Social Media as a Window for Ministry
Social media can feel like an endless scroll of noise, distraction, comparison and negativity.
Yet, for those of us in ministry, it also offers a window into the lives of the people we serve. A peek into the questions they’re asking, the struggles they’re carrying, the stories they’re sharing.
Social channels can also be into your church. Your feed can be a place where your mission, values, and hospitality are experienced before someone ever walks through your doors.
STUCK: Revisiting the Conversation with Dr. Todd Ferguson
Earlier this year, Ministry Forum hosted a timely and impactful gathering: Are You Stuck? — an immersive and small group event at Crieff Hills Retreat Centre with Dr. Todd Ferguson, sociologist, pastor, and co-author of Stuck: Why Clergy Are Alienated from Their Calling, Congregation, and Career. For many who attended, it was a clarifying, even healing experience. One that named the unspoken tensions ministry leaders have carried in silence for far too long.
Today we’re sharing with you a part of that experience through our Podcast feed.
Are We Even Making A Difference?
Ever since I left congregational ministry to take on my role at the Centre for Lifelong Learning - and honestly, even as I discerned whether I would say YES to the invitation to serve in this new way, there has been something inside that has questioned my place in the world.
As I reflect on it, that niggling has always been around. Challenging me on my purpose, my effectiveness - ultimately on whether how I was spending my time mattered amidst the tossing and turning of this world around us. I don’t know if this has been true for you too.
I mean, am I doing life well enough if I spend my weeks writing content and sending it into the ether like this one?
Truth & Reconciliation 2025
May we continue to educate ourselves, reflect, and be spurred to action as we pursue justice and healing for Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Resources for Learning, Truth & Reconciliation
Today we pause to reflect, lament, and recommit ourselves to the work of healing and justice. At Ministry Forum, we’re marking this week by weaving threads of reconciliation through everything we do—our podcast, blog, social media, and resource hub. Today, we offer you a curated roundup of past posts and a few fresh resources to support your own learning and leadership in the work of reconciliation.
New Course: The History of Indigenous-Settler Relations in Canada
Taking this course won’t fix the past.
But it will help you understand it better.
And that’s an important part of the work we are all called to do.
Who Cares for the Caregivers?
The loneliness epidemic isn't going away, and AI companions aren't the solution. But we have something irreplaceable to offer: the ministry of genuine human presence in the name of Jesus.
In an age of artificial everything, authentic ministry matters more than ever. Yours, Ministry Leader, is the work of connection.
Season Four Is Here — And We’re Starting with a Story About Darkness
Season Four of the Ministry Forum Podcast is officially underway, and we’re excited to share it with you! We’re beginning this season with someone many of you will know already—Laura Alary—a writer, educator, and someone who has a real gift for noticing the sacred in ordinary things.
The Preaching Collective Weekly is back - Sept. 18th
If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a blank page, wondering how to begin, or wished you had someone to talk through a tricky passage with, you’re not alone. The Preaching Collective Weekly is here for exactly that reason.
Meet the Ministry Forum Interns ‘25-‘26
We are delighted to announce our Ministry Forum Interns for 2025-26. Our deep gratitude to those generous donors to the College over its history who have provided monies for Student Support which funds many things including our Intern program. You will see a returning face for some continuity - Welcome back, Sara Traficante who is almost finished her MPS! And a new face, Rosanne Purnwasie who is in her final year in the M.Div. programme.
My Summer Bookclub Bingo Reads 2026
The College community also held its Summer Bookclub Bingo again this year—organized with care and creativity by our Caven Library staff. We’re so grateful for their leadership in creating a fun, reflective, and community-building reading challenge each summer!
Let’s Talk: How Do YOU feel about Technology & Ministry?
We’re starting this dialogue now and continuing it throughout the year. What we gather will shape how we think, what resources we highlight, and how we support each other. So whether you’re experimenting with AI or resisting it altogether, we want to hear from you. Because ministry is not about keeping up with what’s new—it’s about staying connected to what’s real: the people you serve, the calling you’ve received, and the Gospel you proclaim!
Is AI Taking Over?
It seems that AI is everywhere these days. Lots of it without me even asking for it. And the Church is talking about it too.
Should We Use This AI Tool in Our Church? A Discernment Checklist
We might feel unprepared for this moment, but we are not unequipped. As church leaders we are called to discern and ask deeper questions: not just “can we use this?” or “how quickly can we adopt it?” but “is this good?” “what does it form in us?” “how does it shape the community we are called to serve?”. Discernment will help us stay grounded in wisdom, shaped by scripture, prayer, and community.
That’s the work we want to invite you into in this reflection.
Faith That Lasts: Resources for Faith Development At All Ages
This month at Ministry Forum, we’re paying special attention to intergenerational ministry and next-generation formation. We’re thinking about Sunday School, youth group, and family faith practices. But more than that, we’re thinking about what it means to offer something deeper than attendance and answers. We’re asking how we might invest in a faith that’s real, resilient, and rooted—one that won’t unravel when life gets complex, or when A + B no longer equals C.
For Such A Time As This: What do you preach at an ordination in 2025?
In the evening heat of July 20th in the sanctuary of Knox Oakville, our Ministry Forum Intern, Rachel moved from recently graduated student of Knox College to The Rev. Rachel Kennedy-Proctor, newly ordained and soon to be inducted minister of Clarkson Road Presbyterian Church, Mississauga. We celebrate with Rachel and her family and friends and were honoured to be present and participate in a small part in her ordination.
Intergenerational Ministry: More Radical than We Realize
Our next Ministry Forum webinar takes place on Wednesday, September 18 at 1:00pm ET. This one focuses on intergenerational ministry, and the questions it invites us to ask about the shape of our worship, our formation practices, and our life together.
We’ll be joined by Dr. David Csinos, a researcher, writer, and educator who has spent years thinking with churches about how people grow in faith. David brings a thoughtful and grounded approach to the work of helping communities include all ages in meaningful ways. His experience is rooted in both theology and practice.
Fall Webinars - Coming Soon
In the spring we brainstormed how we might use these remaining funds to support ministry leaders: What if we could address some of the topics that feel especially weighty and worth wrestling with right now?
Our goal was to offer a space that felt thoughtful, grounded, and led by experts and deep thinkers in a diverse areas of topics (many that were reference in our original listening sessions)
So far this summer, we’ve held two of these sessions, and they’ve both sparked really meaningful conversations.
Resources for Church Conflict
We’ve gathered a selection of resources—articles, videos, tools, and book recommendations—to help you and your teams explore these topics more deeply. Whether you are looking to strengthen trust, navigate disagreement with grace, or build clarity around shared goals, we hope this collection will serve as a practical starting point.