The One Thing

While we need to reach the cities with the Gospel, this can’t be at the expense of those 3 million Australians in regional and rural areas. And if we’re going to engage with them well and wisely, then we want to understand how evangelism differs for those who don’t live in highly urbanised areas. Does community work differently in the country? Do we need to present ourselves differently? What goes...

If Sundays are a key place where non-Christians come for the first time to experience Christian community, and Sundays are meant to be a time for Christians to enjoy singing the truths of the Gospel together, how do you build a healthy, engaging, music ministry from a small pool of people that isn’t cringeworthy. In short, how do you handle music on the small scale? Derek and Scott talk to gifted...

Today’s episode of THE ONE THING is aimed at helping you discover THE ONE THING to keep in mind when you set out to make graphics and all those other things that go into good communications. To help us with making the right decisions, we’ve invited Rachael Vant, who leads the communication and marketing team at EV Church on New South Wales’ Central Coast. SHOW NOTES 14 sites for inspiring sermon s...

Church planting is hard work, even when you’re in familiar territory. But travelling to a regional area that lacks ministry resources and family support can make breaker ground for Jesus much, much harder. This episode Derek Hanna talks to Jai Wright, a church planter in Northern Queensland, to discover what really makes a difference in ministry when you leave the big smoke behind. SHOW NOTES Mini...

Healthy churches aren’t just those who grow their members in spiritual maturity, but ones that seek to grow the church of Christ overall. In short, healthy churches plant more churches. But how do you go about growing the sort of people who will want to be church planters? Derek Hanna and Scott Sanders discuss the ‘best practice’ approach to growing your own church planter. SHOW NOTES Here are thr...

If you’re not posting on social media, you’re just not … social. These days social media giants like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are the way in which people share the multitude of digital moments in their lives. So how do you, as a church, make the most of these digital interactions? Scott and Derek talk to Gus, a former social media guru for major consumer electronic and FMCG brands for all...

A critical part of leadership is recognizing that your fruit grows on other people’s trees. Many churches are waking up to the fact that every pastor is an interim pastor, and this maxim plays out at every level of your church’s leadership pipeline. Tod Adkins from Lifeway Leadership shows us how e very role in the local church is an interim role, and every leader is not successful until they have...

The Australian church often looks to the US church for what’s next – you can think of them as our big R&D department over the other side of the pacific. Today’s special guest, Daniel Im, is here to help us get a handle on how the North American church is going, and what’s worth taking note of. SHOW NOTES The State of Church Planting in the US, from New Churches The New Churches website No Silver B...

Mission isn’t about just running a single event. It’s planning a year that brings people closer to God. So how do you be more deliberate about your calendar, to more effectively help and serve those who are seeking begin to experience Christian community and explore the Gospel? In this episode we talk to Sam Hilton, the Mission Pastor from Hunter Bible Church and ask him to give us the key princip...

Leadership that deliberately shares authority is leadership that has an eye on the future. It mobilises, empowers and equips others to achieve significant tasks and fulfil substantial roles. Some people call this delegation, but we think the word “empowering” provides a better picture of what’s involved. And we speak to Grahame Fuller from EV Church about how to hand on responsibilities without ‘d...

How do you go about recruiting volunteers for ministries across the church? How early is a member of church invited to be involved in ministry? Are there different ways for recruiting for different ministries? And, how do create a culture of serving across the whole church? And to help us solve those conundrums, we’ve invited Cathie Heard, one of Reach Australia's Directors of Coaching, to sor...

This week on ‘The One Thing’, we’re going to look at the Life-Cycle of the Team - how they start out, the stages they’re likely to move through, and what you have to be ready for, before they really get going. To help us with that, we’ve got a real team guru to join us at the microphone - EV Church’s Ministry Pastor, Rhett Harris. He’s had a huge amount to do with founding, fomenting and finalisin...

