Finding Friends and Community on Facebook
Facebook Groups can offer more than just a distraction; they’re hubs where people from all over the world gather to share, support, and yes, befriend one another. Let’s look at how you can find (or create!) a group that will truly enrich your life and ministry—no sourdough starters required!
Pastoral Care for End-of-Life Ministry
Ministry leaders often find themselves walking alongside individuals and families in some of the most challenging seasons of life. Whether it's offering a listening ear, providing spiritual guidance, or simply being present, pastoral care—especially in the context of end-of-life situations—requires deep empathy and a range of skills that can be emotionally taxing. While caring for others is profoundly rewarding, it can also be draining and complex.
Catching the Spark
What an incredible kickoff to our Catching the Spark Bible Study series! Our Ministry Forum team couldn’t be more thrilled with how the first evening unfolded. Over 80 of you registered for the experience, and it was awesome to see the room with energy, curiosity, and a shared hunger to dig into Scripture together. Seeing such a diverse group—representing various denominations like Presbyterians, Mennonites, Anglicans, Pentecostals, United Church members, and a healthy group of non-denominationals as well - all coming together to study the Word of God was truly a blessing.
Knox Counselling Centre
Knox Counselling Centre provides a range of services, including individual, couple, family, and group counselling, all with a psychospiritual focus. This approach integrates psychological principles with spiritual exploration, addressing issues such as anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions, and relationship challenges. While rooted in the Christian academic context of Knox College, the Centre is inclusive and welcomes clients from all backgrounds—no religious or spiritual affiliation is necessary to access services.
Gearing up for the Holidays in Ministry
As ministry leaders gear up for the busy seasons of Advent and Christmas, it’s important to have resources that support both practical planning and spiritual nourishment. Here are some tools, guides, and ideas to help you prepare for a meaningful and engaging holiday season.
Church Mental Health Summit
Your church has the unique opportunity to be a place of purpose, belonging, and hope for your community.
You can reach the lost, the broken, the hurting. And you can be the best expression of Jesus to them. But how do you reach a lost world in need without understanding who they are?
Join the Church Mental Health Summit to better understand the needs in your community. What if free access to this summit made all the difference in reaching the lost?
Cultivating a Spirit of Gratitude in Your Congregation: Giving Thanks to God for Everyday Moments
As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us pause to count our blessings and give thanks for the big things in life—family, friends, health, and provision. But gratitude can be so much more than a once-a-year reflection. It’s a spiritual practice that, when cultivated daily, deepens our awareness of God’s presence in the ordinary moments and fosters a spirit of joy and contentment within our communities.
So how can we help our congregations not only experience gratitude during Thanksgiving, but also nurture it as a daily spiritual discipline? Let’s explore some creative ways to guide your church into a habit of recognizing God’s goodness and expressing gratitude in every season.
Introducing: The Ministry Forum Podcast
Today the final piece in the puzzle that is Ministry Forum is dropped into place - The Ministry Forum Podcast. This will be an experiment for us to see what our audience most appreciates.
5 Tech Tools to Boost Efficiency in Ministry
5 practical tech tools that can handle those everyday challenges—like scheduling, writing, and content creation—so you can get back to what matters most: serving your people.
Getting Started with ChatGPT for Church Ministry: A Beginner’s Guide
In this guide, we’ll walk through how ChatGPT can become that helpful companion in your ministry, no matter how familiar—or unfamiliar—you are with technology. The good news is that it’s simpler than you think!
Truth and Reconciliation Through Worship
Worship is not just a time for praise but also for reflection, lament, and commitment. When we include elements of Truth and Reconciliation in our services, we:
Acknowledge the Church’s role and recognize the harm that has been done, particularly in the context of residential schools and colonialism, and taking steps toward healing.
Create Space for Lament, acknowledge the pain and suffering endured by Indigenous peoples, while offering prayers for healing and justice.
Celebrate Indigenous wisdom by incorporating Indigenous spirituality and cultural elements can enrich our understanding of God and creation.
Commit to Action as worship inspires and motivates us to take tangible steps toward reconciliation beyond Sunday morning.
Indigenous Stories Book Club
Starting an Indigenous stories book club in you church or small group is more than just adding another event to the calendar—it’s an opportunity for real transformation. As we listen to the experiences of Indigenous peoples through their own words, we begin to see our shared history in a new light. These books invite us into conversations that matter, challenging us to confront uncomfortable truths while offering a pathway to deeper understanding, empathy, and healing
Indigenous Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Canada
September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. How will you be marking this day in your ministry context? For those in our Presbyterian Church in Canada community, I’d suggest supporting one of our Indigenous ministries.
Knox’s Book Club Bingo - Summer ‘24
Over the summer the faculty and staff at Knox College participated in Summer Book Club Bingo. We’ve curated a list of all of the books that were read and we’re sharing the board in case you’d like to try a version of it in your own ministry context (or event a solo journey). Have we mentioned how much we LOVE books at Ministry Forum?
Ministry Forum Podcast Coming October 1st
Coming Soon” no more… well, it is still coming soon officially but to whet your appetite check out our Ministry Forum Podcast teaser here.
A Bible Study for the Whole Congregation
As ministry leaders, we often find ourselves juggling a myriad of responsibilities—sermons to prepare, pastoral care to offer, meetings to attend, and programs to lead. With so much on our plates, adding one more thing—like leading another Bible study—can feel overwhelming.
That’s where Catching the Spark: A Dynamic Bible Study Series can be a gift for you and your congregation this fall.
Preaching Refresher - Session 2
The biblical text lies at the heart of preaching. How do we enter into the text in creative ways that will allow us to speak a fresh word to our communities? We will explore playful approaches to exegesis and preaching that will inspire and revitalize your relationship with the biblical text.
Resource Hub - Now Available!
The Resource Hub is now available!
Whether you’re involved in preaching, pastoral care, youth ministry, or any other aspect of church ministry, we hope this collection of tools, articles, and guides is helpful in your context.
Meet the Ministry Forum Interns ‘24-’25
We are delighted to introduce you to our new Ministry Forum Interns!! Starting this Fall, as a part of Knox College’s commitment to Student Support and Experience, we’ve created some capacity to hire two Interns who will be working alongside us for this academic year.
Flourishing In Ministry
One of my favourite books, that I’ve mentioned before, is Flourishing in Ministry by Matt Bloom. I think everyone who serves as a minister should read it - and I think it should be required reading for congregational leaders too. I think many of the concepts also translate to other areas of ministry leadership.