3 Minute Ministry Mentor: Recent Episodes
3 minute Ministry Mentor
This episode is the final installment in a series of interviews with Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes. Host Eileen Campbell-Reed asks Cláudio for his wisdom, encouragement, and support for all who are leading worship. Recognizing the crises constantly happening in the world around us and in our own lives, Eileen notes the difficulty leaders face in planning worship week in and week out in local congregations. Cláudio helps us step back and consider how we are connected to each other and how that might inform our worship.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM blog for this episode and see a video of the interview: https://eileencampbellreed.org/2024/10/13/3mmm-episode-248-how-to-worship/
Learn more about Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes: www.claudiocarvalhaes.com
Episode music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: https://pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
Additional music: "Calm Night - Piano Music"
By Calvin Clavier on Pixabay
Audio file: https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-calm-night-piano-music-249235/
Cláudio Carvalhaes connection listening natural world prayer worship
This podcast is part III of a series of interviews host Eileen Campbell-Reed shares with Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes. Here they discuss Cláudio’s work on the book, Liturgies from Below. The book is a collection of prayers from people living on the margins in places around the world. Cláudio shares his experiences of listening, learning, and holding space for the voices of the marginalized and oppressed. He helps all of us explore our grammar of faith and language of prayer.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM blog for this episode and see a video of the interview: https://eileencampbellreed.org/2024/10/06/3mmm-episode-247-how-to-pray/
Learn more about Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes: www.claudiocarvalhaes.com
Buy Liturgies from Below: Praying with People at the End of the World(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2020).
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
CláudioCarvalhaes #lament #liberationtheology #liturgy #listening
In this episode, host Eileen Campbell-Reed continues an interview with scholar, artist, and liturgist Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes. Here Cláudio discusses how he sustains his creative process throughout his life and in all the many different forms his work takes. From lecturing to preaching to his recent production of his first play, Cláudio is constantly using his creativity to teach and inspire. Listen in as he shares his approach with us. (Be sure to check out the previous episode, linked below.)
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM blog for this episode and see a video of the interview: https://eileencampbellreed.org/2024/09/29/3mmm-episode-246-sustaining-creativity/
Listen to the previous episode, where Cláudio discusses his creative process: https://podcast.3minuteministrymentor.org/e/episode-100-creative-process/
Learn more about Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes: https://utsnyc.edu/blog/faculty/claudio-carvalhaes/
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
CláudioCarvalhaes #climatecrisis #creativity #sustainability
Listen in as host Eileen Campbell-Reed interviews scholar, artist, and liturgist Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes. In 2023 Cláudio produced and played the main character in his very first play. In this conversation, we hear about Cláudio’s creative process in putting the musical play together. Cláudio is from Brazil, and he drew on his childhood stories, music, and relationships as this new form of performance took shape. The idea of a play came to him as he considered how to talk with his students about climate change. His goal is to help his students, and all of us, consider the climate emergency from a new point of view.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM blog for this episode and see a video of the interview: https://eileencampbellreed.org/2024/09/23/3mmm-episode-245-creative-process/
Learn more about Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes: https://utsnyc.edu/blog/faculty/claudio-carvalhaes/
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
"Accordion" Sound Effect from Pixabay
CláudioCarvalhaes #climatecrisis #creativity #practice
In this episode, host Eileen Campbell-Reed discusses her book, Pastoral Imagination. The world around us is ever-changing, and it’s a new era of ministry for pastors, chaplains, activists, and other leaders. Pastoral imagination is about learning in practice, deepening conversations and reflections, and learning from both mistakes and successes. Eileen’s book, Pastoral Imagination, is helpful for ministers at every stage, from beginners to those who have practiced for a lifetime. Tune into this episode for more insight into the practice of pastoral imagination and ideas for incorporating this practice into your ministry.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM Blog entry for this episode: Teaching Pastoral Imagination
Here's a 3MMM Blog to answer the question What Is Pastoral Imagination?
The Learning Pastoral Imagination Project has been in progress for over 15 years: Pastoral Imagination website
Get a copy of Eileen's book: Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life
For helpful resources, check out the Teaching Gallery, including flyers on How to Use Pastoral Imagination in Field Education and Pastoral Care: https://eileencampbellreed.org/teaching-resource-gallery/
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
learningingpractice #LearningPastoralImaginationProject #pastoralimagination #practiceofministry #research
What can taking out the trash teach us about transition and grief? In these reflections from the summer of 2024, host Eileen Campbell-Reed helps us consider the concrete and measurable losses we’ve faced as well as the more ambiguous losses and transitions in our lives. Eileen reminds us that grief work is the work of ministry, and we are called to engage this work with ourselves and the people we serve.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM Blog entry for this episode: Transition and Grief
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Here's a 3MMM Blog on Caring for Grief
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: https://pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
grief #loss #pastoralcare #transition #trash
Listen in as host Eileen Campbell-Reed shares her experience of unearthing treasure while she cleaned out her parents’ house in the spring and summer of 2024. Like so many of us, Eileen’s family held onto lots of things. Sifting through these things brings a wide range of emotions to the surface. We might ask what do these feelings and digging through history teach us about the practice of ministry? In this episode, Eileen suggests three possible treasures for us to consider.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Check out the 3MMM Blog entry for this episode: Unearthing Treasure
Here's a 3MMM Blog about Ethical Wills
New York Times Article: He Thought He Had Bought a Great Apartment. The Ceiling Held a Secret.
Eileen's book: Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: https://pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
3MMM #earthcare #kadundu #love #luke12:34 #pastoralcare #pastoralwisdom #treasure
In this episode, host Eileen Campbell-Reed discusses the reality of grief in all our lives. We know that grief, loss, trauma, and brokenness are inevitable. The question is, what do we do? How do we cope? Eileen shares excerpts from Callie Swanlund’s book, From Weary to Wholehearted, reminding us that we are not alone.
Thank you for listening! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Find more thoughts on this episode at the 3MMM Blog: You Are Not Alone
Buy Callie’s book at bookshop.org From Weary to Wholehearted
Or buy from Amazon: From Weary to Wholehearted
Check out Callie’s website.
Video music: Happy Day
Audio File URL: https://pixabay.com/music/corporate-happy-day-113985/
Audio File ID: 113985
burnout #CallieSwanlund #FromWearytoWholeHearted #grief
How can a writing community support the creative work of developing a book? How can we approach writing in a sustainable and wholehearted way? Rev. Callie Swanlund talks with Eileen Campbell-Reed about how writing in community worked for her, and some key practices she used in writing her most recent book.
Swanlund's new book is called From Weary to Wholehearted: A Restorative Resource for Overcoming Clergy Burnout.
Swanlund is a regular at The Writing Table. Find out more about this writing community, here.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day."
clergywomen #writingcommunity #writinglife #clergylife #clergymama #youngclergywomeninternational #pastoralimagination
What does it mean to live into ministry in a sustainable and wholehearted way? Here are two big keys needed for unlocking ministry that is sustainable. Rev. Callie Swanlund. talks with Eileen Campbell-Reed about what burnout can look like and what it means to live into a sustainable and wholehearted ministry.
Swanlund's new book is called From Weary to Wholehearted: A Restorative Resource for Overcoming Clergy Burnout. This book is her “love letter” to clergy and church leaders who are facing isolation, exhaustion, and burnout.
Swanlund is a regular at The Writing Table. Find out more about this writing community, here.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day" and Pixabay for "Calm Night Piano Music."
clergywomen #clergylife #clergymama #youngclergywomeninternational #pastoralimagination #baptistwomeninministry #Baptistlife #cooperativeBaptists #ordinationblessing #ordinationforimpossibletimes
Remembering her ordination is necessarily tied up with stories, Eileen Campbell-Reed tells us. It means tending to the legacies of love that nurtured a calling, and being intentional about the ways we might carry out that legacy in these impossible times.
