The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

Sandy Grant and Kara Hartley,  who lead the Sydney Anglican Church’s response to domestic violence , are expressing lament and grief at the findings of new national report into intimate partner violence within church communities. The new report into Domestic Violence in the Australian Anglican Church indicates the number of people who are at least occasional Anglican church attenders and are victi...

The Homogeneous Unit Principle suggests that outreach is most effective when carried out in the context of a discrete group defined by similarity in cultural background.  But David Williams says the mission world's view today is that it's bad in practice and theory.  Dr David Williams is the Director of Development and Training for CMS Australia and Principal of the missionary training c...

Religious Freedom is being increasingly marginalised in Australia and across the western world. There’s freedom for worship, freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of conscience. Australia’s Morrison government was moving to protect religious freedoms.  But all this was put on hold by last year’s pandemic.  Freedom for Faith ’s Chair Professor Patrick Parkinson talks with Dominic St...

In reconciliation week we turn our attention to Colonial Australia and a new book out from John Harris, ‘Judging the Macquaries’ - with Peter Adam The Black Lives Matter movement is bringing the characters of powerful people in colonial times into sharp focus, particularly their attitudes and actions towards slavery and indigenous peoples.  Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie are among those being scr...

We speak with Sydney Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel on his second day in the job, even before he is formally installed on Friday night. Kanishka reflects on the unifying power of the gospel and the challenges facing the Anglican Church. He shares his hopes for reaching the city, building Churches across new suburbs in Sydney, his thoughts on the future of the national Anglican church and the...

How to reach Australia  -  with Gary Millar  We’re taking Reaching Australia with Queensland Theological College Principal Gary Millar. Gary’s giving the keynote addresses from Isaiah 6 and Isaiah 61 on Holiness and Hope at a conference of 800 church leaders networked across all Australian states.  Gary joins us to talk Reaching Australia, the big problems facing Queensland Presbyterians and the C...

It is crucial strategic moment for the work of the Gospel in Sydney. There is limited time to act as the city of Sydney undergoes massive infrastructural changes. The phenomenal population changes demand a reimagining and redistribution of Church assets, ministry resources and people. The growth will be tremendous, and so will be the responsibility.  In the next 50 years, the current Western Regio...

A prophetic word from the most senior evangelical leader in Australia’s Uniting Church, Stu Cameron. Stu has published two short essays over the last week, the first diagnoses the problems in his denomination, saying: We’ve failed the great commission; Stifled entrepreneurial leadership; and most significantly, Have lost confidence in the gospel. The second essay suggests a five fold solution: 1....

How can we raise the evangelistic temperature in our church culture plus improve the intentional planning for evangelism in each of our churches?  Dan Paterson heads up the new Aussie evangelistic apologetic ministry ‘Questioning Christianity’, based in Brisbane.  Dan’s the former Australian team leader for Ravi Zacharias ministries.  Dan has prepared an ‘evangelism game plan’ to help churches wor...

Ministers have a crucial role as a source of guidance and authority in the church environment - but we also need coaching, guidance and support.  So how do we make sure that as spiritual leaders we are doing effective ministry? What heart issues and skills should we be focussing on to encourage sustainable and innovative service? This week we’re speaking to an expert on the topic of ministry train...

Unless you define what it means to be part of your Church, people will create their own definition, which will likely look very different to your own. A factor in the growth and retention of people in any organisation is defining what it means to be a part of that organisation.  This week on The Pastor’s Heart, Tim Clemens and Stuart Starr join us to discuss what the optimum length, content, style...

David Jones says there are key pastoral reasons for teaching Deuteronomy  For more than 50 years David Jones has served in pastoral ministry in Wales, London and the Australian states of Tasmania and Queensland.  David has recently retired as the Senior Pastor at Ann Street Presbyterian Church in Brisbane.  Before moving to Brisbane in 2014, David was involved in the Vision 100 network in Hobart,...

