Episode 065 – What's on My Mind Before the Summer Break

In this special solo episode of The Church Podcast, Christopher closes out the season with an honest opinion piece on the topics that have been shaping his thinking this year.

Rather than an interview, Christopher takes listeners through three areas of ministry that keep coming up — in podcast conversations, in parish life, and in his own leadership work. It's a shorter, more personal episode, and a fitting send-off before the summer break.

In This Episode

• Why AI in ministry is no longer a future conversation — it's already happening in your parish, your youth group, and your volunteer team, whether you're ready or not
• How Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas gives Catholic leaders a practical and theological foundation for engaging artificial intelligence with wisdom
• The warning sign from social media: why the Church can't afford to play catch-up with AI the same way it did with social platforms
• The difference between training ministers and forming leaders — and why the health of your parish five years from now depends on which one you're prioritizing today
• What the research from Scott Osterle and Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale reveals about the leadership development gap in Catholic ministry
• Why most parishes are still built for people who never left — and what it would actually look like to design a welcome for someone returning wounded and skeptical
• Molly Schorr's Return Faith Ministries and the question Christopher can't stop thinking about: what does someone find when they walk back through the door?
• A summer challenge: pick two or three episodes from this season and listen again with someone on your team — don't let them collect podcast dust

Episodes Mentioned

• Episode 055 – Illuminating Trends: What the Data Says About the Future of Ministry with Charlotte McCorquodale
• Episode 056 – Catholic AI and the Church's Moment with John Brahier
• Episode 057 – Beyond the Catholic Bubble: Learning to Lead from Unlikely Places with Edmund Mitchell
• Episode 060 – Families, Faith, and the Field: Parish Ministry with Scott Osterle
• Episode 061 – Welcoming the Returning Catholic with Molly Schorr
• Episode 062 – Theology, AI, and the Catholic Imagination with Dr. Patty Jiménez
• Episode 064 – Magnifica Humanitas: The Church Speaks on AI with Nick Stein

Resources Mentioned

• MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
• Return Faith Ministries – Molly Schorr
• Enkindle Catholic – Scott Osterle
• Ministry Training Source – Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale

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Recorded on Riverside – HERE

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