Encore Webinar: Father Justin Patterson

Hopes & Hurdles: Three Challenges in Growing Parish Ministry  

Thomas Edison famously said, "I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Oftentimes, we imagine good ministry means that everything must be vested with an aura of "success." This is baloney. In this presentation, Fr. Justin Patterson shares three stories of ministry that might better be called "failure." But, as he will suggest, it is precisely when we hit a brick wall that we are able to learn and grow and retool to meet the challenge in front of us. Fr. Justin will also explore ways that we can frame our past failures as deep learning experiences so that we can build upon them and can see--precisely through those misteps--the way "forward" for our parish communities.

This session is an encore presentation based on content offered at 2022 Parish Development Forum.

About the Presenter: Father Justin Patterson

Fr. Justin has been a priest since 2005 and has served as pastor of St. Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville, KY, for nearly 17 years. In that time, the fledgling mission he inherited has experienced rich years of dynamic growth punctuated by tough years that presented real challenges to the parish's very survival. Now a community of 200 families, St. Athanasius is experiencing a new series of challenges as the parish heads into a new "model" parish life. Fr. Justin and his wife, Matushka Tamara, are both graduates of St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2005, but also studied at St. Tikhon's 2002-03. They have one grown son (18 and mastering welding in trade school) and another son who can't decide if he loves high school marching band or singing in the church choir more.

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