Have a listen to this story of ordination, and consider what following a calling means. This story of celebration and remembrance is also a day of celebration for the thousands of women ordained to ministry. It is also a lament for the thousands who might be called and yet do not (or will not) know the blessing of ordination because their denomination or their church does not recognize their gifts and calling. Many occasions for vocational loss, and grief.
Even when all the best circumstances and context and the Spirit come together for an ordination, we are still living in what feel like impossible times to serve God, the church, and a beautiful and broken world. Take courage friends. The world needs your gifts. Now more than ever.
To encourage you, take a look at this blessing, Ordination for Impossible Times. Download a copy for yourself or a ministry friend: 3mmm.us/episode233
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day" and Pixabay for "Calm Night Piano Music." Thank you to Anastasia Ker for the music “Be Thou My Vision"
clergywomen #clergylife #clergymama #youngclergywomeninternational #pastoralimagination #baptistwomeninministry #Baptistlife #cooperativeBaptists #ordinationblessing #ordinationforimpossibletimes
Imagine advocating for a place where women and lgbtiqa+ people preach and lead most Sundays. A place where seminary students seek to learn from wise pastors. Where every age person from youngest to eldest has a place and a role in the ministry, education, and worship of the congregation.
Eileen Campbell-Reed offers 10 questions to inspire our #pastoralimagination to advocating for women. Have a look at more questions for better advocacy, here. For more ways to advocate for women in ministry, have a look at the work of Baptist Women in Ministry, here.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day" and Pixabay for "Calm Night Piano Music"
ministrywithchildren #kidmin #childrensministerpodcast #childrensdefensefund #clergywomen #clergylife #clergymama #youngclergywomeninternational #pastoralimagination #baptistwomeninministry
Whatever ministry we are considering, it is profoundly important that we ask the children. After we ask them, we must listen.
Eileen Campbell-Reed discusses her recent experience in a cohort to prioritize the well-being of children. The Children’s Defense Fund shaped this thriving congregations cohort to recalibrate our ministries by listening to young people. Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, president and chief executive of CDF is asking us to prioritize the dignity, hope and joy of children in all our work. He is asking us to participate in “unleashing the joy of growing up.”
How do we begin unleashing that joy? Here are 12 questions to ask the children in our ministry settings.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day" and Pixabay for "Calm Night Piano Music"
ministrywithchildren #kidmin #childrensministerpodcast #childrensdefensefund #hopeforchristianeducation #christianeducation #clergylife #clergymama #youngclergywomeninternational #pastoralimagination
You who are called by God. We know you have heard it.
Someone saying surely you misheard. That you don’t know what you are doing. You see the problems in the Church and the world, and you are ready with thoughtful and creative ways forward.
They may say you are too young. Too old. Too busy raising children. Or too single. Too ambitious. Driven. Too distracted. Too much.
They miss out on seeing you. The full you. The person God is calling to this work. This episode offers encouragement and a blessing for those days when you remember your calling. Learn more, here.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #baptistwomeninministry #BWIM #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #baptizedandordained #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #mentalwellness #TheologyThursday #selfcompassionpractices #LGBTQclergy #mentalwellnessformen #mentalwellnessforwomen #mentalhealthinthechurch #calledtoministry #thiscalling
"You're feeling vocational grief." 3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed shares this realization, and what it meant for her. In this episode, an excerpt from our All Saints Day Virtual Service, we invite you to take time to honor your loss and grief.
You may want to gather up a piece of paper and a marker or pen. As you listen, let yourself pay attention to your own spiritual well-being by giving a little space to your vocational losses and grief. The prayer offered by Kali Cawthon-Freels gives voice to the #vocationalgrief many ministers and leaders have shared.
Learn more, here.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #baptistwomeninministry #BWIM #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #mentalwellness #TheologyThursday #selfcompassionpractices #LGBTQclergy #mentalwellnessformen #mentalwellnessforwomen #teenmentalhealth #mentalhealthinthechurch
How do women thrive in ministry? Eileen Campbell-Reed explores this question by imagining a future where women in ministry are thriving - 5 "future stories" that look like this:
- Women thrive in ministry because churches pay equitably
- Women thrive in ministry because leadership is collaborative.
- Women thrive in ministry when men focus on care for themselves and all people.
- Women thrive in ministry because we are not so angry all the time.
- Women thrive in ministry because child well -being is normative, expected, and funded.
Listen in to this episode that explores how men caring for their well-being and mental health affects flourishing in ministry for women and LGBTQIA+ clergy. Learn more.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor : https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #baptistwomeninministry #BWIM #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #mentalwellness #TheologyThursday #selfcompassionpractices #LGBTQclergy #youthministry #ministrywithchildren #mentalwellnessformen #mentalwellnessforwomen #teenmentalhealth #mentalhealthinthechurch
Episode 87: Baptized and Ordained
Eileen Campbell-Reed tells about how women and queer clergy are changing ministry for good. Baptized and Ordained is a year-long community, advance reading and feedback group, opportunity for live events. Sign up and find out more: https://BaptizedAndOrdained.org
Questions answered in the video:
0:20 A new book & community
1:45 How women and queer clergy are changing ministry
2:38 You are invited to become part of this community
3:13 What does the community include?
4:39 How will it work?
5:05 Why does this book matter?
6:46 Join by October 1
Three levels of the Baptized and Ordained Community:
CLIO level: $5/month
THALIA level: $10/month
POLLY level: $20/month
Learn more and sign up: https://BaptizedAndOrdained.org
BLOG: "How Women Thrive in Ministry"
ARTICLE “No Joke: How A Culture of Disbelief Keeps Clergywomen Pushing Uphill”
BOOK: Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life
BOOK: Anatomy of a Schism
REPORT: #PandemicPastoringReport
REPORT: State of Clergywomen in the US https://stateofclergywomen.org
Music: “One Step Further” by Roman Senyk (on Pixabay)
https://pixabay.com/music/indie-pop-one-step-further-141064/
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Music: “One Step Further” by Roman Senyk (on Pixabay)
pastoralimagination #baptizedandordained #LGBTQclergy #clergywomen #youngclergywomen #womeninministry
3MMM | Podcast #86: How Women Thrive in Ministry
Three Minute Ministry Mentor (3MMM) host Eileen Campbell-Reed is answering the question, how do women thrive in ministry? She shares 5 ways to imagine future stories in which women are thriving.
This conversation opens up more about Eileen's latest book: "Baptized and Ordained" (working title). This book will explore how women clergy and queer clergy are changing the practice of ministry for good.
In this episode, Eileen tells more about the ideas around this new book, and invites you to be a part of it!
To learn more about becoming an advanced reader for Eileen's book, visit and find out more information: https://eileencampbellreed.org/baptized-and-ordained
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Writing? Join us at #TheWritingTable - find out about membership info and Free Write Fridays.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
Have you ever simply run out of words?
3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed tells us about how she did. And how she "learned to pray in God’s language" of silence. Perhaps you would like to give it a try?
How to Start Meditating - a simple, step-by-step guide to a practice of silence and prayer. More: 3MMM Episode 199: Pray, Read, Write
How will you notice the quality of silence in your life? What is your calling in this season?
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Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org -
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
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Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
howtomeditate #meditationpractices #pastoralimagination #clergylife
In this episode, we offer a Mother’s Day prayer. Yet, it is not like the ones Eileen Campbell-Reed grew up hearing.
This prayer is more of a psalm and a lament. It lifts up to God the painful and unspeakable facets of mothering and #mothersday. It also honors the gifts and graces of mothering. God in her wisdom sees and hears it all. There is no truth we cannot pray.
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For the full text of this prayer, go to eileencampbellreed.org
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Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org -
Faith communities have been challenged. Changed. Grieved. And it is time to talk about it. Check out the new Study Guide, here.
