The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

What happens when someone has been hurt in a Christian organisation, and the person they need to complain about has authority over them? Does Christian conflict resolution sometimes assume an equality that simply isn’t there? What changes when the other person is your senior pastor, CEO, bishop or ministry boss — someone who holds not only organisational authority, but perhaps pastoral and spiritu...

How might we better (as pastors) better come alongside victims of domestic abuse?  Abuse in Christian marriage is easy to miss—and even easier to minimise.  How can pastors recognise what is happening behind closed doors and help our churches become places of refuge for the oppressed? Counsellor and author Darby Strickland joins us to discuss domestic abuse, the entitlement that drives i...

Why do some church teams emerge from disagreement stronger, while others fracture, divide or quietly drift apart? We expect opposition to the gospel and theological disagreement. What we’re often far less prepared for is tension within our own ministry teams. When ordinary disagreements become personal, motives are questioned and relationships begin to rupture. Tim Dyer has spent years helping chu...

Consent, Bodies and Belonging: Ministering to Young People with Disability. In every church's orbit are young people with intellectual disability, whether in the pews, in youth group, or in a family that stopped coming because it got too hard. The Australian Disability Royal Commission found people with disability are twice as likely to face abuse and exploitation. Are our churches actually safe,...

After a decade of decline, Sydney Anglican church attendance has grown by more than 20% in just three years. This is now higher than at any point since 2013. But underneath the encouraging headline, the picture is uneven. Larger churches have grown fastest. Around 13% of churches reached an approximate proxy for the report’s 5% conversion target. Plus, a significant group of churches remain in lon...

What's the functional idol in your own ministry? Career? Family? The platform? The numbers? Are we preaching law as legalism dressed up as discipleship, or grace so loose it asks nothing of anyone?  Do we actually rest, or just talk about it? And when my church's own reputation is on the line, does truth-telling survive contact with self-protection?  In this episode, we examine the appli...

1986. London’s Westminster Central Hall. The then young Australian preacher Phillip Jensen takes the platform at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly, and detonated UK Anglican Evangelicalism  Dick Lucas, the elder statesman of UK Evangelicalism Rector of St Helen's Bishopsgate, said his mind was "blown apart by these bold Australian exhortations."  Chris Green says a room full of ministers...

For evangelical Christians in the Church of England, the question of whether to stay, resist, or leave is a live crisis. If you’re deciding whether to head into C of E ministry or carve out a path in independence, or if you’re a pastor navigating a "mixed denomination," how do you maintain gospel integrity when institutional leadership turns away from historic orthodoxy? Church historian Dr. Andre...

We often speak about the pressures and heartbreaks of pastoral ministry. But we speak far less about its joys, privileges and eternal rewards. Matt Fuller, Senior Minister of Christ Church Mayfair, joins us to discuss his new book, The Joyful Pastor (Despite Everything) . We talk about difficult sheep, false accusations, losing joy, practising thankfulness, avoiding burnout and returning daily to...

Answering "Anglican", "Catholic", or "Baptist" on the Census isn't a test of church attendance Before filling out your form, hear researcher Mark McCrindle, and Bishop Michael Stead discuss What the Bureau of Statistics is actually measuring. Why writing your specific denomination helps community planning more than generic labels. How census data impacts real-world support—like hospital, prison, a...

In this special ‘pop up’ episode of The Pastor’s Heart we talk with New Testament Professor Darrell Bock about how best might Christians might engage culturally to reach Australians for Jesus. Plus his love of Sydney,  Sydney Swans Australian football team and why he would move here if he didn’t have grandchildren. Bock is known for getting up at 2am in Dallas to watch the Swans play live on...

Leading New Testament scholar Darrell Bock gives a rapid fire exploration of Luke and Acts.  Bock, who is Senior Research Professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, outlines what first drew him to Luke and answers questions including: Is Luke writing before or after Matthew and Mark? What—what kind of historian is Luke? How do you explain the difference between Luke’s...

