Before Easter: Give Your Church Website a Check-Up
As Easter approaches, we can expect that new, returning, or less-than-regular attenders will be checking out our church websites before they visit on April 5 (or in the weeks leading up to it).
You are already thinking about how to prepare your physical space.: planning special services elements, tidying hallways, making sure signage is clear…. all of the things you can think of to make your building feel welcoming.
Let’s make sure your digital space gets the same care and attention.
Books About Change in 2026
A few books that take the conversation further. Some lean more theological. Some are grounded in leadership practice. Some focus on what is happening inside the leader when change feels heavy or slow or complicated.
When Change Actually Happens
Change is something every ministry leader talks about… but when does it actually happen? Let’s explore a simple framework that looks at change in a bit of a different way.
Lent & Easter in a Weary World: How Are You Proclaiming Good News This Year?
This year, perhaps more than others, we find ourselves asking:
How are we proclaiming good news in a world that feels saturated with bad news?
Where is God in all of this?
Where Is God When the Year Turns?
The start of a new year often arrives wrapped in the language of measurement. We count what was accomplished and what was not. We review goals met, goals abandoned, and goals we never quite named but somehow still feel guilty about. Calendars flip, planners open, and with them comes an unspoken reckoning:
Was I enough last year?
Did I do enough?
Will this year be different?
Faith & Mental Health: Highlights from Our 3-Part Podcast Series
Over the past three weeks, we’ve had the privilege of journeying together through a meaningful three-part podcast series on mental health and the church.
In this series, we explored mental health from several angles:
A conversation with Laura Howe, founder of Hope Made Strong
A discussion with Daniel Whitehead, CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries
A discussion with Rev. Paul Kang and Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock who have led The Sanctuary Course in their congregations
Help Us Build a Canadian Library of Prayer & Bible Study Resources
Ministry Forum is building a curated, shared library of homegrown Canadian prayer and Bible study resources, and we’re inviting you to contribute!
Prayer and Bible Study Accompaniment
I want to end this series where it all begins: with Scripture. With prayer. With the practices that are supposed to be the foundation of everything we do in our lives of faith exploration.
Prayer & Bible Study Resources We Love
Prayer and Scripture are not part of ministry; they are the grounding centre for all of us who lead, who teach, who preach, who pastor. When we return again and again to the practices that nourish our own faith, we find ourselves better able to nourish others.
Legacy of Service: Ewart College and the Order of Diaconal Ministries
We’ve been thinking deeply about what it means to support those who minister with children, youth, young adults, and families. Our goal is to build a network of connection, resources, and care for those doing this vital work today.
But as we look forward to the work ahead of us, we’re also looking back.
Because this isn’t the first time our denomination has invested in training and supporting people called to nurture faith, offer care, and work for justice, especially in ministries that don't always fit into traditional molds). This post offers a glimpse into the legacy and impact of Ewart College and the Order of Diaconal Ministries.
Resources for Those Shaping the Next Generation
As we launch our Communities of Practice for Next Generation Ministries this month, we want to spotlight some of the incredible resources that are already out there — some on our own Resource Hub, and some from organizations who have been walking this road for a long time. Whether you're just beginning or have decades of experience, you deserve to feel supported, resourced, and connected.
Communities of Practice for Next Generation Ministries.
But by and large, if you're a children's ministry coordinator, a youth pastor, a young adult ministry leader — you're figuring it out on your own. Often without formal training. Often without peers who understand what you're navigating. Often feeling structurally marginalized within a denomination that says it cares about young people but doesn't always resource the people who actually work with them.
And here's the thing that really gets me: these leaders are shaping the future of the church. They're the ones helping young people grow in faith, building relationships, creating the environments where the next generation encounters the love of God. And too often, they're doing it alone.
So we want to experiment with something…
Being Trauma-Informed in Ministry
Understanding trauma and its far-reaching effects is important in ministry today, adopting a trauma-informed posture can transform the way you offer care and connection.
Below we want to highlight several resources to help you take next steps in learning how trauma shapes experience, and how you can respond with grace, presence, and understanding.
Burn Out & Finding Mental Health Support In Ministry for 2026
This week, we’re naming the heaviness of what it means to serve in a care-based vocation. We hold stories of grief and celebration, navigate complex dynamics, and try to remain faithful in contexts that are often under-resourced and deeply in flux. And it’s hard work.
Our Ministry Forum team is working on something to help in this area — the Listening Support Network - which you can read more about in our companion post. This is an area of ministy we are deeply passionate about and one we’ve talked about before. Below is a post we shared a while back and for this week’s theme of “finding support” we decided to revisit with a few updated resources you can dig into today.
We hope something here will help you tend your own soul, support those around you, and maybe even discern new ways to give back.
Listening Partner Support Network
One of the things we heard in our listening sessions was this sense that ministry leaders are "running around trying to do their best... and they're being forgotten." The people who serve are somehow left out of the serving. There's a divide between the work of ministry and the care of the ministers.
This initiative exists because we believe that divide shouldn't exist. You deserve to have someone in your corner. Someone who will hold space for you the way you hold space for everyone else.
Yes, the Rumours Are True, Google Gives Churches $10K/Month (Sort Of)
Okay, so let’s talk about something you may have vaguely heard of in a hallway at a conference… or maybe even looked into once, got overwhelmed, and promptly closed the tab.
Google Ads.
The Google Ads Grant.
That free $10,000/month thing.
Yes — it’s real. Yes — it’s monthly. Yes — your church probably qualifies.
(Seriously.)
So let’s break it down.
Virtual Front Door - Practical Tools to Start With
This week, we're letting you in on the details of one of the first of four major initiatives that we’ll be launching through the support of the Lilly Endowment. This one is all about digital ministry, and we’re calling it the Virtual Front Porch Initiative. For those of you wondering what small steps you could take right now to improve your church’s website, experiment with social media, or think differently about your digital welcome we’ve gathered a few trusted resources.
Virtual Front Porch Initiative
Here's what we heard over and over: It's not that you don't care about your digital presence. It's that there's already so much to manage. And for many of you, this kind of work just isn't your best gift. (That's okay. Neither am I. That’s why I contracted with Lauren three weeks into the COVID shutdown of 2020 - more about her in a second.)
But here's the thing. Google and social media are the first places people look when they're searching for a faith community. Your church's digital presence isn't just a nice-to-have anymore — it's your front porch. It's where people decide whether to come closer or keep walking by.
Season of Renewal In The Anglican Diocese of Toronto
This week on the Ministry Forum Podcast, we’re hosting a conversation between Rev. John and Rev. Canon Dr. Judy Paulsen.
Judy is an Anglican priest who has spent years teaching, preaching, and leading across a variety of church and academic settings, always with a heart for equipping the church in its witness and worship. In 2024, she released her latest book, A New and Ancient Evangelism: Rediscovering the Ways God Calls and Sends, which explores how we can recover timeless practices of faith and mission in our current moment. She now serves as the coordinator of the “Season of Spiritual Renewal” for the Diocese of Toronto.
Canada’s Theological Schools Are on the Move… and We’re in Great Company
When we shared that Knox College had received nearly $1 million USD from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, we hinted that this was part of something even bigger. So let’s zoom out for a second, because what’s happening here isn’t just about us. Thirteen Canadian theological schools received substantial grants through the 2025 round of Pathways funding