Ministry Forum

09/08/2026

Coming up next week (the FIRST of our Fall Webinar series).

(Re)Learning to Listen

(Re)Learning to Listen will take us through the basics of Listening with intention. Join us as we explore together the benefits of supporting by listening, what it is and what it isn’t, and the key skills to effectively listening. Likely many of us do a lot of listening in our lives - whether to friends, family, colleagues, or community members. This training is intended to help us come back to basics and refresh our skills so that we can listen more intentionally and more effectively.

Key Learning Points:

Defining Listening Partners: What it is, what it isn’t, the values, the benefits, and the ethics
The Practical Skills for Effective Listening: Preparation, Self-Awareness, Self-Determination, Empathy, Reflective Listening, Holding Space, Sharing, and more
Tools for Effective Listening: The OARS Method, The Four Pillars of Active Listening

Register + Learn More: ministryforum.ca/webinars

09/08/2026

Some Sundays you hit a home run.
Some Sundays you hit a solid single.
And, yes, sometimes you strike out.
Then before too long, it’s Sunday again.

Rev. Dr. Michael Brooks joined us for the first conversation of Season 7 of the Ministry Forum Podcast, and somewhere along the way we ended up talking about preaching and baseball.

We also talked about what nearly 18 years of preaching in the same congregation has taught him, why our churches need room for lament, and something Michael believes deeply: the local preacher still matters.

Listen to the conversation with Michael Brooks, recipient of the 2026 Paul Scott Wilson Preaching Award from .Preaching

ministryforum.ca/posts/preaching-lament-and-the-work-of-showing-up-again-next-sunday

09/08/2026

Two pieces landed in my inbox recently (from different churches, in different countries) naming some basically the same things: overload, isolation, long-term decline, and ministry leaders increasingly pulled away from the work they were actually called to do.

The contexts aren’t the exact same as ours in the PCC, and the numbers don’t map neatly onto ministry in Canada. But the questions are worth paying attention to.

If some of what is wearing ministry leaders down is systemic, can our response really be individual?

Let's talk about it: ministrforum.ca/posts/not-personal

09/07/2026

"We treat prayer like the add-on. But it's the thing."

Listen to the full conversation with Rev. Canon Dr. Judy Paulsen on the Ministry Forum Podcast - find it wherever you get your podcasts. Season 5 Episode 4

09/07/2026

I (John Borthwick) confess, I’m the worst at remembering to take a picture, with people, when I visit churches on Sundays. I was celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion with the good people of St. Andrew’s Hillsburgh yesterday. And last week, I was concluding a three week stint with Trinity Presbyterian Hamilton. I guess I get so caught up representing Knox College in the moment that I forget to capture it for the socials! Despite the encouragements of my team, it doesn’t come naturally. The best I’m able to muster, when I remember, are these kooky selfies. 🙃

09/04/2026

About this book walk
We are grateful to have Peter Garrow, a member of the Mohawks of Akwesasne, Bear Clan, as advisor to Storytime Trail.

“Being outdoors is the appropriate setting to have discussions about residential schools and language loss since the legacy of both has been to separate Indigenous people from Mother Earth. These books have powerful messages well-suited to young readers. We need to take the next step in the healing process. I am excited by what [participants] will learn on the Storytime Trail.”

About your order
Orders will be processed and printed when payment is received. Orders with payment before September 4 will be delivered by Friday, September 25. Avoid disappointment, order early!

Pay by Interac e-Transfer using the code on the order form.

Learn more: ministryforum.ca/book-walk

09/04/2026

Check out this webinar from Yale Youth Ministry Institure:

Faith@Home: Family, Formation, and Fun with the Rev. Richelle B. White
This webinar explores the connection between the role of the family in faith formation and creative teaching and learning experiences that families can enjoy together.

Coming up Sept. 16th from 12 - 1:30 pm EST online

Faith@Home: Family, Formation, and Fun with the Rev. Richelle B. White, Ph.D.

09/03/2026

Ministry Forum webinars are back! This season, we're hosting webinars that together make up our "Listening Partner Network Training," but each webinar is open to anyone interested in a particular topic.

Learn more: ministryforum.ca/webinars

09/03/2026

We asked participants from our pilot session in 2024 how they would describe their experience at Catching The Spark. Here's what one person said:

Blown away by how much nuance and meaning is packed into 4 short chapters. It made me realize how much more I could be getting out of reading the Bible.

Join us for a new series: https://vist.ly/5h5wg

09/02/2026

Who are we becoming?
Change has a character, and it shapes ours. It reveals what we value, what we trust, and the kind of people and communities we are becoming.
Across technology, education, work, relationships, and public life, familiar institutions and sources of certainty are shifting. The question is not only how we respond to change, but what our responses are forming in us.
What makes a person or institution worthy of trust? What does integrity require when the way forward is uncertain? And what kind of hope can sustain us without denying what is difficult?
Drawing on perspectives from leadership, education, community, and Christian faith, the 2026 MacDonald Lectureship invites a public conversation about how we live and lead through change, and what that change is making of us.

Join the Rev. Shalini Rajack-Sankarlal and the congregation of University Community Church for this free afternoon gathering, presented in partnership with Knox College.

Saturday, September 19, 2026 from 12PM - 4PM EST

Learn More + Register: ministryforum.ca/macdonald