How do we proactively serve Jesus in retirement? How might we motivate our older church members to prioritise the work of the gospel? Mike Raiter said on The Pastor’s Heart a little while back that retirement needs rethinking to avoid the sin of the sluggard. Mike Raiter said downing tools at 65 and spending 20 or 30 years resting is a 19th century concept and is not Christian. But what is the alternative? Ying Yee is lead English Pastor of Chinese Christian Church Milsons...

I want to be a big hearted encourager like Barnabas. I want to be a reliable assistant like Timothy. I want to be passionate preacher like Apollos.When you think about the qualifications for Christian ministry in 1Timothy 3, the significance of personality is pretty much ignored.What is the relationship between character and personality? Some one is all about structure and someone elose is much more ‘loosy-goosy/flexible.’When there’s conflict in church or in a ministry teams - it’s oft...

In a significant interview on the Rest is Politics Podcast England’s Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, has denied the teaching of the bible, and the teaching of his church. It is Archbishop Welby’s most public betrayal of his ordination and consecration vow to ‘banish error and to uphold and defend the truth taught in Scripture.’Archbishop Welby’s comments came on the eve of an important House of Bishops meeting in the UK, which considered a request from a group called The Alliance,...

How to best structure ministry teams in your church? And how to equip your team leaders for joyful service?Team leaders do the bulk of their ministry in between events not at events.How can someone become a more fruitful team leader?Why all conversations with your team fit into four categories - and how most team leaders get this wrong.David Moore is the executive pastor of Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle, New South Wales.He has written a new book, The Team Leader’s Handbook, which will be w...

5,000 believers gathered from more than 200 nations last month in South Korea. It is 50 years since Billy Graham and John Stott first launched the Lausanne movement in Switzerland. Anglican Bishop of North Sydney Chris Edwards has described the congress as like an all you can eat buffet - where some parts tasted amazing / fantastic and I kept wanting more and yet other parts even a mouthful made me feel nauseous. Principal of Sydney’s Moore Theological College Mark Thomps...

Historical literacy is a critical tool for Christians, deepening faith and enhancing evangelism and discipleship.Sarah Irving Stonebreaker says we’ve forgotten how to engage well with the past, we don’t know why the past might be relevant to us today, and we have missed out on being part of a larger story.We need to uncover overlooked histories, bringing historical injustices to light, move beyond culture wars, bring historical injustices to light and recognise the sins of the past (inc...

What is Christian parenting? How do we do family Bible time well? How can we prioritize church, even when it’s hard? Navigating social media with teens? And how to parent teens who are doubting, drifting or deserting? Parenting is joyous, magical, tiresome, boring, stressful and complicated.Harriet Connor is editor of ‘Parenting in God’s family: Biblical wisdom for everyday issues.’ (https://bit.ly/4eJgars). Kat Ashton Israel is a contributing author. Church S...

How to preach to build confidence so members want to invite Islamic friends and workmates to church and better educate our Christians for conversations with Muslim friends.What topics might we address? How to best engage with the authority and authorship of the Bible vs the Qur’an, plus Jesus and Muhammed, the Trinity, Incarnation, Sin and human nature, Judgement and Salvation.Sam Green works for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students and is the author of ‘Where to start with...

How do you work in a team excellently with those above you in ministry? How do you as a team member take responsibility for the success of your church? What can ministry team members do well to help the whole team function better?What mistakes do team members make? And what about confidentiality on team?Michael Davies is associate pastor of Lighthouse Church in Gorokan, NSW.Megan Stevens serves at Vine Church in Surry Hills in Sydney. Peter Blanch is a ministry consultant with ...

How do we help children in Christian families escape and recover from the devastating effects of domestic abuse? Pastoral consultant Jenni Woodhouse says there is a hidden epidemic of coercive control where a parent with narcissism or borderline personality disorder makes life impossible for their both their spouse and children. We also explore the impact of domestic abuse on children of all ages, from teenagers to toddlers.What responsibility does the church have? What should a church leader...

What should the church pastor / staff team / church council or bishop do about the big drop in attendance? A new report (bit.ly/AttendancePatterns) shows Adult Attendance in churches in Sydney is down 7% or 14% against population (over a decade). Adult attendance declined at approximately two-thirds of Sydney Anglican comparable church centers, and only one-third of church centers recorded an increase in attendance.The big problem is newcomers. We just are not reaching them.&n...

Plus how the Tanzanian Church has been built through the labors and prayers of Australian Christians, and why prosperity gospel preachers are as wicked as witch doctors!We are joined by Bishop Mwita Akiri from Tarime in rural Tanzania, Judith Calf who served as a missionary in theological education in Tanzania for 20 years, and Tim Swan who leads the Anglican Aid Ministry here in Australia.To support Anglican Aid projects in Tanzania: https://anglicanaid.org.au/locations/tanzania/The Ch...

