Season Three - Coming soon!
Can you believe we're on Season Three already? Didn't we just start this thing?
Okay, okay, so we did play with the seasons with intention. We wanted to provide breaks so that people could catch up. And we hope you're doing that just now. And that's why we wrapped Season Two just before Holy Week started, and we're going to be starting up again on May 20th for a short season before the summer comes.
We pray that your Easter season was meaningful, not only for the ministry context where you serve, but also for you personally. We also hope that it was a time of rest and renewal, afterwards. I had the gift of being with the congregation of St. Andrew's Kitchener all the way from the beginning of Lent until Easter Sunday, and I hope I can offer to do this again for another congregation next year who happened to be without a called minister. It was a pleasure for me, and it it also keeps me connected and grounded to the life of a congregation while I serve in the role that I do with Knox College.
We trust that you're enjoying the podcast. It is certainly a labor of love for us. Recently, we shared a year in review with the faculty of Knox College, to whom I report, and I was blown away for from some of the statistics that related to Ministry Forum’s reach. In particular, if you're listening to me right now, did you know that you're a part of over 750 downloads since we started last fall? The Internet tells me that's a decent number. - it actually used the word decent in Google AI, and that's means that we're apparently doing better than half the podcasts out there thanks Google, appreciate it!
Now I can't wait to share what we've got coming up for Season Three, it's going to be a shorter season as we approach summer, but we're going to be kicking it off with a fantastic interview with the Reverend Dr. Sandra Beardsall who will be talking about her work in the area of ecumenical, shared ministries. It was a really interesting conversation, and I hope will be an inspiration to some of you as you consider potential ways forward for the context you serve. It'd be fascinating to me to know whether or not this model might be something that might catch on in the years to come. It certainly might be a good one for the community where you serve, where perhaps there are two or three congregations who are struggling a little, but if they have pulled their resources together ecumenically, could actually see a way forward to serving the people to whom God is calling them. And I really want to be clear that it's not really just about cost savings. It's not just about sharing resources, but it's actually about maybe being on a mission to serve the gospel in the communities where you're planted. So maybe give that some thought, and there's certainly within the podcast and on the show notes, there'll be lots of resources that will point you to ways to have those really meaningful conversations in the communities where you find yourself. Check it out, it starts on May the 20th.
Now we're going to round out the season with a four part series featuring the recent Lois Klemper Memorial Lectureship Tending Tomorrow. Canadian women, homileticians, reflect on the future of preaching in Canada. Homileticians, homileticians - That's a tough word to say, and I'm imagining it as a series like you might find on CBC. I'm not saying we're CBC, but I just imagined it as being something like the Massey lectures that come on CBC podcasts if you weren't even to if you weren't able to attend - and even if you were - I think you'll get a benefit from listening to the wisdom of these scholars as they reflect on the craft of preaching in Canada today. You certainly won't want to miss it.
And as always, please like and review the Ministry Forum Podcast wherever you download yours. It helps others find us and spreads the word about the work that we're doing in support of ministry leaders, just like you. If there's something you think we should be talking about, or someone you would recommend we interview, please let us know we'd love to we love meeting new people and getting to share them with all of you.
We'll be in your ears on May the 20th!
Talk soon ministry leaders, remember you are not alone as you answer the call to serve in ministry.