Church doesn’t have to be one big thing—it can be a network of small communities.
This first episode of Digital Ministry Friends is basically what it sounds like—an excuse for me to sit down with people I respect and learn from what they’re actually doing in digital ministry. In this one, I got to talk with Fr. Cathie Caimano about everything from online church and small communities to tools like Substack and Planning Center.
What kept coming up over and over again is this idea that church doesn’t have to be one big, centralized thing anymore. It can be smaller, more focused, and networked—online congregations, niche communities, even something like a choir or a run club. And instead of trying to force everything into one system, maybe the better move is to build something meaningful for the people right in front of you and let it grow from there.
We also got into the practical side—how different platforms shape different kinds of community, why user experience actually matters, and how easy it is to lose people when things get too complicated.
Honestly, it felt less like an “interview” and more like a real conversation—which is kind of the point of this whole project.
All this to say, you should watch this conversation now!
Small communities aren’t a problem to fix—they’re actually the point.