There were far too many questions left unanswered, so… Following on from Episode 18, Matt Varcoe from Grace City Church returns to talk about strategies for contacting and preaching to people who identify as having ‘No Religion’. SHOW NOTES Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus, by Mack Stiles Apologetics Canada Grace City’s Conversations That Matter resources Evangelism in a Skeptical...

The media just called my church! In the words of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "Don't panic!"

According to the 2016 Australian Census, Australia is one of the least religious nations in the developed world. 7 million Australians identify as having ‘No Religion’. So how do you start ‘talking religion’ to someone whose core belief system is built on the idea that religion doesn’t matter? Join Derek and Scott as they quiz special guest Matt Varcoe on designing missions that target this vital...

What you call them depends a lot on your spiritual background - they could be Bible studies, community groups, cell groups or fellowship groups … what they should always be though, is the one place where the Christian growth really gets going. If we want small groups to flourish, we need to think through how we build the right small group culture. SHOW NOTES Growth Groups, by Col Marshall Leading...

Do you want to grow the members of your team as disciples of Jesus? Do you want to empower them to be on mission with you? Then begin loving them enough to provide them clear role descriptions - not only of the roles they’re going to play, but how they contribute to the wider mission of your church or ministry.

Hate them or love them, meetings are still a crucial part of leadership. Teams have to be organised, informed, allowed to contribute and sent out - unless you want to do all the work yourself. So, if you’re going to lead well, you have to learn to run meetings well. What are the types of meetings you need to run? How often do you need to run them? And how do you make sure they achieve their purpos...

Ministry Dashboards – what are they, how do they work, and why should you want one? When you’re trying to work out how a ministry is going, there’s actually a place for data, statistical trends, and bright and shiny graphs. Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna speak to two Adelaide ministers who’ve managed to put Ministry Dashboards to great use. SHOW NOTES Vital Signs by Tony Morgan The Ministry Dashboa...

You’re a minister of the Gospel - you’d love to tell someone about Jesus, of course! But Christianity is increasingly on the nose in Australia and around the world. What do you need to do in order to side-step the cultural landmines that lie between you and a soul-saving conversation? Live from Multiply18, Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna speak to prominent Christian blogger and agent provocateur Ste...

How does a Christian balance enjoying God’s goodness and sacrificing your life? The reality of life ‘under the sun’ is that the everyday circumstances of life - the highs, the lows - are full of mundane stuff, and multiple options, choices and sacrifices... This episode we talk to Mikey Lynch, author of The Good Life In The Last Days and see how a Christian ministry worker should go about making d...

The most difficult question in any ministry has to be, “What should I be doing… now?” What’s next on my agenda? Al Stewart tells us setting priorities in ministry is a must. It’s too easy to follow a particular passion down a rabbit hole, and wake up to realise you’ve forgotten something truly important. SHOW NOTES Google Inbox, by Gmail Google Calendar How to add reminders in Google Calendar

Ministry apprentices can play an integral role in building a culture of training in your church. But what are the top three issues that apprentices have, as they take on a ministry? And maybe just as important, what are the top three issues you want to address in years you’ve got them? SHOW NOTES The Trellis and the Vine, by Col Marshall and Tony Payne The Ministry Training Strategy ‘G8 Conference...

If we take a step back and remind ourselves that we’re trying to reach Australia with the Gospel, it doesn’t take long to realise that it’s a job too big for even the most capable person to do on their own. So, if we’re going to make a dent in that challenging task, we need to become church leaders who aren’t just thinking about doing ministry...but thinking about multiplying themselves. SHOW NOTE...

Al Stewart is an expert in Australian ministry - a youth group leader, a congregation leader, the CEO of a denominational department, a bishop, a church planter – and the one thing he thinks it’s absolutely essential for ministry workers to get down is the art of preaching, because your preaching produces your audience. SHOW NOTES The best place to get Tim Keller sermons A good sample of Al Stewar...