Cathie Caimano - 'Fr. Cathie'

Free Range Priest

I provide practical advice and innovative ideas for ministry so you can create the Future of Church without having to figure everything out all by yourself. Reimagine congregational, entrepreneurial, small church, part-time or denominational ministry. Share more Good News. Get more ministry JOY.

The Business of Ministry

The Business of Ministry It’s often uncomfortable to talk about ministry in terms of business - we answer to a higher authority, after all! It doesn't seem particularly spiritual to think about how we thrive financially.The irony is, one of today’s business trends is being purpose driven: caring...

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11 days ago • 6 min read

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Notes from the Future of Church Issue #1

Notes from the Future of Church September 15, 2023 The Ministry and Money Issue Hello Reader! Welcome to the very first issue of Notes from the Future of Church! We're here to bring you some practical advice, and innovative ideas for your ministry, so you don't have to figure everything out by...

8 days ago • 4 min read

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Subscription not Stewardship

Subscription not Stewardship Why it’s time to rethink church finances Many denominational Christian congregations support their ministry financially through stewardship: pledging a set amount of money, budgeted over a year. In this way, a group of members - even a small one! - pays the bills for...

11 days ago • 3 min read

'I love ministry. I hate my job'.

I love ministry. I hate my job'. Maybe it’s time to reconsider what the job is. It’s been shared over 2500 times (as of this writing). I’ve already read 5 other blog posts this week responding to it.To say it’s hit a nerve with clergy - and other ministers - is an understatement!Presbyterian...

16 days ago • 5 min read

Your word is truth

photo credit: Bruce Parker. The General Theological Seminary. Your word is truth It’s the bells I always remember. Technically, the carillon: bells played by hand in the chapel tower by a guild of students and other musicians. They called us to pray every evening at the General Theological...

17 days ago • 4 min read

Clergy burnout: the truth our souls are telling us

Clergy burnout: the truth our souls are telling us There’s no doubt about it, the past few years have been very hard for the church. They’ve been especially hard on clergy. The organizational church is in steep decline, with many congregants not coming back after the return to in-person...

18 days ago • 3 min read

How 'quiet quitting' changes the church

How 'quiet quitting' changes the church Quiet quitting’ is having a moment. The idea started on Tiktok, but now plenty of people are talking about how they’re doing less while on the job. And about how that’s not such a bad thing. With all due respect to whoever actually coined the term, the...

18 days ago • 4 min read

Five church words I'm no longer using

Five church words I'm no longer using Stewardship. Outreach. Committee. Volunteer. Livestream. At the beginning of 2022, I made a resolution for my ministry. I was thinking about reimagining ministry - how so many things about church are not working like they used to. So I decided to reexamine...

18 days ago • 3 min read

Why 'Father' Cathie?

Why 'Father' Cathie? What do you call a female priest or other minister? Not that many women go by ‘father’, but I do! Here are four important concepts I draw on for choosing this title,and why they matter… 1. Theology God is so much larger than we are, and so much larger than any idea we have...

21 days ago • 3 min read

How I became a Free Range Priest

How I became a Free Range Priest I was ordained an Episcopal priest on the cusp of the 21st century. It was literally January 2000. I was ordained, and trained, and sent out into the church believing that my vocation and my service as a clergy person would basically be with a set congregation, a...

22 days ago • 5 min read

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