Ministry Forum Podcast

In this chapel sermon, Dr. Anna Robbins invites listeners to reconsider the Lord’s Prayer beyond a routine liturgy, and instead as a personal surrender that reshapes how we live. Anna traces a line from quiet prayer to Gethsemane, and from there to lives marked by costly obedience. Anna explores how the kingdom takes root through our surrendered lives.

In our conversation with Rev. Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim, we explore how climate change is not a side issue but something that runs through every part of ministry. Grace connects water justice, theology, and lived experience, inviting leaders to see creation care as deeply spiritual and deeply practical. Rev. Dr. Ji-Sun Kim introduces concepts like han and chong, giving us a richer language for sufferin...

Revisiting our Creative Ways keynote session from 2024 - in it, Brady Shearer breaks down how social media has shifted and why that change opens new doors for ministry. He offers practical guidance on turning sermons into content, building consistent rhythms, and focusing less on metrics and more on people.

In our conversation with Fr. Joash Thomas, we explore how empire, certainty, and control have quietly shaped Western Christianity, and what it might look like to recover a more liberating, embodied faith. Drawing from his own journey and his book The Justice of Jesus, Joash invites ministry leaders to wrestle with justice, decolonization, and the cost of courage. It’s a challenging conversation th...

How can preaching help heal a church that’s been divided by conversations around sexuality? In this recast from a Knox College book launch, Dr. Sarah Travis and a panel of ministry leaders explore how preaching might become a space for repair, honesty, and renewed connection. Drawing from Sarah’s book Remembering the Body, the conversation holds space for complex themes of affirmation, uncertainty...

Rev. Julielee Stitt reflects on her unexpected path into ministry, the role of curiosity in building community, and the gift of serving in places where people truly know one another. She shares about calling, risk, and the decision to step away from a stable career into something less certain but more meaningful.

The Ministry Forum Podcast returns this May. Expect a mix of fresh conversations and meaningful recasts, including a thoughtful exploration of rural ministry with Rev. Julie Lee Stitt, along with sessions from Rev. Dr. Sarah Travis and Brady Shearer. It’s a shorter, slightly eclectic season, but one shaped by the same desire to connect, encourage, and resource ministry leaders. Consider this an op...

What does faithful ministry look like in the middle of an opioid, housing, and poverty crisis? In our conversation with Rev. Dr. Mark Lewis, we hear the remarkable story of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Hamilton—a congregation that expected to close but instead chose radical hospitality. Mark shares how the church opened its doors to a safe injection site, partnered with community agencies, fa...

What can decades of worship leading teach us about faithfulness, community, and the slow work of God? In our conversation with Glen Soderholm, we trace the shape of a lifetime spent helping congregations sing. Glen reflects on his early ministry, the musicians who formed him, and the joys and challenges of leading worship in real churches with real people. He talks about pastoral presence, musical...

In our conversation with Trish Heidebrecht Archibald, we explore how worship can become a place of healing, honesty, and emotional grounding. Trish reflects on her work in the areas of trauma, attachment, and spiritual formation, and how these insights shape the way congregations gather and sing. She shares gentle, practical wisdom on creating spaces where people bring their whole selves — grief,...

In this final episode of our three-part mental health series, we hear from Rev. Dr. Karen Dimock and Rev. Paul Kang, two ministry leaders who brought the course into their own communities. They share honest reflections on what surprised them, what stretched them, and how the course helped create spaces of safety, belonging, and deeper compassion. Their stories highlight the real work of integratin...

What does it look like for the church to become a genuinely safe place for people struggling with their mental health? In our conversation with Daniel Whitehead, CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, we explore how burnout, vulnerability, theology, and ordinary life all intersect. Daniel shares openly about his own journey through pastoral exhaustion, the messy realities of leadership, and wh...

Why do so many leaders feel stretched thin even when they love the work? Laura Howe, founder of Hope Made Strong, helps untangle that question with a blend of honesty and practical insight. She shares her own story of compassion fatigue, the gap she noticed between community care and church culture, and how that tension sparked a global movement toward healthier ministry. Laura offers a grounded v...