What makes an effective evangelistic campaign? What messages will engage non Christian audiences with the truth of the gospel? This week we speak with three key evangelists about the best way to reach the lost.  We discuss positive evangelism, maximising mission opportunities, integrating online and offline campaigns, and ideas for a large scale campaign.  Dave Jensen is on the team at EV Church o...

There’s a special Sunday at church where we are inviting friends.  Dave Jensen says we should  remembering that visitors don’t ‘listen’ so much as ‘feel’, so putting thought into your pre and post church (welcoming, morning tea, vibe) will pay dividends - in addition to using warm welcoming language in service leading, kids spot and sermon. “If you’re visiting this morning, we’re so glad you’re he...

What does Monica Cook think we as pastors get wrong as we talk to people about sex?  How can we as pastors do a better job at helping people in regards to sex at the start of a marriage relationship? What basic things does Monica want pre-marital couples to know? How do you frame sex in a healthy way?   How do pastors help to normalise that within a healthy marriage there may be moments of sexual...

We are talking about different personality traits on staff teams especially  as they impact ministry team leaders.   It’s wonderful that we are all different and have our particular personality quirks.  But having some self-awareness about what we are like, and how others can be very different, is very important to help us work and relate to others in helpful and loving ways.  Rory Shiner is senio...

This week we are taking a deep dive into building sustainable ministries - starting with assessing, equipping and empowering team leaders. We discuss how to assess if someone is ready to be a team leader, how to develop a leadership pipeline, and how to ensure someone takes a high level of responsibility. Anglican Aid To find out more about supporting Anglican Aid . Support the show

Will the new Gospel Coalition help or harm the cause of Christ in Australia?  Bill Salier and Akos Balogh from The Gospel Coalition Australia are promoting it.  Dominic Steele thinks it will do more harm than good and urged The Gospel Coalition to go back to the drawing board.  Here's a summary of reservations from Dominic and a Christian social media marketer:  1 Strategy This campaign focus...

An explosive petition has brought to light a tidal wave of sexual abuse at Australian schools at the hands of young men. The idea to create the now-viral online petition came after former Kambala School student raised the issue with friends via an Instagram poll.  72 per cent of 300 of her friends said they or someone they are close to had experienced sexual assault from a student from an all-boys...

There are many different aims when it comes to planning an Easter service. We're focusing on helping our members recognise Jesus' death and resurrection, helping those on the fringe of our Church understand the propitiation of God for possibly the first time, and we also have neighbourhood contacts visiting. This week on The Pastor's Heart, we're discussing how to get the whole...

As the report into the sexual misconduct of Ravi Zacharias was released I (Dominic) was deep in preparation for teaching on Mark 12:38-40 where Jesus addresses the hypocritical faith leaders who love the external praise, devour vulnerable women and in the end will receive harsher judgement. It is now clear that the world famous Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias •Engaged in sexual abuse on many oc...

The face of Australia is changing. More than half Australia’s migrants come from Asia and that’s a field that is ready for harvest.  Plus, with the changes in China and Hong Kong there’s a new wave of migration expected, and the churches of the west need to be ready.  We are joined by pastors, Ying Yee, from Chinese Christian Church Sydney, Adam Ch’ng, from Cross and Crown in Melbourne and Stephen...

Harsh new rules have just been approved by the parliament of the Australian state of Victoria, banning conversion practices relating to sexuality.  The parliament has made illegal practices that have been part of Christian religion since the start of the church .  What does the law say a pastor should do if asked for guidance on matters of sexuality? What does God say?  Pastors have questions on w...

We’re speaking to Rowan Kemp, from the Christian Evangelical Union at Sydney University, and Rob Copland, from the University of Wollongong about what changes / innovations they are introducing to better reach students in 2021.  We discuss the new ministry opportunities that have been developed, the challenge to not be timid, and things that students might have missed out on.  Anglican Aid To find...

Under God, something a little accidental and thrilling has just happened, so I thought I’d share it here.  A year ago I was invited to speak at a conference in the South West of Sydney called SweatCon .  It stands for South West Evangelism and Training Conference . It was so impressive.  There were 20 or so churches working together brilliantly with close collaboration and team work. I came home i...