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.