourself.
How it works
Every week during the Quarter, you engage with:
A Monday email outlining the week’s theme and opening the conversation.
A PDF roadmap with the concept of the week, reflection questions, and space for your own thinking.
A 30-minute livestream (Thursdays, 3:30-4pm ET) with two of the three—Founding Partners/Guest Practitioner—processing the week’s theme together. Recording available.
A Substack chat where all paying members discuss the concept of the week (so there will be people in the chat who aren’t enrollees.
Google Meets twice per quarter with your cohort (enrollment is rolling by Quarter, so there will naturally be a different cohort every Quarter). This is time to get to know each other and share about your ministry.
It’s Time to Bring Church to People
The time we are living in is about institutional collapse. Which is not the same thing as the death of the church. In fact, we see today that there is a revival of Christian faith in many corners.
We believe this is because innovative ministers are finding new ways to share the Gospel. From within the institution, beyond the institution, and alongside the institution.
But it’s not easy. Especially when we’re doing it alone.
People are hungry for sacraments, for ancient practices, for Gospel-centered community. They need new ways to connect with them.
You know this, because you are there. You’ve gotten this far on faith and persistence (and a heck of a lot of skill) alone.
Now it’s time to learn to do it together. For the sake of the church - and for the sake of those of us who’ve come this far.