What if leisure isn’t the opposite of work, but the pathway to becoming fully alive? In our conversation with Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden, we explore how ancient ideas of leisure, Sabbath, and early Christian practice can reshape the way congregations imagine ministry today. Jeff traces leisure from Greek philosophy to the first-century church, where meals, storytelling, healing, and shared responsib...

How can churches use social media as a genuine extension of ministry? In this webinar episode, Florence Sevensma helps unpack why digital presence matters for congregations of every size. She explores how people now “visit” online long before showing up in person, how small, consistent rhythms build trust, and why storytelling (not perfection) is what creates connection. Florence also shares pract...

How does a whole diocese lean into spiritual renewal without getting lost in programs or pressure? Judy Paulsen walks us through the Diocese of Toronto’s two-year Season of Spiritual Renewal and the surprising things that grew when congregations focused on prayer, Scripture, and simple, steady practices. Judy shares stories of communities rediscovering connection, courage, and a shared sense of pu...

In our conversation with Taylor Scott-Reimer, Scripture springs to life through the stories of women who faced impossible choices and still chose courage. Taylor reflects on what she’s learned from writing She Believed, why certain interpretations have done harm, and how reclaiming overlooked voices can steady our own faith today. Rahab, Tamar, the daughters of Zelophehad—each becomes a doorway in...

What happens when prayer gets messy, playful, and deeply local? In our Creative Ways recast with Randell Neudorf, listeners are invited to imagine prayer that moves—through streets, stories, and surprising moments of neighbourhood grace. Randell shares how graffiti walls, prayer walks, and small creative experiments help people pay attention to God’s presence right where they live. It’s practical,...

In our conversation with Dr. Erin Vearncombe, the world of early Jesus movements opens up in fresh and surprising ways. Erin talks about how communities in the first century used writing—not as polished theology, but as creative, communal meaning-making. She also reflects on co-authoring After Jesus, Before Christianity and why the earliest Jesus groups looked far more diverse, experimental, and o...

Season five is almost here, and the Ministry Forum Podcast is gearing up for a lineup we’re genuinely excited about. If you’ve been with us for a while, welcome back—and if you're new, you’ve picked a pretty great moment to jump in. We’re kicking things off with a conversation with Dr. Erin Vernicum, co-editor of After Jesus, Before Christianity. It’s one of those interviews that could have gone o...

Rev. John shares an impromptu but deeply insightful conversation with Dr. Derek Suderman of Conrad Grebel University College. A Hebrew Bible scholar and gifted teacher, Derek reflects on how Bible study can move beyond information to transformation. Drawing from years of teaching across cultural and denominational contexts, he explores what it means to read Scripture carefully, collaboratively, an...

Rev. John sits down with Rev. Dr. Hyung Jin (Pablo) Kim Sun, Intercultural Liaison for The Presbyterian Church in Canada, to talk about what it means to build a truly intercultural church. Drawing on insights from his book Building Mennonite Belonging: Toward an Intercultural Church, Pablo reflects on belonging, power, and the tension between love and justice in our faith communities. Together, th...

Rev. Dr. Sarah Travis and participants from Knox College’s Preaching Collective—a retreat and ongoing community designed to equip and encourage preachers across Canada. The group shares honest reflections on the joys and anxieties of preaching, the power of collaboration, and the growing role of lay leaders in worship leadership. Together, they explore what it means to preach faithfully in a chang...

Rev. John Borthwick is joined by leaders connected to the Center for Asian Canadian Theology and Ministry as they celebrate thirty years of faithful work at Knox College. Together, they trace the Center’s beginnings amid a wave of Asian immigration in the 1990s, its impact on theological education and immigrant churches, and its ongoing role as a bridge between cultures. Through stories of vision,...

Historian and retired Knox College professor Dr. Stuart Macdonald joins John Borthwick to discuss his book Tradition and Tension: The Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1945–1985. Together they trace the growth, change, and eventual decline of the church through a period of enormous cultural transformation. Dr. Macdonald challenges the myth that this decline is simply cyclical, arguing instead that it...