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Continue reading →: Hope Beyond Our Sorrows: For Those Who GrieveYou may have already seen the cover of my new book (releasing this June 2025) on my author blog, but I wanted to share it here as well especially for those who work for the church. Hope Beyond Our Sorrows is about learning to live with life-changing loss—whether that loss…
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Continue reading →: The Positive Power of Saying NoWhen Asian American Women on Leadership invited me to write an article on self-control, I said yes. How ironic, since self-control is so much about saying no, and I haven’t been saying no enough lately. But writing this article gave me the opportunity to reflect on my life and ministry,…
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Continue reading →: Radical Roots for TodayRadical Roots by Gareth Brandt celebrates the 500th anniversary of Anabaptist origins, but you don’t have to be Anabaptist or a history nerd to appreciate this collection of paintings, stories, and poems. Gareth is a gifted storyteller, preacher, painter, and poet—the only one I know who can put my…
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Continue reading →: Supporting Those Who GrieveMesothelioma is a type of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The Mesothelioma Center is a patient advocate group that seeks to raise awareness and provides a symptom guide and other information here. They also provide a helpful grief guide available as a free download. I found their suggestions for supporting…
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Continue reading →: New Research on Canadian Churches and Mental HealthHow do churches in Canada talk about mental health and illness? Are they talking about mental health? How equipped are they to do so? Is there a stigma? A recent study by the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University explores these questions, and the results are now available in a…
When You Work for the Church
Hello,
I’m April Yamasaki
Welcome to When You Work for the Church. I’ve been a church volunteer and a full-time pastor. I’ve led small groups and served on denominational committees. When I resigned from pastoral ministry to focus on my writing, I knew that I wanted to be—needed to be—grounded in a local congregation. I love the church!
But I also know that churches and church organizations have not always lived up to their calling, have brought harm instead of healing. So I started this website to share resources for doing ministry better, and pray that together we might serve more faithfully and effectively.
For a healthy rhythm of work and rest, I’d love to send you my ebook.
When You Work for the Church 