In the past nine days I attended two seminary graduations, three worship services where we blessed graduates, and one live-stream ordination. Each event gave me a sense of joy. Yet the joy was also rooted in something more complicated. Something…
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Graduation Blessings take many forms. Big accomplishments receive most of the praise. Public words of blessing ring out for awards, achievements, and milestones. And this is right and good. And yet. Much of the substance of life is mostly not…
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What does it mean to care with holy fierceness? Let’s begin with what we mean by holy fierceness. In Chapter 48 of Pastoral Imagination, I introduce this idea. I first heard the idea when interviewing cohort of divinity school graduates…
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Perhaps you have been hearing about the concept of pastoral imagination for a while. We hope so! And maybe you are wondering: how would someone teach that? Today, let’s talk about teaching pastoral imagination, the concept, the book and the…
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Today we want to offer you some Easter blessings and thanks. If you follow the Roman calendar, then you are now in Eastertide. It’s Easter Monday and that means it is time for laughing, jokes, putting your feet up for…
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After a long trek through Lent, Holy Week is here, and we have a Labyrinth Guide for you. My hope is that helps you keep moving through this final week leading to Easter. More than 15 years ago, I created…
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As we come to the end of Women’s History Month, I want to reflect briefly with you about my past week. My vocation began with a call to ministry while I was still in high school. I certainly could not…
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This week I want to share with you PART II of my interview with Rev. Dr. Angela Parker and her thoughts on freedom and liberation. In PART I of our conversation we talked about her new book, If God Can…
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What are you reading this week, and have you considered how to read with your fully embodied and relational self? Lent is fully underway. And the world is watching an entirely unjust war unfold in Ukraine. Refugees are flooding out…
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Have you figured out your Lenten practices yet? Lent is coming soon! This week in fact. Wait. What? Wasn’t Jesus just in diapers? Now we are sending him out alone? Into the wilderness to face wild beasts? Well actually. Jesus…
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Picturing Pastoral Imagination Share a photo a day for Lent Show the world what pastoral imagination looks like in your life and ministry How do you picture pastoral imagination? This Lenten season we want to invite you to reflect on…
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Amid the latest rash of book bans, now is a good time to remind everyone that you have permission to read a book. Any book, in fact. You can read what suits you and introduce your children to those books…
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How does one fear bravely? How do love and courage and fear dwell together? Can they? This week I’m talking with author, Catherine McNiel about her new book Fearing Bravely: Risking Love for Our Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies. We recorded our…
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There is so much to grieve these days. The list seems nearly endless. Yet grieving remains hard work, and it is easy to ignore or leave aside. This week I’m offering to you a way to give yourself permission. A…
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This week Erin Robinson Hall is sharing from her experience, giving us all permission to laugh. In these oh-so-challenging days we need sometimes need to give ourselves and each other a permission slip. If we can do the small things…
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This month I am having conversations with friends, family, students, fellow church members. In person (rarely), on phone calls, in texts, and by email. And in these conversations, I hear a resounding theme. We are exhausted, grieved, and uncertain about…
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Welcome to Season Four of Three Minute Ministry Mentor! We have some great stuff to share today. Everything from podcasting and permission slips to the Women of the Civil Rights movement. Good that it’s a holiday and maybe you have…
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Pandemic Permission Project. Sometimes we need that extra little bump of encouragement. We need permission to focus on care for ourselves and care for our beloved communities. Pandemic Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you’re tired of hearing about the pandemic.…
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At Three Minute Ministry Mentor, we are marking the Twelve Days of Christmas as a shared time to reflect on the past year. We wrote new lyrics to the old song, so we can honor and provoke your reflections about…
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Hello there! My name is Eileen Campbell-Reed, and I’m the founder and host of Three Minute Ministry Mentor. This first Sunday in Advent is a big day. Twelve years ago on this day, I launched this blog. It was originally…
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This week I want to share a personal story about confronting intimidation and fear. Very few people in my life have tried to intimidate me. Fewer have succeeded. Once, however, while I was a seminary student working temporary jobs between…
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