This week I talk with the Rev. Dr. Andrew Richardson, Director Emerging Ministry Leadership and co-leader of the Office of Vocation of the The United Church of Canada. On his last sabbatical, Andrew spent some dedicated time looking at models of collaborative and cooperative ministry. 

We talked about the Shared Way, Shared Witness conference organized in partnership with Montreal Dio and the Anglican Church of Canada early 2026. Plans are underway to plan a follow up conference in 2027. 

For those interested in talking about collaborative and cooperative ministry, you can reach out to Andrew through The United Church of Canada's Staff Directory (current as of September 2026).

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I talk with my colleague Emmanuel College, the Rev. Dr. Natalie Wigg-Stevenson, Associate Professor of Contextual Education about learning design. Design for learning is a passion of Natalie's and she has created resources for the church, including the website Transgressive Devotional (free) as well as a paid resource for asynchronous learning: Learning Design for Discipleship ($79 CAD). 

We talked about how to create transformative learning experiences in a congregational setting by designing for learning and ministry outcomes, not just content Natalie's passion for learning and teaching is clear. What a gift to learn and teach alongside this incredible, intentional, and gifted professor. 

Several themes came up, including: 

• universal and inclusive design for learning
• less can often be more
• designing with your people in mind

One of the resources that comes up this episode is a great book by author Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

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Thanks for your interest in Church-y Conversations with People Who Know Things.

If something in this episode stuck with you, hit subscribe and leave a rating or review! It genuinely helps others find these conversations. And if you know someone you think would benefit from this conversation, share this episode with them!

Until next time: keep asking the church-y questions and having church-y conversations.

In June 2026, I wrote a Substack post in Church-y Conversations "Everyone Needs a Bestie: On collegiality, friends at work, and filling your cup."

Because I had zero idea about all the technical pieces of creating a podcast, I asked my two best friends to be my first guests. We talked about church, ministry, our friendship, and all kids of other stuff. Thank you to Ingrid and Graham for being my best friends and my guinea pigs for this project!

Support the show

Thanks for your interest in Church-y Conversations with People Who Know Things.

If something in this episode stuck with you, hit subscribe and leave a rating or review! It genuinely helps others find these conversations. And if you know someone you think would benefit from this conversation, share this episode with them!

Until next time: keep asking the church-y questions and having church-y conversations.