support guidE
for those who
minister to others
Dear Pastor or Chaplain,
We’ve curated this page of resources with you in mind. Our hope is these videos, podcast episodes, and blessings will encourage you in your call to ministry, remind you of the important work you do, and thank you for the ways you serve others, especially the fragile.
Bless you,
Kate
a blessing for pastors
Blessed are the wounded healers,
Those who serve others
in the midst of their own confusion
and isolation, doubt and loss.
God, may they know beyond doubt
that you are there,
and that they are not alone
in this world.
May they feel your love
poured out for them
so profusely, so personally,
that love overflows to you in return.
Grant them the
specific encouragement they need
that will set them on a
joyful path of service again.
Provide for them rest for their bodies,
nourishment for their souls,
and a trusted friend
for life’s most perplexing questions.
Guide them in practical ways
as they seek to find
ways to lead in uncertainty,
comfort people in their sickness,
console them in their grief,
and celebrate with them
life’s greatest joys.
Grant them grace to know somehow,
that in your economy
Your love has a math
that compounds according to the
mystical science of the cross.
Be the first to know when we release a new resource like this one.
WATCH
On Pastoral Calling with Will Willimon
As a Pastor, what does it mean to unflinchingly tell the truth?
About God and about us.
Pastors are called to go there. To everyone’s brokenness. They are the people who go to that place the rest of us drift away from and do their best to stay there on purpose.
WATCH
Documentary: A Will to Preach
This beautifully produced documentary follows Bishop Willimon from scripture to sermon as he tackles preparing to preach on a topic that addresses the issues people face today.
READ
Accidental Preacher
A personal and vocational memoir of Bishop Will Willimon, one of my favorite pastors of pastors. His book portrays the adventure of a life caught up in the purposes of a God who calls unlikely people to engage in work greater than themselves.
LISTEN
Liz Tichenor:
Being Church on our Worst Days
Episcopal priest Rev. Liz Tichenor reminds us that in the thick of tragedy, we need the church and shared rituals of grief. On our worst days, we are called to show up for one another.
LISTEN
Reverend Tom Long:
Number Our Days
The Reverend Tom Long spent a lifetime molding seminary students into pastors and preachers. In this conversation, Tom reminds us of our callings as ministers and reminds us of our place in a bigger story of hope and faith, of interdependence and the importance of community. He describes the role of the church and a community of saints and the necessity of rituals to pull us into a wider, truer story than the trite version our cultures likes to tell.
LISTEN
Nadia Bolz Weber: The Insight of Outsiders
When I am going through my own terrible time, one thing I really appreciate is frankness. Another is openness, the willingness to meet peoples’ problems head on. Nadia Bolz Weber, is famous for all three. As a pastor, Nadia doesn’t only preach to the bright, shiny people. Instead, she seeks out everyone else.
“Faith is a team sport, not an individual competition, in that we hold the faith on each other’s backs. So when I can’t believe, someone else is believing for me, and vice versa. Sometimes we’re the ones being lowered through the roof to Jesus, and sometimes we’re the ones doing the lowering. And I just think of it collectively in that sense.”
— Rev. Nadia Bolz Weber
Here are some discussion questions we’ve put together as you listen to this conversation.