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
Mothersdaygrief #HannahService
MothersDayPrayer #MothersDay2023 #pastoralimagination
Episode 83: Finding Our Way
Has anything changed over the past three years in your ministry? If your answer is yes - check out this new resource.
Our goal in studying and seeking to understand the lives and practices of Christian ministers over the last 20+ years is to make this work more understandable. To support the people called to it. And, after the last three incredibly stressful and unprecedented years, to help renew the practice of ministry.
To that end, Eileen Campbell-Reed wrote a 30-page #PandemicPastoring Report (PPR). It summarizes the research with over a hundred clergy and volunteer leaders in 20+ denominations. This episode invites Erin Robinson Hall talk about the new companion piece to that report: the PPR Study Guide.
Faith communities have been challenged. Changed. Grieved. And it is time to talk about it. Check out the new Study Guide, here.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pandemicpastoringreport
pastoralimagination
neweraofministry
Episode 82: Talking Through Tragedy
How do we talk children through tragedy? What about parents and teachers, especially when the tragedy has impacted children and the places where children go, like schools or churches? And what about caring for congregations as a whole?
Last week in Nashville, we experienced what is reaching epidemic proportions in the form of another school shooting. This episode invites us to think about how we care for our children when they are exposed to or become aware of the tragedies of our world.
Download this handout to help you prepare to talk to our children and teenagers when crisis erupts. We need plans to help us respond with care and work for justice for our congregations and our wider communities.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
griefandchildren #griefcare #pastoralimagination
Episode 81: Beauty of Motherhood
There is beauty in parenting. Not because the work is all glamorous or easy, but because God’s presence and grace is woven through it, even when it is messy and fraught and full of pain and tears and uncertainty.
In this FULL CONVERSATION with Erin Strybis, Kimberly Knowle-Zeller, Erin Robinson Hall and Eileen Campbell-Reed, find out what these mothers claim about rising in the dark, fears about the violence that threatens our children, inequity among families with children, and how we can work towards justice for all children. How can we respond to the ways we measure and doubt ourselves as parents?
Have a listen as they lift up the values of beauty and community, grace and blessing, play and justice, in the shared work and practices of parenting.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
beautyofmotherhood #parentingforward #pastoralimagination
This week we are talking once again with Kim Knowle-Zeller and Erin Strybis about their new book, The Beauty of Motherhood.
3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed tells us: There is beauty in parenting experiences. Not because the work is all glamorous or easy, but because God’s presence and grace is woven through it, even when it is messy and fraught and full of pain and tears and uncertainty.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #beautyofmotherhood
Graceful parenting. That’s not a description but rather an aspiration and a need.
Authors Erin Strybis and Kim Knowle-Zeller talk with Erin Robinson Hall and Eileen Campbell-Reed about their new book. The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-filled Devotions for the Early Years, written especially for progressive Christian parents. We want share the first part of our conversation.
Erin Strybis says when she was a new mom, the devotional books she picked up about parenting often made her feel like she wasn’t living up to some imagined standard of Christian parenthood. She wanted a new kind of book. One that emphasized God’s grace as it wove throughout her parenting, one that helped her notice where God showed up. A book that highlighted beauty in the ordinary.
Have a listen to why this book is for parents whose theology shows them a God of grace and compassion, rather than judgment and punishment.
March Givewaway! We are giving away a copy of The Beauty of Motherhood in March. One person from our 3MMM email list will receive a free book. You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #selfcompassion #parentingforward #raisingchildrenunfundamentalist #TheologyThursday #selfcompassionpractices #youthministrylife #youthministry #ministrywithchildren #kidmin #clergymama #beautyofmotherhood #parentingjourneys #adoptionjourneys #mentalwellnessforwomen
We are talking about the mental wellbeing of our children and teens.
These years of forming identity, re-modeling the brain, and flying further from the nest are already a big challenge. Add three calendar years of isolation, disrupted schedules and rites of passage, missed friendships and opportunities. Then stir in what Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer calls the “triple pandemic of Covid-19, racial reckoning, and climate crisis.” The result is a toxic stew of anxiety, depression, lethargy, behavioral outbursts, health issues, self harm, and the highest rates of contemplating suicide among teens in many years.
How do we help our children with mental wellbeing?
Have a listen to Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity School. In this final segment of our conversation, she and Eileen Campbell-Reed explore the question:
How do we need to be paying attention to our children and youth who are suffering in their mental wellbeing in the wake of the multiple pandemics. More on Mental Wellbeing, here.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #selfcompassion #mentalwellness #TheologyThursday #selfcompassionpractices #youthministrylife #youthministry #ministrywithchildren #kidmin #childrenmentalhealth #mentalwellnessforwomen #teenmentalhealth #mentalhealthinthechurch
Leading in loss is one of the great challenges of this moment. Why?
The losses are monumental. The leaders are overwhelmed. And grief is rarely easy.
Our guest Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer shares wisdom for attending to loss and grief for pastors, priests, chaplains and ministers. No matter your role, if you are leading any faith based or religious organization at the moment, attending to grief is a top need. What we don’t need, says Dr. Mercer, is a checklist to make us feel better. However, she offers practical, concrete suggestions for how to lead people in times of loss.
Have a listen to this conversation with Eileen Campbell-Reed and Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity School talking about leading in loss.
More on Leading in Loss, here.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #selfcompassion #leadinginloss #selfcompassionpractices #leadinginloss #Lent2023 #Lentenpractices #Lentpodcast
Self compassion. Who needs it? Well, all the humans.
It is hard, however, to love others when we struggle to love ourselves. This can be reality for many people. Sometimes it is just a season. For others it is an enduring struggle. Have a listen to this conversation with Eileen Campbell-Reed and Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity school talking about self compassion practices. Dr. Mercer offers one practice from Dr. Kristin Neff, who has many resources on mindfulness.
More on Self Compassion, here.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #youngclergywomen #youngclergywomeninternational #lgbtqclergy #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #selfcompassion #discernmentprocess #TheologyThursday #selfcompassionpractices
We continue our conversation with Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity School about loss and grief. How do we integrate our losses into life?
What helps you to live well with your losses and griefs?
Learn more about integrating loss and grief, here.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor: https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #griefjournaling #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #griefandlossjourney #ambiguousgrief #TheologyThursday #integratingloss #chaplainlife
How is grief, “another way of loving?” Eileen Campbell-Reed welcomes Rev. Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer to talk about about ambiguous grief.
Rituals and habits in every area of life, from parenting and teaching to being in community and leading the people of faith, have been disrupted and undermined. Now is the time to reframe and reimagine how to live creatively with these losses. How do we start? Find out more in this wonderful conversation with Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer of Yale Divinity School as we consider ambiguous loss and grief.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #ambiguousloss #pastoralcare #pastoralcareandcounseling #embodiedloss #ritualsandrhythms #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #griefjourneys #griefandlossjourney #militaryfamilies
How can we shape our discernment practices? Consider how to discern renewal of purpose and vocation in your life with these questions.
Have a listen to this conversation from our recent “Tending the Fires” virtual event with Rev. Dr. Kadia Edwards and Rev. Dr. Duane Bidwell. More on these ministers, here.
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #blackchurchstudies #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #discernment #discernmentprocess #TheologyThursday #questionsfordiscernment
Our lives, our churches, and ministry itself have changed. And more changes keep coming from the ripple effects of the pandemic. These realities open up questions about vocation and purpose of work and life.
We recently offered a live zoom event for ministers, chaplains, professors, and lay leaders called “Tending the Fires.” Vocation is one of the fires in our lives that needs regular tending. If we want to keep our purpose and focus for life clear, then we need to give questions of vocational discernment our consistent, compassionate attention.
