The one thing everyone is looking for is the one thing we have to share.
Belonging in community is at the heart of the Gospel. Make this the heart of YOUR ministry, and find it at Substack Seminary.
Episcopal Diocesan convention.
For the uninitiated, it is a day long gathering (or 2-day in my diocese) of all clergy and congregational delegates within the geographic boundaries of the diocese.
Fun fact: the Episcopal Church was founded at the same time, and with many of the same people, and for much of the same reasons, as the United States of America (Episcopalians were part of the Church of England. We were having a revolution. Things needed to change. We were finding our way into a new system).
So Diocesan Convention, in the Episcopal Church, is technically congress. Elected representatives in two houses (clergy and lay), coming together to guard and guide the mission of the church.
I don’t think you would get this sense if you dropped in today.
I was there last Friday and I can tell you it felt like the traditions we were keeping were more about what order the rows of chairs were in and the proper use of the term ‘dispatch’ than sacraments and practices we have been bearing for thousands of years.
I was actually sitting in an exhibitor booth with my church (the fabulous
A booth we almost didn’t get - even though we paid hundreds of dollars for it.
Because no new exhibitors had been there for God knows how many years and everyone was stressed out because no one knew how to create a space for us. They just set it up the way they always did and could not conceive of it differently.
It can feel maddening how much the organizational and administrative gridlock of denominational church is on display at conventions, but it’s still a place of deep, deep connection.
Personally, I have been in the ministry trenches with hundreds of the people present there for fully half of my life.
And it’s not an exaggeration to say that my arms hurt on the way home from SO many hugs.
And even though it felt like we talked about anything and everything except the giant elephant in the room at Convention - the collapse of the institutional church and what that means for pretty much every person there - conversations were still happening.
I was wearing my tshirt, sitting in my exhibitor booth, and between hugs, my ministry colleagues poured their hearts out.
Here’s what they said:
‘I don’t serve in a traditional congregation anymore and I struggle with what it means to be a minister. I feel so lonely on Sunday morning.’
‘I’m the rector of a large and ‘successful’ congregation but no one can see or talk about the cracks in the system or how hard I’m working to keep everything together behind the scenes.’
‘The diocesan leadership doesn’t feel like it functions as an extension of the bishop anymore, and I have nowhere to go for help.’
‘My congregation is struggling and adrift and every time the clergy meet we’re told to push lay leaders to give more time and money.’
‘I’m in the ordination process and I have no prospects for a paid position in a congregation and no idea what else I’m going to do.’
‘I’m a clergy spouse and the conflict at stress at the congregation is affecting our marriage.’
Lay ministers and congregation members talked with me, too:
Several people said, when I asked where they went to church: ‘I’m a member of X congregation, but I haven’t attended in a long time’ (some of these people were delegates representing the congregation at Convention).
‘We can’t find a priest’.
‘We can’t get rid of the priest we have - who’s not a good fit or a good pastor’.
‘There’s too much politics at church’.
‘I feel alone’.
I heard this over and over again.
Here we were, in a convention center with thousands of other people, representing a hundred communities, sitting through presentations and sermons, worship and prayer, sharing meals and breakout sessions, and over and over again, clergy and lay leaders kept telling me how disconnected they felt.
From their spiritual lives.
From their callings.
From each other.
When people ask me what I mean about institutional collapse, ‘Cage Free Ministry’, and finding new ways to bear the Gospel into the Future of Church,
this is what I mean: We’re not functioning like the body of Christ from within the institutional church.
But as I said to more than one person who was telling me their story:
The place of stress, frustration, and loneliness we find ourselves in right now is exactly the place God is calling us to move into and through to find where he is calling us to build the future of church.
We can do ministry differently. We ARE serving ministry in new ways. We DO bear the sacraments, Scripture, and tradition of the church from within, without, and alongside the institution.
There ARE more people out here in ‘Cage Free Ministry’ than you know.
You are not alone. And even more - you are called to this group of ministers who are discovering new structure, a new roadmap, and new sustainability in ministry. And we’re doing it together.
Subtack Seminary starts January 12, 2026. The price goes up to join in 1 week (December 1)**.
If any of this resonates with you - I think you should be there.
** As with all parts of ministry, sustainability is part of the mission, but affordability should never be roadblock. Please contact me if you want to join us but the price is an obstacle:
Substack Seminary begins January 12, 2026.
Enroll today!
Join a year-long collaborative workshop where you develop your ministry for the future of church.
And know that you are not alone.
Whether you’re serving a congregation, building an entrepreneurial ministry, or both.
Here’s how it works:
You’ll get an email each week of the quarter that outlines the topic and starts the discussion.
And pdf journal pages to help you start creating the roadmap of your own ministry.
Once a week the quarter, there will be a 20-30 minute livestream with some combination of
, and our guest practitioner (Q1 it’s ). You’ll get an email invitation to the livestream which is your link to the recording if you can’t make it.Once a week during quarters there will be a chat space for all Substack Seminary paid members. We’ll engage the topic of the week and where we are with it.
Twice a month during quarters there will be a Google Meet with your current cohort (everyone working on this quarter’s theme). This is time to share your stories, where you are—and how you are (these sessions will be the first and last week’s of each quarter, and will be scheduled once the cohort is set).
A place to listen for God together, and to discover collaboration God might be calling you toward. A place to build the future of church - together.
We’ll work through four quarters:
Q1= January 12 - February 23, 2026.
Q2 = April 13 - May 25, 2026.
Q3 = August 3rd - September 14, 2026.
Q4 = October 5 - November 16, 2026.
Q1: GET UNSTUCK
The big picture of institutional collapse and how your ministry can clear a path through the rubble. Think organizationally.
1. How the church is stuck.
(January 12-17)
Welcome and overview of the next 12 months. Where are you now?
The collapse of the institutional church and one way you’re finding to thrive.
Institutions don’t change. People do. And the institution resists…
First Google Meet is this week - for introductions and starting points.
2. The world has moved on from institutional church. How do we move with it?
(January 19-24)
What is God inviting you into? Not what’s possible, not what you think you have to do, but what’s yours to do.
How is the stress you are feeling an invitation to re-imagination?
How your ministry operates within the institutional church system, alongside it, and/or outside it.
3. We can start something new - but we need to stay connected.
(January 26-31)
Belonging in community is essential for the church, the future of church, and ministry in general.
‘Am I allowed to do this?’ Permission and forgiveness while discerning in the midst of institutional collapse.
The importance of failure and doing it wrong as discernment.
Grounding our ministry: sin, forgiveness, humility, accountability, and authority.
4. Today’s church system: agile, networked, individualized, technology-based
(February 2-7)
The connection between the first and the 21st centuries (and how we finally let go of the 20th century).
The one thing everyone is looking for is what we have to share (hint: belonging).
The ‘bulletin effect’: How small changes in how we think about ministry can bring more Good News to everyone.
5. Name, claim, and connect your ministry.
(Feb 9-14)
Who are you are responsible for? Who are you responsible to?
Six word mission statements.
You say ‘Saul’, I say ‘Paul’. The importance of what we call our ministry - and why your ministry should have a name (and a domain name).
6. Workshop Week: Discernment in Real Time
(Feb 16-21)
Describe your ministry in terms of the institutional church (even if you don’t serve there).
Describe your ministry without using terms of the institutional church (even if you do serve there).
Second Google Meet is this week - to share our ministry names, mission statements, and descriptions of our ministry.
Feb. 23 – Q1 Wrap-up email and assignment:
For your roadmap:
Your ministry NAME and MISSION.
Q2 begins April 13
