The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

‘Find life that lasts. It’s closer than you think’ How might Churches in Australia and other countries take advantage of the united evangelism campaign being arranged for the UK and Ireland.  Can the campaign be used to give us a needed evangelistic shot in the arm?  Mission Pastor Elliot Temple and Senior Pastors Jodie McNeill and Tom Melbourne have been reviewing the material and bring their rev...

How as the collective complementarian church, are we raising women up for ministry - ensuring they are equipped and given the place to exercise their gifts in ministry roles? What should our vision be for raising up women in ministry?  How do you develop a culture in your church that is really positive to women exercising their gifts and hence stepping forward for full-time ministry roles? What ca...

We talk, how do we plan for Christmas when we’re just waking up from the COVID lockdown?  Senior Pastor of Lower Blue Mountains Anglican Church Ken Noakes, joins Mission Pastor Andy Bootes from Hope Church Leppington and Missions Pastor Jessica Brouwer. We talk from first principles, demographics, what activities will work in this context, how COVID changes things, Christmas themes, strategy for e...

We are joined by the authors of Two Ways to Live , Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, to talk through the changes they have made to the iconic gospel outline.  We talk through the what and why behind the changes. Plus how do they respond to recent criticisms of the Two Ways to Live outline?  Phillip Jensen is the former Anglican Dean of Sydney. He now leads Two Ways Ministries .  Tony Payne is chair o...

How we can improve our competency leading the church from the books of leadership, business and management? Archie Poulos teaches at the Center for Ministry Development at Moore Theological College in Sydney. http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/innovators-dilemma Anglican Aid To find out more about supporting Anglican Aid . Support the show

Churches will be free to open for vaccinated and unvaccinated people a week earlier than had been expected in New South Wales.  With 80% of NSW adult population fully vaccinated, a new Public Health Order comes into force from Monday 18 October 2021. We talk with South Sydney Anglican Bishop Michael Stead about the implications of the new PHO, contradictions between it and the COVID safe plan, and...

What happened to the idea of Christian Australia?, so long and widely held and so quickly abandoned? How did evangelical leaders respond to the end of Christendom?  How have Australian evangelicals appraised their relations with other national cultures?  How has the end of Christendom led to a reconsideration and reconfiguration of the movement’s own internal culture? What now is the place of Chri...

Churches in New South Wales will be permitted to re-open for vaccinated people once the vaccination rate reaches 70%.  At 80%, vaccinated and unvaccinated people will be permitted by the government to come to church.  Churches have the chance to pioneer people living together again, vaccinated and unvaccinated side by side.  Lee McMunn says the great commandment is not ‘Live a zero risk life.’ How...

Australian businessman Tony McLellan describes his pride being broken, feeling wretched and desperately alone, talking openly about things bottled up for years, much of it shameful, in the company of Atlanta pastor Michael Youseff.  Tony goes on to describe turning to Christ, to the mercy and redemption won through the sacrifice of God’s son. And his response, first sobs, ‘then with an enormous fl...

How to preach sermons which are hospitable + have a good reputation with outsiders? The former principal of Melbourne’s Ridley College Peter Adam says the bible’s call for us to be hospitable should impact how we preach.  How do we exercise thoughtful hospitality? How can we shape our sermons so they serve our people? Hospitable preachers will make people feel warmly welcomed by the sermon.  Plus,...

Childrens’ ministry leaders who have not been vaccinated will be asked to temporarily stand down from their ministry roles in NSW Churches.  South Sydney Anglican Bishop Michael Stead expects a vaccination certificate to be required for kids ministry, in the same way a Working with Children Check is required.  Dr Stead says churches will be required to submit updated COVID safe plans.  The plans i...

How could we build back better after COVID?  Could evangelicals unite together to rebuild the church with a national co-ordinated evangelistic campaign? COVID has created an unprecedented opportunity for evangelism, but churches and church leaders are feeling fragile and weary.  In Great Britain, churches are getting set for a national campaign leading up to Easter 2022, under the banner ‘Find lif...