Have a listen to this practical exercise from our recent “Tending the Fires” virtual event. Eileen Campbell-Reed offers four questions that help you see what your current situation offers you. Grab your copy of the free printable used in this episode here: https://3mmm.us/TendingFires
Download a copy of the #PandemicPastoring Report:
https://pandemicpastoring.org
Thank you! You are invited to subscribe to weekly episodes of Three Minute Ministry Mentor https://3mmm.us/welcome
Thank you Stockaudios for the podcast theme music, “Happy Day.”
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #blackchurchstudies #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #discernment #discernmentprocess
How will we honor what we have done before we look forward? Honoring the ways we spend our energy and love is a counter to false dreams of consumer culture.
During the recent “Tending the Fires” virtual event, Eileen Campbell-Reed talked with fellow pastoral theologian, Rev. Dr. Duane Bidwell. He works in medical education with the Veterans Administration. Duane has a “Ten Things I Did that Mattered” practice that invites us to honor how we spend our energy.
Want to find out more? More about #pastoralimagination and naming our 10 Things here.
We would love to send you more for your pastoral imagination - new episodes, printable downloads and resources, and more. For pastors, chaplains, activists, spiritual leaders, ministers, theological educators, and seminary students. Sign up today: 3mmm.us/welcome
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #blackchurchstudies #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors #WritingTable #FreeWriteFridays #tenthingsthatmatter
What are you reading this week, and have you considered how to read with your fully embodied and relational self?
Whatever is happening in the world, we still read. We read for news and information. Reading inspires and moves us to action. We read so that we can prepare to preach and teach and organize our communities of faith. We still have a long way to go, when reading scripture, to make room for everyone in the text.
Listen as host Eileen Campbell-Reed interviews Rev. Dr. Angela Parker about her book If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I? Together they discuss how important it is to read scripture in ways that makes room for everyone’s experiences. And, in particular making space for Black and Brown bodies to show up and be seen and heard with each reading of the text.
pastoralimagination #ministryinpractice #clergylife #clergywomen #clergywomenofcolor #blm #blackchurchstudies #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #womenauthors
Join the conversation as 3MMM's host Eileen Campbell-Reed interviews author, minister, and mother Traci Smith. What started out as a way to teach and nurture her own children’s faith in honest, messy and every day ways, turned into the Faithful Families book series.
If you have children, minister with children, or are part of a community of faith that includes children, you need to know about this series! Faithful Families help parents and ministry leaders give words and spiritual practices to support following Jesus. The books are unapologetically progressive in their approach and theology.
In their conversation, Traci offers a treasure trove of ideas, creative thinking about how to handle theology, practice, and learning for children. We hope this will help inspire your pastoral imagination!
pastoralimagination #faithfulfamilies #author #femaleauthor #clergylife #theologypodcast #clergypodcast
Now is a good time to remind everyone that you have permission to read a book. Any book, in fact!
We are reminding you to give yourself permission to read. It might seem like a small thing in the moment, yet it prepares us with both spiritual support and also important information to do the big things we are called to do in ministry, like parenting, teaching, writing and life.
So, what will you give yourself permission to read this week?
givingmyselfpermission #read #reading #selfcare #permission #podcast #clergylife #clergypodcast #theologypodcast #pastoralimagination
How do we fear bravely? How do love and courage and fear dwell together? Author, Catherine McNiel joins us to share about her new book Fearing Bravely: Risking Love for Our Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies.
Join her conversation with 3MMM host, Eilieen Campbell-Reed as they share about what it means to not be paralyzed by fear but use it as a tool to grow and live out of courage and love.
pastoralimagination #givingmyselfpermission #pandemicpermissionproject #fearingbravely #riskinglove #femaleauthors #clergylife #theologypodcast #clergypodcast #clergywomen #spiritualwriting
There is so much to grieve these days. The list seems nearly endless. Yet grieving remains hard work, and it is easy to ignore or leave aside.
We invite you to join 3MMM host Eileen Campbell-Reed as she offers you a way to give yourself permission. A pathway to practice spiritual attention to the grief in your life.
How will you give yourself permission to grieve this week?
pastoralimagination #3MMM #givingmyselfpermission #pandemic #pandemicpermission #clergylife #clergywomen #theologypodcast #grief #grieving #healing
This week Erin Robinson Hall shares from her experience, giving us all permission to laugh.
In these oh-so-challenging days we sometimes need to give ourselves and each other a permission slip. If we can do the small things — evening things like laughing — then we renew our energy for the big things we are called to be and do.
Join our conversation as we learn about the health benefits of laughter while laughing a little together together along the way!
3MMM #pastoralimagination #givingmyselfpermission #pandemicpermissionproject #theologypodcast #clergywomenpodcast #practiceofministry #clergywomen #lol #healingwithlaughter #laughter
Join our conversation with Elizabeth-Anne Nordgren Lovell, a recent seminary graduate, college professor, and lover of podcasts.
In this episode we talk all things podcasts, pandemic, and permission slips. In our conversation I ask Elizabeth-Anne how the pandemic has impacted her life and her ministry. Spoiler alert: she made use of podcasts!
Enjoy my conversation with Elizabeth-Anne as she shares both about podcasts as entertainment, but also as tools for self-care and ministry.
Do you listen to podcasts regularly? Where? When? Do you have a favorite? We would love your feedback!!
Take our quick survey here.
3MMM #pandemicpermission #pandemicministry #podcasts #podcasting #clergywomenpodcast #theologypodcast #pastoralimagination #selfcare #practiceofministry
In Part 2 of this Advent series, Eileen Campbell-Reed shares more Advent stories, prayers, and poetry. With each one, a wish for some of the hope, peace, joy, and love that marks our circle through the Advent season.
May you find health, safety, and space for your grief. Because this year, and this last 21 months, has been heavy with loss. We all have lots to grieve, and there are so many residual and ripple effects. The story of Jesus’ birth and life was also marked deeply by grief. So we are in compassionate company.
writingforyourlife #runningforyourlife #spiritualwriting #Adventreflections #Advent2021 #clergylife
Find more from Three Minute Ministry Mentor in our weekly email - reflections and resources for your #pastoralimagination! Subscribe: 3mmm.us/signup
This Advent, Eileen Campbell-Reed shares some Advent stories, prayers, and poetry. With each one, a wish for some of the hope, peace, joy, and love that marks our circle through the Advent season.
May you find health, safety, and space for your grief. Because this year, and this last 21 months, has been heavy with loss. We all have lots to grieve, and there are so many residual and ripple effects. The story of Jesus’ birth and life was also marked deeply by grief. So we are in compassionate company.
More from Three Minute Ministry Mentor in our weekly email - reflections and resources for your #pastoralimagination! Subscribe: 3mmm.us/signup
adventgrief #blueChristmas #deeppeace #clergylife #awkwardbraveandkind #longestnightservice #adventreflections
Challenge. Question. Conflict. Change.
How do you practice ministry in a no-win situation?
Eileen Campbell-Reed has noted some themes - financial, staffing and volunteer challenges. Vocational uncertainty and the need for fresh discernment. Conflicts. Hope and resilience. Big transition.
And there are no easy answers. There is, however, a deep well of wisdom and support to draw upon. Have a listen to this conversation with four mentors who work with new pastors in the Helping Pastors Thrive initiative. They talk about ways pastors are facing what looks like no-win situations right now - theological conundrums and pandemic pastoring.
pastoralimagination #pandemicpastoring #nowinsituations #churchinapandemic #helpingpastorsthrive #theologicaleducation #clergywomen #clergylife
Collaboration. Listening. Getting around life’s brick walls. Understanding identity. Adapting to new places and situations. Each of these moments are part of the everyday work of ministry.
Recently, Eileen Campbell-Reed sat down with three new pastors to talk about pastoral imagination. It was a wonderful conversation about learnings and how the Pastoral Imagination book and journal can support and inspire the work of ministry.
