5 Resources to Help You Imagine Church Differently
Whether your congregation is starting to ask questions about building use, community presence, or mission renewal, these resources offer real-world stories and practical tools from diverse ministry contexts. They can help spark conversation and inspire action as you discern your next faithful step.
Resurrecting Leisure: Our Conversation with Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden
Reflecting on our May We Need to Listen gathering with Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden, who shared insights from his book Leisure Resurrected. Drawing on early Christian practices, Jeff explored how the Church’s understanding of leisure—as sacred, communal, and generative time—can offer a meaningful framework for ministry today. The post highlights key themes from the conversation and invites readers to consider how worship, rest, and community engagement might be reimagined in their own context.
Voices That Help Us Reimagine the Church
On June 1, a diverse circle of ministry leaders, practitioners, and storytellers will gather in Hamilton and online—not to prescribe formulas, but to offer real-life glimpses of what’s possible when churches begin asking new questions and listening deeply to the needs of their neighbours.
Here are some of the voices helping to guide that conversation.
Reimagining Church, Land & Community
As many church doors close and communities shift, what does faithful stewardship look like? How might these physical spaces become sites of justice, reconciliation, and shared flourishing rather than simply assets to be managed or sold?
Where Do We Go to Be With People? Reimagining the Church as a Centre of Community
In this time of deep social fragmentation and isolation, with loneliness described as an epidemic and connection harder to find for many, the Church faces a pressing question: where do we go to be with people?
Creative Ways: Embodying the Church in the Community
Across the country, congregations are asking courageous questions about what it means to be the Church where people are - that’s what we’re discussing this week. They are moving from hoping people will come to them, to going out to meet people with curiosity, compassion, and creativity. This is not about trend-chasing or novelty—it’s about faithfulness. It’s about aligning with the Spirit’s movement in neighbourhoods, in housing projects, in addiction recovery centres, and in prayer-walked streets.
3 Conversations About Rest & Renewal in Ministry
Over the past year we’ve hosted three episodes on the Ministry Forum Podcast highlighting a different facet of how ministry leaders are finding ways to sustain their calling. These episodes aren’t just interviews—they’re invitations - to rest, to renew your sense of purpose, and to learn from the hard-earned wisdom of others who’ve been in the trenches.
Retreat and Rest 2025
In the busyness of church life, many leaders push pause only when they hit burnout. But what if rest could be proactive, healing, and formational—not just a recovery strategy, but a rhythm of resilience?
10 Books for Rest, Renewal and Taking Time Off in Ministry
For pastors and church leaders, the rhythm of constant giving can slowly erode the well of spiritual and emotional strength if not attended to with care. Rest, renewal, and intentional time away are not luxuries, but essential parts of sustaining a healthy and faithful ministry. Whether you're considering a sabbatical, planning a retreat, or simply hoping to find a slower rhythm in your everyday life, these books offer wisdom, encouragement, and practical tools. Below, we've curated a selection of thoughtful reads to inspire rest and support your journey toward spiritual health and vocational sustainability.
Creative Ways to Engage with Your Congregation For Earth Day
Here are several creative ways to invite your church into a conversation or rhythm or caring for the land around them. Included below are seasonal practices, hands-on ideas, and spiritual reflections that root environmental concern in our faith, deepen our witness, and spark meaningful action.
Podcasts For Creation Care and Discipleship
As Earth Week approaches, many of us are seeking ways to more deeply integrate creation care into our spiritual lives and ministry practices. Sometimes the best way to begin—or to stay encouraged—is simply to listen. These thought-provoking podcasts bring together voices of faith, science, justice, and creativity to help us reflect, grow, and act as stewards of God’s good creation.
Resources for Caring For Creation
As Christians, we believe in a God who called the world “very good” and who invites us into the sacred work of tending, protecting, and renewing creation. That work includes spiritual reflection, practical action, and prophetic witness. Below are a few resources from our Resource Hub that we think might be especially helpful right now as you explore climate justice and faithful living in God’s creation.
Letting Go of the Myth of the “Ideal Pastor”
This week at Ministry Forum, we’re diving into the evolving landscape of bivocational and part-time ministry. It’s a shift more and more congregations are navigating—sometimes out of necessity, but increasingly as a purposeful and Spirit-led choice. In our companion post, "When Ministry Isn’t Full-Time: A Conversation About Bivocational Leadership", we explored how bivocational ministry can offer surprising gifts of connection, spiritual depth, and missional creativity. Today, we continue that conversation by turning our focus to part-time congregational leadership through the lens of Part-Time is Plenty: Thriving Without Full-Time Clergy by G. Jeffrey MacDonald.
A New Imagination for Ministry: Rev. Rebekah Mitchell and the Future of Congregational Life
As we wrap up Season 2 of the Ministry Forum Podcast, we’re closing with a conversation that invites us not just to think differently about bivocational ministry—but to imagine ministry itself in a new way.
In our final episode, Rev. Rebekah Mitchell of St. Peter’s in Madoc joins Ministry Forum intern Sara Traficante to reflect on her unique call—a call that weaves together congregational leadership, community mental health, and the deeply spiritual work of psychotherapy.
When Ministry Isn’t Full-Time: A Conversation About Bivocational Leadership
A growing number of church leaders now serve part-time or alongside other work. Some denominations have embraced this as a way to ground pastors more deeply in the life of their communities. Others are adjusting out of necessity, as congregational resources become more limited. But as Karl Vaters writes, these models are quickly becoming the norm, not the exception.
Renewal and Resources for Ministry - Updated!
Tools and insights for ministry leaders to navigate the complexities of faith transmission and renewal, drawing from recent research, conferences, and collaborative events.
Technology with Heart: Two Ways We Can Lighten the Load & Open New Doors
Ministry has always been personal, relational, and deeply rooted in community. But in today’s world, it’s also becoming increasingly complex. Pastoral leaders are navigating more demands than ever—spiritual care, administrative responsibilities, digital engagement, and the constant need to adapt.
It can feel like too much to carry.
Listening for Hope in a Changing Church: A Conversation with Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls
In the latest episode of the Ministry Forum Podcast, Rev. John Borthwick sits down with Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls, Moderator of the 149th General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, to explore that very question.
Drawing from her decades of experience as a professor, minister, and theological leader, Pat reflects on the deep joys and challenges of this season in church life and invites us to think critically and faithfully about the moment we are in
Sacred Sounds: 7 Playlists to Refresh Your Spirit
Whether you need something refreshing for your morning routine, reflective for your prayer time, or inspiring for your next sermon prep session, we’ve gathered a mix of playlists and albums that bring together thoughtful lyrics, beautiful melodies, and deep faith. From modern hymns to liturgical folk, from progressive worship to songs that wrestle with faith and justice, there’s a little something for everyone.
I Wanna Be Where My Feet Are
I think we all do this when something comes to an end. We reminisce about the “good ol’ days” or rush to start the next thing. I’m good at both. I can never just be where my feet are.