What will happen in churches after the third wave of COIVD as the freedoms return to Australia over the next two months?  When vaccination rates reach 70% venues, including places of worship are likely to be reopened, and even more when the rates reach 80%. Governments are planning more freedoms for those who are double vaccinated.  But will they impose restrictions on who can attend worship?  Our...

What are the consequences if euthanasia is legalised?  And how do we fight the issue? Legislation is before the Queensland Parliament and is about to come to the parliament in the UK and in New South Wales to allow euthanasia.  And laws permitting euthanasia have already been passed in Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand… there’s a bit of a sense that even if the conservatives su...

Australia (or the west) is simultaneously post Christian, Christian and pre Christian according to Greg Sheridan, one of the most respected and influencial analysts of domestic and international politics.  How can Christian writers and artists, or even non Christian writers and artists who think Christianity has something important and worthwhile to say, speak into the confused and hostile culture...

Answering your questions about a daily weekday bible study with a goal of growing your members daily bible reading habits. http://villagechurch.sydney/dailybibletime Anglican Aid To find out more about supporting Anglican Aid . Support the show

How can we as pastors lead proactively out of the COVID quagmire and not just be reactive?  What adaptive change issues are open to us?  How can we use this moment to go deeper with discipleship?  And is this the greatest moment of evangelism?  Post COVID, will there be a sense that small is beautiful?  How can we get back to big gatherings? Should we aspire to that?   As we are weary and anxious...

What are the implications of viewing  Christ’s crucifixion, when Jesus experienced being in the wrong flesh, as BODY DYSPHORIA? What are the implications of our bodies being created, broken and redeemed?  Is my body me?  Sam Allberry says for some the real me is my soul or spirit.  The body is a simply a lump of matter I am connected to.  It is the blank canvas on which I can paint my identity. Fo...

How and should Christian pastors exercise leadership in the debate over vaccination?  What role should the church leader play in speaking to members about vaccination when there’s a range of different perspectives?  What difference will selfish individualism vs an ethic of other person centredness/ community responsibility make to the vaccination rollout?  What’s the impact of the society’s loss o...

How do you have a budget that is driven by vision and mission rather than just by taking last years and adding a CPI increase?  And what does a pledge and commitment season look like in 2021? What’s the process for developing a budget that works to grow your vision each year? And how do you roll it out with your church? Plus what if the amount pledged is not enough to cover expenses? Pete Stedman...

Good leaders multiply disciple making ministry.  And yet most of us would admit that our churches struggle with leadership development.  Author of ‘Wisdom in Leadership Development’ Craig Hamilton has lots of wisdom about how the average church can develop a leadership pipeline.  https://matthiasmedia.com.au/collections/latest/products/wisdom-in-leadership-development Craig serves as senior minist...

The resignation of Rev Andrew Pearson as rector of the 11-hundred strong Advent Cathedral in Birmingham, Alabama has come as a shock.  The conventional wisdom had been that Advent could ride the storms of liberalism surrounding it, despite many other evangelicals being gradually forced out of America’s Episcopal Church over the last decade. However, the Cathedral’s vestry has recently capitulated...

Anxiety, social isolation, loneliness, defeat & loss of agency… in this lockdown period. The research shows this is especially a problem for young adults but for all us as well. Mike Sheedy is the Head of Mental Health and Trinette Stanley is Family & Life Skills Educator with Anglicare. What can we as pastors do to help our staff, members and the broader community?  Mike Sheedy’s paper on...

Update SATURDAY (3.4.21): NSW Health minister overturns his department’s misstep .  THURSDAY (1.7.21):  During Sydney’s lockdown churches have reverted to livestream services.  The current (26.6.2021) Public Health Order under point 14 , allows performance singing in NSW, which we have taken to include band leaders in churches (especially those singing in livestream ‘performances’ in a room withou...

Most of us would agree that the purpose of the Church is to make disciples - but as Christian leaders, how do we engage in discipling our flock? It’s a reflective episode as we discuss what our staff and congregations require from us.  We talk with Peter Mayrick, from Sydney’s Centre for Ministry Development about Church leadership, setting Church culture and discipling individuals.  Peter shares...