In addition to being new pastors, Elizabeth Nance-Coker, Carrie Jarrell Tuning and Michael Ramsey are also participants in the Helping Pastors Thrive Initiative. The initiative is funded by the Lilly Endowment and sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina.
HelpingPastorsThrive #pastoralimagination #theologypodcast #newpastors #clergylife #clergywomen #clergyhealth
Join our conversation with Rev. Alisha Smith Haddock. She is helping us see how multiple factors are impacting the community of North Nashville.
Back in March, Nashville was hit hard by tornados that ripped through Middle Tennessee and destroyed and damaged, houses, churches, businesses and schools. Just a week later, the pandemic was declared and the U.S., including Nashville, entered into a “safer at home” period, slowing the recovery.
North Nashville was hit especially hard. And as Rev. Alisha says, “Our issues didn’t start on March third.” She and other leaders in North Nashville have been working for years, decades, to “right some wrongs for people and a whole community that has been pushed to the margins.” Long before the tornado, the 37208 zip code was “a culturally rich place with tremendous historical significance.” Yet that area of the city has been coping with:
food desert conditions lack of economic development predatory lending practices absentee landlords police harassment and brutality high incarceration rates neighborhood gentrification
Have a listen to how one faith community is called to collaborate.
3MMM #pandemicpastoring #pandemicgrief #NorthNashvillestrong #Nashvillestrong #theologypodcast #clergywomenwpodcast #gentrification #37208
Join us for a conversation about grief rituals. Author Lee Kravitz shares about his exploration, experience, and writing about death and grief.
Lee is a journalist and a former editor-in-chief at Parade Magazine. And he is also author of the memoirs, Unfinished Business: One Man’s Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do the Right Things* and Pilgrim: Risking the Life I Have to Find the Faith I Seek.
Lee talks about his life-long journey to understand death and grief and his participation in his synagogue’s Chevra Kadisha, or holy burial society. #3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed asks Lee two questions to close the interview: + How are you living differently because of what you have learned? + How are you thinking differently about your morality during this time?
Listen in to hear these responses to inform and inspire your #practiceofministry.
griefrituals #pandemicpastoring #unfinishedbusinessbook #pandemicgrief
Rev. Dr. Beverly Wallace has spent her life caring for grief.
Many threads of personal experience, research, teaching, and pastoring are woven into her vocation of caring for grief. In this episode, she highlights those threads and how they have shaped her vocation.
Caring for Grief in a Pandemic
During the present pandemic, Wallace sees the essential and ongoing needs for advocacy and liberation, two of the central purposes of pastoral care. For African Americans this season of isolation, grief and loss also amplifies disparities and inequities. Hear about the rituals we all need, and the questions that Dr. Wallace says we need to be asking in this time of pandemic grief.
3MMM #pandemicgrief #pandemicpastoring #liberationandgrief #pastoralcare #griefcare #caringforgrief #womenofcolorandgrief #griefconversations
“So much of Zen practice is about warm hand to warm hand transmission.” Ian Case, Director of the Brooklyn Zen Center, joins #3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed in this episode of our series on pandemic grief.
With the “stripping away of ritual and form” members of the Zen Center now meet for Dharma talks (educational teaching), services of meditation, and practice groups in online platforms. Many members are also finding ways to “bring the temple into their own home.”
The community is experiencing some “lovely and surprising” side effects of the move to a virtual community. Listen to our conversation about establishing community intimacy, the importance of community agreements, and coping with community grief.
3MMM #pandemicgrief #pandemicpastoring #communitygrief #BrooklynZen #griefconversations
Listening matters. It matters for pastoral practice as well as personal relationships and every part of our lives. Listening is intimately connected to paying attention to life with all of our senses.
Rev. Dr. Mary Clark Moschella, the Roger J. Squire Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Yale Divinity School joins #3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed for a conversation about the power of listening.
Ready to hear more? Subscribe to our 3MMM email here ----> 3mmm.us/MemberRegistration Subscribers receive new (free!) videos to inform and inspire YOUR practice of ministry each week.
thinkingtheologically #listeningincommunity #listenfirst #pastoralcare
imaginationandjustice
clergylife #ministrylife #theologicaleducationtrends
pandemicpedagogy #pandemicpastoring #pandemicgrief
"What’s really at stake here? How will this change people’s lives?" - Danielle Tumminio Hanson
3MMM Episode 53: Bonus content!
Hear more about:
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how to make space for tender conversation in diverse learning spaces
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what we can learn from remorse
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how embodied, relational learning can look in #seminarylife
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how we can redefine and have new understandings of family
Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen, of Seminary of the Southwest, talks with host Eileen Campbell-Reed about how ministers, activists and theologians make connections between literature and theology. Danielle shares her story of walking alongside her friend's infertility journey. She explores what embodied theology looks like in the #practiceofministry and what #purposefulrest has looked like for her.
Ready to hear more? Subscribe to our 3MMM email here ----> 3mmm.us/MemberRegistration Subscribers receive new (free!) videos to inform and inspire YOUR practice of ministry each week.
thinkingtheologically
imaginationandjustice
clergylife #ministrylife #theologicaleducationtrends
harrypottertheology #GodandHarryPotter #BrotherMolly #infertilityandministry
3MMM Episode 52: Spacious Conversations
Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen, of Seminary of the Southwest, talks with host Eileen Campbell-Reed about how ministers, activists and theologians make connections between literature and theology. Danielle shares her story of walking alongside her friend's infertility journey. She explores what embodied theology looks like in the #practiceofministry and what #purposefulrest has looked like for her.
Ready to hear more? Subscribe to our 3MMM email here ----> 3mmm.us/MemberRegistration
Subscribers receive new (free!) videos to inform and inspire YOUR practice of ministry each week.
thinkingtheologically
imaginationandjustice
clergylife #ministrylife
harrypottertheology #GodandHarryPotter #BrotherMolly #infertilityandministry
“It’s not just about reading a text, it’s about reading a text in the midst of a community. . . it means listening to what is going on in the world.”
Thinking theologically . . .
Thinking with Imagination
Thinking with Curiosity
Thinking in Community
Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto of Princeton Theological Seminary reminds us of the imaginative work that pastors, activists, and theologians do in this conversation with #3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed.
Subscribe (free!) here ——-> http://3mmm.us/episode51 and receive episodes of 3MMM Year Two with scholars, leaders, and mentors in the practice of ministry.
NameTheTruths #practiceofministry #imaginationandjustice #justiceneedsimagination #LPIProject #clergylife #seminarylife
3MMM Episode 39: Pulled Up Short
When it goes well, we learn to practice ministry with improvisation. Even when it does not go well, we can learn from our failures to grow in the practice and expand our repertoire of possible responses, try new modes of recovery, and learn how not to lose our balance entirely.
What has pulled YOU up short lately? How are you recovering and learning from the experience?
3MMM Episode 49: Boundaries
Boundaries can serve us well in the practice of ministry.
When boundaries give clarity to relationships and prevent the abuse of power, they are worth maintaining.
Boundaries can also become barriers in the work of ministry.
How does this happen?
In this episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor, see how Pastor Randall leads a congregation to consider the physical boundaries they created with a wrought iron fence around the church house. A boundary that they intended to enhance safety had turned into a barrier with the neighborhood the church was hoping to serve.
This episode of #3MMM explores what it means to embrace joy in ministry --“Your call is what brings YOU joy and energy.”
http://3mmm.us/episode50
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman
embracingjoy
joyinministry
womeninministry
howardthurman
Episode 48: Holy Fierceness
Identify the complexities of sustaining "holy fierceness" in your practice of ministry.
This week, #3MMM asks - What healing and compassion do I need in order to lead with holy fierceness?