What impact does growing up in a pastoral family have on ministry kids? Valerie Ling from the Sydney Centre for Effective Living joins us to unpack the ‘Ministry Kids Wellbeing Survey,’ revealing what Australian ministry children, say about their upbringing. They tell of heightened responsibilities and an acute awareness of adult realities plus concerns about feeling different from their peers.We explore the broader impacts of pastoral life on children, and explore displacemen...

One of the world’s leading New Testament Scholars Thomas Schriener is in Sydney for the Moore College Lectures on ‘The Battle for the truth of the gospel.’At the center of his attention is NT Wright and the New Perspective on Paul, a debate that questions whether ancient Judaism was legalistic.Schreiner tells of his roots in Roman Catholicism, a transformative evangelical faith, and the enduring importance of the Reformation perspective of justification by faith alone.Schreiner, who chairs th...

Religious Freedom leaders are calling on Australia's Government to quickly bring a Religious Discrimination Act to the parliament.Mark Sneddon says the Religious Discrimination Act is not about granting unlimited freedoms, but about preventing adverse treatment of religious individuals and organizations.He says there needs to be a fair compromise that the rights of all involved, which should be supported by both sides of politics. Mark Sneddon from the Institute for Civil Society, Mark Spence...

What does Expressive Individualism mean for churches? And what specifically does it mean for church music?Here is the expressive individualism worldview: ‘Truth comes from inside me. It’s important that I look inside to discover who I truly am’ and ‘I need to express my individuality and personal truth to the world around me to receive validation.’That truth comes from within - is the unspoken assumptions of guests who come to our churches.And it’s a worldview that has impacts ins...

Disillusionment is one of the great threats to the Christian life and to Christian ministry A wise man said the worst thing in ministry was not a pastor who quits, but a pastor who doesn’t quit, but who keeps going when they’ve given up.Sydney Missionary and Bible College Karl Deenick shares his own experience of hitting a major wall after seven years of pastoral work. We unpack how ministry challenges can lead to a sense of disillusionment, especially among millennials, plus a way...

What would Dave Keun and Jon Kwan like to tell their younger selves if they could travel back in time before they took on the position of senior minister?How has their sense of ownership changed?What has been most difficult about the transition to the role? What mistakes have they made?Dave Keun has been senior minister of Kellyville Anglican Church in Sydney’s North West since March 2022.Jon Kwan has been lead pastor of St David’s Forestville (on Sydney’s Northern Beaches) since May 20...

Roadmap for a reset communion - with Paul Donison and Glenn Davies The chair of Gafcon Laurent Mbunda and chair of Global South Justin Badi Arama are to meet to work out a roadmap for the resetting of the Anglican Communion. Global South Anglicans have endorsed the Former Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies call for the communion to be reset on biblical foundations. The Global South have called on their Primates to work with the GAFCON Primates Council and other Orthodox leaders to...

All the time in church there are unexpected things happening. We or someone else makes a decision to change something which then relationally or missionally impacts another area of church life that we didn’t expect.Sometimes we put too much attention into one area of church - and now other areas are suffering.Whatever size your church is - the church system is complex, interdependent and interconnected.Sometimes the presenting problem won’t actually be the real problem, there’s so...

How do you balance the instability and chaos of external ministry with adding a foster child or adopted child to a ministry family?What are the implications of taking children in crisis into the ministry home? What motivates ministry families to become foster parents or to adopt? How do older children and the church respond? Sarah and Mat Yeo serve at Hurstville Grove Anglican Church in SydneyMatt Wilcoxen pastors St John’s Darlinghurst in inner Sydney.To purchase ‘The Forgetful Prince’: http...

What is it to be #likeaman?There are not many places in the New Testament where men are spoken to specifically.Today we are thinking about being a Christian man.In the ESV and NASB the translation of 1 Corinthians 16:13 has ‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong’. (ESV)But what does that mean?Dominic Steele put that question to panelists at the recent Men Meeting the challenge conference:Adrian Russell, senior minister of Northmead Anglican Church.Craig Hamilton, senio...

There are three different ways that the adult population of churches can grow:Adults being saved. Christians transferring from another congregation within your denomination of switching from another denomination. Children of members growing up in the church and taking on their parents faith for themselves.Most evangelical churches - even growing churches - are underperforming in the first and third ways.In the Sydney Anglican Church parents report that an average of only 65% of thei...

A new massive ethical question has risen up with the advent of artificial intelligence. How will people decide what kind of morality to give to their artificial intelligence creations?There will need to be a morality. But what should it be?The market is already making different choices. Elon Musk has said he wants the AI behind X (formerly Twitter) to be morally flexible. He wants his AI to appeal to all people: left and right, authoritarian and democratic, kind and brutal.Stephe...