Do our sermons actually land in the lives of the people in front of us? Do they help anxious believers, tired parents, proud leaders, compromised Christians or sceptical guests to hear, trust and obey the living Word of God? Richard Coekin says application is part of faithful preaching itself.  But application has dangers, it might come not really from the text, or could be overly directive....

New global research associated with Harvard University suggests that people who regularly attend church tend to do better in life than people who do not. The Global Flourishing Study is following more than 200,000 people across 22 countries and tracking not only happiness, but meaning and purpose, relationships, character, mental and physical health, life satisfaction and material stability. But i...

On the surface, some are drawn by beauty, history, liturgy, mystery, masculinity, discipline and Orthodoxy’s claim to be the original church.  But John Diacos says beneath many of the surface attractions lies something much more spiritually dangerous. John was converted from Orthodoxy to a clear faith in Jesus Christ 50 years ago, has served Jesus for decades in Melbourne and is the author of Cert...

On the surface, some are drawn by beauty, history, liturgy, mystery, masculinity, discipline and Orthodoxy’s claim to be the original church.  But John Diacos says beneath many of the surface attractions lies something much more spiritually dangerous. John was converted from Orthodoxy to a clear faith in Jesus Christ 50 years ago, has served Jesus for decades in Melbourne and is the author of...

For a generation of Sydney evangelicals, the Katoomba Christian Conventions weren’t just events in the calendar - they shaped church programs across the city. In the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, thousands gathered under the circus tent and then later in packed auditoriums to hear the Bible taught, sing with conviction and be raised up for ministry. But how did Katoomba become such an influence in Syd...

For a generation of Sydney evangelicals, the Katoomba Christian Conventions weren’t just events in the calendar - they shaped church programs across the city. In the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, thousands gathered under the circus tent and then later in packed auditoriums to hear the Bible taught, sing with conviction and be raised up for ministry. But how did Katoomba become such an influence in Syd...

New research suggests that around 70% of those who attended church regularly at age 11 are no longer attending by their late twenties, with the most vulnerable years stretching from around age 10 through to 25.  Dean of Students at Youthworks College Ruth Lukabyo explores why young people disengage, how inherited faith becomes owned faith and what churches can do to better navigate the critical tr...

New research suggests that around 70% of those who attended church regularly at age 11 are no longer attending by their late twenties, with the most vulnerable years stretching from around age 10 through to 25.  Dean of Students at Youthworks College Ruth Lukabyo explores why young people disengage, how inherited faith becomes owned faith and what churches can do to better navigate the critic...

Tony Payne provocatively argues that while evangelicalism has successfully recovered expository preaching and every-member ministry, we have not adequately recovered every-member word ministry.  Tony argues that the Reformation remains unfinished, that we haven’t fully thought through the implications of the priesthood of all believers, and that passages like Ephesians 4, Hebrews and especially 1...

Tony Payne provocatively argues that while evangelicalism has successfully recovered expository preaching and every-member ministry, we have not adequately recovered every-member word ministry.  Tony argues that the Reformation remains unfinished, that we haven’t fully thought through the implications of the priesthood of all believers, and that passages like Ephesians 4, Hebrews and especial...

What’s going on? Is this a reaction against thin, seeker-friendly evangelicalism? Spiritual nostalgia?  Across the Western church, some younger Christians seem to be searching for deeper roots: tradition, transcendence, beauty, liturgy, sacraments and a stronger sense of connection with the historic church. Some evangelicals have become Roman Catholic or even Orthodox. Even a church formerly affil...

What’s going on? Is this a reaction against thin, seeker-friendly evangelicalism? Spiritual nostalgia?  Across the Western church, some younger Christians seem to be searching for deeper roots: tradition, transcendence, beauty, liturgy, sacraments and a stronger sense of connection with the historic church. Some evangelicals have become Roman Catholic or even Orthodox. Even a church formerly...

The loneliest person in church may be the one standing at the pulpit. Pastors spend their lives surrounded by people, but ministry can make real friendship strangely difficult. Confidentiality, responsibility, expectations, perceived favouritism and the pressure to “have answers but not needs” can leave church leaders profoundly alone. Sheridan Voysey says pastors don’t just need supervision, syst...