3MMM | Episode 47: Congruence
“I think it’s sustaining to me to have some basic congruence between what I’m doing and what I think is important.” – Rebecca
This week’s episode of #3MMM is a story about Rebecca. She has some things to say about congruence, integrity and ministry. Her stories help us think about what it means to embody our values in ministry.
How are you cultivating congruence? How are you teaching it to the young people in your life and ministry?
Episode 46: Knowledge Use
3MMM How am I making practical use of the knowledge I have acquired?
http://3mmm.us/episode46
Conflict in ministry is hard.
It is hard because it often feels personal. It is hard because it can evoke feelings like anger, self-doubt, fear or shame, feelings that are unpleasant to digest. And it is hard because change of any kind is often accompanied by some conflict.
Yet change is also essential for flourishing in ministry. And it follows that conflict is often one aspect of health and growth.
So how do we do we navigate conflict well?
This episode of #3MMM explores how we can reframe the normalcy of conflict. Rather than being something we seek out, or try to avoid at all costs, conflict is better understood as a regular and unavoidable byproduct of healthy change, renewal, and growth.
In this Episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor, we explore DEFINING MOMENTS.
These kind of experiences -- emotional, uplifting and surprising -- help crystallize the defining moments in someone’s life. What are the defining moments, epic experiences, small or large, that have brought you to where you are at this point in your life?
3MMM #definingmoments
3MMM Episode 43: Facing Fear.
It can be hard even to admit our fears, much less face them. Fear of loss. Fear of disappointment. Fear of not getting what you want and fear of getting it.
Fear of walking down the street. Fear of making the wrong decision. Fear of staying in a relationship. Fear of leaving it.
Fear is a powerful motivator for action and inaction.
Fear can play a role in every aspect of the practice of ministry, in congregational life, in the work of chaplaincy, activism, college ministry, preaching, leading change, etc. Why? Because fear is human and humans are the heart of every ministry.
ministrylife #facingfears #womeninministry
In Episode 42, Three Minute Ministry Mentor explores the idea of "blueprint stories." These stories that keep repeating themselves tend to function like a blueprint in your #practiceofministry.
Host Eileen Campbell-Reed tells a story that keeps repeating itself in her life, and calls us to recognize how our stories can impact our practice of ministry.
3MMM
3MMM Episode 41: Two Vocations
Vocation. Work. Calling. Ministry. Family. Life.
Vocation is a word that often evokes the idea of work. Yet vocation is not just work. Vocation may bring to the top of your mind the idea of calling. Yet vocation is more than calling.
Vocation is often synonymous with ministry or religious service to the church. And yet vocation is not limited to working in or for the church.
New social configurations of family and work are emerging everywhere around us. This week, 3MMM Host Eileen Campbell-Reed reclaims these two aspects of vocation – work and family – as intertwined and mutually informing ways to approach our lives and obligations in the world.
Have a listen to Episode 41, and consider the survey some of the images and stories from the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project that can inform our understanding of the vocations of family and work.
Episode 40: Change over Time
By looking at the change over time that happens for others who are learning the same practices we are learning, there might be a way of making out at least a framework for change that is on our horizon.
Also, and not insignificantly, our own past experience may also give us hints and clues about what is coming next or what may shift for us over time.
The only way practices like learning, teaching, and ministry to lodge their best lessons in us, is for us to persist over time. So we move forward in trust, even if we cannot (and should not) leave our questions and suspicions aside.
This week’s video episode of #3MMM includes the story of David, a participant in the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project. He recounted changes that he experienced while learning to teach Bible study in his first congregational call. See if his missteps sound anything like yours?
3MMM Episode 38: Action + Reflection in Preaching
Speaking is a major part of leading in the practice of ministry. It might take form in delivering sermons, or working to inspire volunteers and employees, or telling the story of your organization and its purpose in the world, or leading a protest or rally, or simply chairing a planning meeting.
Like other aspects of the practice of ministry it takes time and experience to learn the ins and outs of doing the work well. Honing the practice of speaking effectively and moving people to action takes attention, action, and reflection. It takes doing it over and over until you have a greater sense of timing, delivery, and connection.
This week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor features a story told to us by Derrick, a participant in the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project, from his internship year. He told us about going through a dry patch in his weekly preaching. And he shared how reflecting on this later with his mentor led him to a deeper understanding of himself.
3MMM Episode 37: Salience
Pastoral Imagination is thinking in action, an embodied and relational capacity to see the complexities of a situation in the pastoral life and know how to respond. How do we know what should keep our attention?
In this #3MMM episode, we are learning about developing a sense of salience.
pastoralimagination
Becoming fluid and graceful at improvisation in ministry can take years. Yet, there are times when we may surprise ourselves at how fast our ability to improvise shows up when life just happens. In Episode 36, Pastor Greg's improvisation skills took him from “Oh, no!” to “Oh, Wow!” when he learned to share leadership.
Improvisation is not simply what we do when we fail to plan. It is also planning fully and then making a change in response to the situation. This more mature kind of improvisation is the art and beauty which makes any mature practice a delight to witness. It is wisdom in action.
http://3mmm.us/episode36
How will you keep leaning into those moments and learning to improvise your practice?
3MMM
practiceofministry
Erosion. Sometimes, the routines and daily rigors of the work can wear ministers down emotionally, relationally and spiritually. How can we engage practices that lead to flourishing in ministry?
3MMM
flourishing
3MMM | Episode 34: Action + Reflection - For Beginnings
Using the action-reflection model to guide first steps in a new community and assess your practices of ministry.
3MMM
practiceofministry
actionreflection
3MMM | Episode 33: Cultivating Questions
We are exploring the good and holy work of asking questions. As we become cultivators of ministry questions, we can begin by listening to the questions around us. Hear about one pastor’s experience of asking better questions in a ministry context, and consider your own questions.
https://3mmm.us/Episode33
3MMM
In Part Three of our series on Learning Goals, Episode 32 explores how to bring ministry goals to life. With these big goals in mind, we can set objectives, determine specific tasks, and identify resources that will support learning. Host Eileen Campbell Reed invites ministers to think about how accountability with people who support your practice of ministry matters.
What objectives, tasks, resources, and accountability will I embrace to help me grow in my practice of ministry?
What is the long-term value of learning goals for ministry? We are thinking about this in Part Two of our series on Learning Goals.
In this episode of #3MMM, Eileen Campbell Reid invites ministers to consider their fears as they develop learning goals. Paying attention to what excites us and scares us can shape the way we develop ministry goals. We can begin to see the patterns of life, the doubts and questions, and the stories that shape us.
In this episode, Eileen Campbell Reid invites ministers to consider their learning goals. Whether you have been in a ministry setting for years or you are in seminary, creating goals can shape your ministry. How do you set learning goals for your ministry? Eileen offers three helpful ideas to help you set meaningful goals in this episode of #3MMM.
While some ministry situations still allow for apprenticeship to a person, more often the apprenticeship is to the situation of ministry itself. How can we be apprenticed to a community? With many teachers and opportunities to learn just around every corner, we consider the way ministers are apprenticed to particular contexts.
This week's episode of #3MMM features Pastor Wanda, a participant in the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project. Learn how she has cultivated a deep love for people in her neighborhood in Harlem as she became apprenticed to her community.
Thinking spiritually and theologically – especially when that thinking takes on form and action in our bodies, relationships, and lives – is a significant gift that the world needs now. Thinking theologically involves stories and embodied experience, not just thinking. In this episode, you are invited to expand your capacity and skill for thinking theologically. #3MMM
What is the role of prayer and meditation in #ministrylife? This week’s episode of #3MMM is about one pastor’s experience of connecting prayer and preaching. Rev. Bonita describes her journey through learning to preach in different styles. As a ribbon through the topical, expository and lectionary preaching, runs Rev. Bonita’s commitment to the prayerful following of the Spirit for guidance in her practice.
