About G. Jeffrey MacDonald

 For more than 20 years, I’ve enjoyed a multi-dimensional career as a religion journalist and a UCC pastor. The work has always been complementary. What I’ve learned by interviewing religious leaders and ordinary people of faith has made me a better pastor. And what I encounter in parish life leads to story ideas and shapes questions that congregations like mine need answered.  

From this unique vantage, I now see opportunity where others see only decline. I’ve witnessed more than a few pockets of vitality flourishing in mainline Protestantism. Having studied these patterns and systems, I now want mainline congregations to learn more than I can teach in one local church at a time or in an 800-word news story.

  That’s why I’ve added consulting as a third dimension to my work. Consulting lets me convert insight from my journalism and ministry work into resources such as books, toolkits, workshops, talks and courses. 

I focus on mainline congregations that are moving away from extreme dependence on clergy and toward a robust sharing of ministry among all believers. I also help pastors learn to thrive in part-time ministry. Many are finding synergy among what’s needed, what’s affordable and what conditions make flourishing possible. 

Meanwhile, I still practice solutions journalism and parish ministry. Both are like laboratories where hypotheses get tested and new discoveries are made. All three dimensions of my work are needed, I believe, to uncover what’s emerging on the mainline landscape and help proven methods to proliferate.  

I help mainline Protestant congregations find new vitality while substantially lowering their costs. I do this in three areas: 

• Journalism: I report on congregations and pastors that are finding faithful, affordable and impactful new ways of ministering together

• Ministry: As an ordained UCC pastor, I serve part-time in congregations that feel called to build up lay ministries during transitional periods 

• Consulting: Through books, workshops, talks and courses, I teach congregations how to thrive with a shared approach to ministry