Rev. Gail Cafferata was heartbroken when the church she pastored closed its doors. It may have been the right decision, but it led to a million questions in her mind about her call, leadership, and future. In this episode, Gail interviews Loren about his own experience closing a church, and together they talk about some of the challenges, heartbreak, and experiences learned from their experiences, sharing wisdom from the book The Last Pastor which Gail wrote from a sociological study she conducted of  mainline pastors who served a church that closed. In the book, Rev. Cafferate shares the results of her study and the hard-won lessons learned by these courageous pastors.

The Rev. Gail Cafferata, Ph.D., is a practical theologian and retired Priest Associate at The Church of the Incarnation, Santa Rosa (Episcopal). She spent 25 years as a medical sociologist in universities, the Department of Health and Human Services and Children’s Hospital, Boston before ordination in 2002. After serving a congregation for nine years before it closed, she authored The Last Pastor: Faithfully Steering a Closing Church She continues to write and consult as a Visiting Researcher at Boston University School of Theology, and is available on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gailleecafferata/. She loves to spend time with her husband Bob and daughters and grandchildren, as well as playing in a community orchestra, birdwatching, gardening and sailing.

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