Stories give contour and texture to our identities. Beyond the stories from only the past, ministers must consider how future stories help us narrate both our past experiences and the future hopes, plans, and dreams we live into every day. Eileen Campbell-Reed teaches about the value of using future stories. This week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor considers future stories in the context of ministry partnerships. Hear the story of Pastor Carly, a participant in the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project, learning to listen carefully to the future stories of Zambian pastors.
3MMM #futurestories
Examen is a form of spiritual exercise. It invites the exploration of scriptures and any portion of one’s life through guided questions. In this way, examen is a tried and proven pathway for discernment. It allows us to look back to times and events of our everyday lives and ask questions that help us notice the presence and guidance of God’s spirit. Knowing what brings consolation or desolation helps us see a way forward that honors our learning and God’s wisdom...
Examen for the Practice of Ministry There are a million questions that rise up in the course of learning the practice of ministry. Among them are the big questions of vocational discernment: What should I do? Where should I turn? How do I know which way to go at this point in pursuing my call?
There are also the questions of the daily minutia of ministry that also deserve careful and prayerful attention. Practicing the examen and considering what brings consolation and desolation can become a spiritual habit that informs your leadership in ministry and assists you in questions large and small.
Read more about Episode 25: Examen.
3MMM
Discernment. Vocation. Purpose. Life.
Unpacking one’s purpose for life is no small thing. For many people it takes most of a lifetime to say fully what they believe their purpose to be. And for others purpose changes over time and through the seasons of life.
For me a sense of purpose in life emerged early but the pathways of work and family life that were available to me for embracing that purpose were complicated.
This week’s episode of 3MMM is about vocational discernment. Hearing stories from many people in many stages and seasons of life and how they discern the purpose, their calling, their work and their families, can be a great encouragement. It can also be incredibly clarifying.
You can learn more about vocational discernment on the website or by listening to this week's episode. #3MMM
This week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor shares with you a story told to us by Marcus, a white pastor who is part of the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project. Several years ago, Marcus spent a summer leading his congregation to think more deeply about leadership. For his own spiritual well-being he gave more attention to the practice of Sabbath that summer. Here is his story. #3MMM.
“What is liberty without liberation?”
How can we know genuine freedom in Christ, when injustice and bondage continue to constrain our wellbeing and divide us from each other? What does ministry look like when we face the injustices and seek God’s transformation of ourselves and our communities?
In today’s 3MMM episode, James, a participant in the Learning Pastoral Imagination study, tells us about growing up in an openly, racially divided city and school. He was among the first African-American youth to integrate both schools and several sports teams. The pain and anger from those experiences were real and lasting.
Episode 22 of #3MMM.
Easter season, or Eastertide lasts for six more Sundays. The season of Pentecost begins on June 9, and it continues for close to six months. We also celebrate a little Easter every Sunday of the year. And being a follower of Jesus invites us to practice resurrection on every day of our lives.
This week’s Three Minute Ministry Mentor episode is about practicing resurrection.
3MMM
Place matters.
In so many ways it matters.
Where you observe Holy Week. Where you go home at night. Where you were raised. Where you work and live and play. Each of these places matter, and they give shape to who you are.
This week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor is about place and identity. The day we made this episode was cold and windy and miserable. Hints of spring, yet winter was still having its way. The place was outside in that weather and it shows on my face and body.
Learn more about the how Identity and Place impact your ministry by listening to episode 20 and reading on the blog. #3MMM.
What do brick walls, American Idol and ministry have to do with each other? Read on . . .
Lately, I’ve been watching American Idol. Now, in truth since my daughter was born, I nearly gave up television altogether. The TV in our living room (only the second one we’ve owned in all our married lives), goes months and months without coming on. The World Series, the Grammy’s, the Emmy’s. A game or two of college ball. That’s pretty much it.
But then we found out Walker Burroughs was auditioning for Idol. We could not resist. I’ve known his parents, David and Colleen Burroughs since before they were married. I’ve worked with Passport Camps in many roles since they began the camp in the mid-1990s. I remember so well when Walker, and his twin sister Milligan, were born. Through social media and fewer visits in person I’ve seen Walker grow up and heard him sing. Always fun!
And now he’s made it into the top 20. Of American Idol. Katy Perry thinks he’s dope. Luke Bryan says “so professional” and Lionel Richie (my first stadium concert) thinks Walker is awesome! Sunday night he was in the duets round, singing with Jason Mraz. The whole moderate and progressive (mostly white) Baptist world is abuzz with Walker’s success, hoping to cheer him on and vote him to success.
Tonight I stood up and cheered when he made it through to the next round of 14 singers. And next week we get to vote!
Read more brick wall stories at: Episode 19: Brick Walls #3MMM.
I felt enthralled and overwhelmed by the sculpture of Mary holding Jesus (pictured above) when I stepped into the foyer at Belle Meade United Methodist Church to film this week’s episode of Three Minute Ministry Mentor.
And the name of the sculptor grabbed my attention immediately. Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet, is among my favorite poets. Yet it turns out the poet and sculptor are not the same person, but cousins, sometimes mistaken for one another.
It took some investigation to sort out the story of two Kahlil Gibrans. The sculptor of this Piata (Mary and Jesus), born in 1922, was the namesake of his elder poet-artist cousin, author of The Prophet. The younger Gibran even wrote a biography about the literary genius of the elder poet. The sculptor often rendered artistic creations from found materials that he shaped into new works of art.
Preaching Jesus can be like this. Lots of investigation and sorting out identities. Working with found materials and fashioning new works of art. #3MMM
So many kinds of moments deserve this word!
When conducting interviews with 50 seminarians-on-the-way-to-ministry and 25 seasoned pastors and priests, we asked them all to tell us about and “aha moment” of learning in ministry. The Learning Pastoral Imagination data is thus filled with wonderful, surprising, and profound moments of learning in practice.
Rarely did we hear stories of classroom learning. What we heard were stories about Clinical Pastoral Education, internships and field education, camp experiences, and other moments when people were deeply immersed in the practice of ministry itself.
What are your aha moments of learning in the practice of ministry? #3MMM
This past weekend I took some of my seminary students to the “Beating Guns” tour where Shane Claiborne and Michael Martin led us in a powerful liturgy filled with statistics and singing, rap music and poetry, Scripture, stories, images, and fire. One of the aims of the worship event is to transcend the gun debate in America. One side says, “guns are the problem, and we must reduce the number of weapons,” and the other side says, “humans are the problem, and we just need to change hearts.”
We gathered in the nearly-200-year-old Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Nashville. The church is not only the oldest Episcopal church in the city, it is also the cathedral parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee. The Very Reverend Timothy Kimbrough welcomed us. And he reminded us that the first building of the church, located several blocks away at Sixth and Spring Streets, was built with the labors of enslaved people in the 1830s.
The rise of guns and rise of white supremacy came at the same time. To have this worship ritual at this house of worship was going to do spiritual and theological work on several levels.
Read more about Episode 16: Engaging Ritual #3MMM.
It’s the first Monday of Lent. How are your Lenten practices going? I am hoping and praying for mercy and grace to lead you along the way this season.
I have three things to share with you today.
First, today’s weekly post is about emotional intelligence. Certainly I have known pastors and ministers who don’t rank very high on their emotional intelligence quotient or EQ. Have you had that experience? In pastors, the effects of lack in emotional intelligence can be missed opportunities, ineffective leadership, or a lackluster pastoral care.
Yet in my observation effective and compassionate ministry is most often marked by significant emotional intelligence… #3MMM.
Prayer.
What is the connection between the practice of prayer and the practice of ministry?
The responses to this question could fill many pages of many books. (My own responses fill many posts in this blog.)
The connections we make between prayer and ministry also depend on how we understand each practice.
I grew up in a noisy, talkative tradition, where prayer was mostly words and communication with God – in the power of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus. In that same tradition, ministry was something white men called by God did. How they prayed outside of public worship was mostly hidden and unclear to me.
Read More about Episode 14: Contemplative Prayer #3MMM.
In this week’s episode of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor, I share a story from my first call in ministry. I have preached about this moment when I missed the point, thinking the call was for someone else. In particular it was an experience when I missed what was at stake when someone called for a pastor. I was looking for someone else, but the phone call came for me. Fortunately that failure to see what was obvious led to other learning when I began to see my mistake.
My sermon “Wisdom at the Crossroads” is published in This is What a Preacher Looks Like. You can watch the episode here to get the story, but here’s the bottom line: someone called for a pastor, and I didn’t get that it was me. Instead I looked for our senior pastor, missing how I could have responded to the urgency of the moment. Read more about Episode 13 at #3mmm.
Mentoring for pastoral wisdom or imagination is important and complex work. It may look simple on the surface, but handing on the skills and knowledge of ministry takes time, insight and awareness. Remember there is always more than meets the eye in each ministry moment. Perhaps you are wondering: what should I look for when recruiting a mentor? How can I make the most of my potential mentoring relationships? Read more here about these questions.
Want to see more episodes of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor? You are invited to visit the 3MMM page and get caught up any time! If you want them delivered to your inbox each week, why not sign up today?
One of my favorite early feminist theologians, Nell Morton, is best known for her idea of “hearing to speech.” She writes about the power of listening deeply and really hearing each other in her book, The Journey is Home.
Morton says, “Hearing of this sort is equivalent to empowerment. We empower one another by hearing the other to speech. We empower the disinherited, the outsider, as we are able to hear them name in their own way their own oppression and suffering. In turn, we are empowered as we can put ourselves in a position to be heard by the disinherited (in this case other women) to speaking our own feeling of being caught and trapped. Hearing in this sense can break through political and social structures and image a new system. A great ear at the heart of the universe – at the heart of our common life — hearing human beings to speech — to our own speech.”
This week’s episode of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor is about listening. The story comes from two women who went from being mentor and mentee to creating a “circle of sisterhood.” At the heart of that transition was the empowering experience of listening, asking good questions, and building trust. #3MMM
There is so much to learn about the practice of ministry in courses like these, that mis-steps, stumbles and even more overt failure are unavoidable. And although failures large and small are inevitable, does not mean they are the end. In fact they can be the beginning of something very important!
This week’s episode of 3MMM turns our attention to how we might fail creatively on the way to learning the complex practice of ministry.
The resource I recommend in this week’s episode comes from author and art curator Sarah Lewis. In one of my favorite books of the last five years, The Rise, she explores how failure is an essential weigh station on the path to discovery, invention, and mastery of any complex, meaningful production.
I hope you will take time this week to do these things: 1) thank a field education professor or supervisor who has helped you along your pathway of learning; 2) consider how to reframe the failures you’ve experienced as creative opportunities for growth and discovery.
Have you missed an episode of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor lately? You are invited to visit the 3MMM page and get caught up any time!
This weekend a dear person in my life died unexpectedly. Louise and I have been part of the same faith community for 18 years. She was a member of that community for decades before I arrived. Lou and I shared many different seasons in our relationship, and we had more connecting points that I can count.
I’m sharing this loss with you today, not because I want to eulogize Lou. Our faith community will do that beautifully in the days and weeks ahead. And I am capturing my own memories as they come up for me. What I want to do, however, is to praise the beauty of the relational character of shared ministry.
I’m fortunate to be part of the community of faith that meets at Glendale Baptist Church. In that community I know the joy of being in relationships over time that grow and change shape. Dozens of people at Glendale, including Lou, helped me to survive graduate school, and the long and sorrowful journey to parenthood, and the birth of my daughter, and many job changes and vocational shifts. I’m a better person, and parent and minister for all the support and belonging they have lavished on me.
My life is also richer for the many ways I have been a part of their lives as well: the walking together and the praying, the welcoming new life and grieving lives lost, the cooking and caring, the navigation of conflict and change, and the work of serving people who are hungry, aspiring to more justice, and re-creating life together. Through all these many processes my family has a place of belonging at Glendale. And together these relationships give shape to an authentic shared community....
3MMM
To be a church leader in our time requires not only a clear calling but also courage. If you hope and desire that your faith community will be part of the change for justice and equality rather than one of the obstacles to it, then you need knowledge, commitment and willingness to to risk something big for the sake of something better for all people.
No simple path to change is available. The complexity of how the systems of inequality are maintained is a part of their power. Their hiddenness contributes to keeping the status quo.
Let me make an example of the entangled, complex and hidden aspects of powers of sexism and racism in my own life. My identity as a woman is entangled with my identity as a white person. I both suffer the social exclusions of society and church as a woman, and I benefit from the privileges of society and church as a white-identifed person. At the same time...
Read more of this excerpt at: Equity in Ministry in Episode 8.
3MMM.
All this talk of thinking, reflecting and asking questions… yet the practice of ministry is so much more than thinking and talking. It is an embodied, relational, and spiritual practice. So this week’s podcast presents a story that begins with ministry to a new family with an infant and stretches out into all the ways ministry is embodied. #3MMM
This week’s episode of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor is about you connecting with your friends as a support for your practice of ministry. Doing ministry is really not solo work, as we already considered in Episode 4: Collaboration.
Finding friends who are also living into a call to ministry can be life-giving to you and to them. 3MMM wants to add support to your peer relationships by helping you to jump start your conversations! That is one of the main reasons I launched this series.
The Three Minute Ministry Mentor is the fruit of many years of study, research and writing, but it is also the fruit of this year’s choice to own my deeply resonating purpose.
This week’s Episode of #3MMM is about “being there.” This is the essential idea for ministry that we bring ourselves fully into the lives of those we serve. Showing up, being there, is so important especially when those in our care need most to know the presence of the holy.
God’s collaboration with creation and especially with humanity, however, can go amiss. And in ministry we know it oh so well… when we start planning special holy-day services, depend on people for a great variety of tasks, or gather with families in crisis and grief. Then collaboration can seem anything but obvious. Missed communications, misunderstood meanings, a plethora of differing expectations can fill the air, making ministry seem nearly impossible.
Yet when human collaborations are at their best, when we take time to understand each other and work patiently, they can demonstrate the wonder of God’s presence in our work. For a story about collaboration in the production of the Saint John’s Bible, take a look at Episode 4 of #3MMM.
I remember early in the planning stages of the Learning Pastoral Imagination (LPI) Project that Chris Scharen and I had several thoughtful conversations about whether or not self-reflection was essential for a robust pastoral imagination. My training in pastoral theology, care, and counseling, had me pretty convinced that it was a crucial, it not universal, component of pastoral practice.
This week in Episode 2 of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor, you are invited to think about the holy depths of ministry. No matter where you are engaged in ministry — from leading protests to leading Holiday Blues services, from distributing diapers to preaching about peace, hope, love and joy — attention to the holy depths of the moment is a part of the practice of ministry. Learning to attend and speak to the sacredness of a moment is one of the postures of ministry that takes persistent paying attention.
Ministry itself, like most professions and complex practices, is dogged and driven by a rush to achieve. Yet to learn a multifaceted professional and spiritual practice such as ministry takes time, preparation, and experience. The first episode of #3MMM helps us get started thinking about ministry as a practice.
Everyone in ministry needs a mentor. Whether you have one currently or feel like you could really use one, our new podcast Three Minute Ministry Mentor, is created exactly with you in mind! The aim of 3 Minute Ministry Mentor (#3MMM) is to inform and inspire your practice of ministry. For more see: http://3minuteministrymentory.org