The One Thing

Scott and Derek talk to Adam Ch’ng, the pastor of Cross and Crown in Melbourne an ABC (Australian Born Chinese) about what pastors need to understand about the Asian heritage if they’re to successfully recruit Asians to the ministry.

Scott and Derek talk with John Dickson, author of A Doubter’s Guide To The Bible and 16 other books, about how ‘live’ this question is in the modern mindset, and what Christian leaders can do to prepare believers to face it.

What are the questions people are asking about Christianity today – not the ones we want to talk about, but the ones unbelievers really want answers to?

Scott and Derek discuss the importance of self-awareness in serving God across a multitude of responsibilities, and talk about key ways of understanding how your Creator has ‘wired’ you.

Derek caught up with Richard Coekin while he was visiting Sydney on a series of speaking engagements to ask him about what he would say are the keys to resilience in Gospel mission during an age of increased global persecution.

It’s harder to get a bigger vision for ministry than what we might find in Matthew 28, Colossians 1 or Ephesians 1 – the ministry being preached to the whole world, and God bringing all things under Jesus. However, how do we cast a vision in our local ministries that both aligns with what God has said and takes people on from where they are?

You’re part of a church that has a vision to plant another church. But the place you have in mind is possibly too far away to reach with the resources you have. How do you build a ‘ministry beachhead’ that will put you in a position to reach that goal?

Being stressed out can actually help a ministry; being burnt out can be fatal. Being able to tell the difference is essential.

Women make up statistically more than half of the people in any Australian congregation, but so often male preachers end up preaching to themselves. What do speakers need to include and exclude if they want to impact both genders for Christ?

There are many ways to plant a church out of your existing church – parachute, team, mother-daughter and of course the campus plant. But like every model, planting a new congregation that remains essentially linked to your primary location has its challenges.

Handing over ministries is a skill – being aware of your own feelings so that you’re able to loosen your grip and effectively enable someone else to take that area further for the Gospel.

There’s a natural lifespan to every human endeavour, and all things come to an end, especially in ministry. How do you prevent yourself so identifying with a ministry that it’s impossible to move on?

Derek Hanna and Scott Sanders move into their fourth episode of their first in-depth TOT collection: Growth barriers.

Derek and Scott talk to Rory Shiner from Providence Church in Perth, Western Australia. Rory has taken two churches through the ’125 barrier’ and he shares the benchmark problems he’s come to look out for.

Derek Hanna and Scott Sanders move into their second episode of their first in-depth TOT collection: Growth barriers. Practically speaking, what are the key barriers to church growth, and what can done in God’s strength to address them?

Assembling a list of helpful insights, tips and resources for breaking through the ‘35 Growth Barrier’, Scott and Derek talk to Aaron Boyd, the pastor of Exchange Church in Darebin, Victoria to get hear what God has taught him.

In a special edition of The One Thing, Derek Hanna interviews Scott Sanders at Multiply 2019 and asks him about his hope for a lost nation.

This week The One Thing team take a break from their normal format to bring you both sides of the ‘professionalism’ debate.

How do you get people who've been in the church a long time go deeper in their relationship with God?

Keith and Sarah Condie serve as Co-directors of the new Institute for Mental Health & Pastoral Care with Anglican Deaconess Ministries. Scott Sanders talks to them about biblically and theologically informed pastoral care that alleviates distress and promotes wellbeing.

You need help, so you’re going to spend the dollars and bring someone in to help shoulder the ministry load. But how do you know who to hire?

Scott Sanders speaks to Keith and Sarah Condie who have been working at strengthening marriages for more than two decades. They have recently produced ‘Building a safe and strong marriage’ and are ready to pass on ‘the one thing’ you need to know about creating a lasting commitment.

How do we go about earning that trust from those we lead? And what sort of corrosive habits do we have to weed out if we’re going to avoid undermining the faith they place in us?

One of the greatest barriers to growing a congregation is our own preparedness to change. The congregation – the volunteers – the leadership team. Unless we’re able to recognise that things at one size group don’t work at another, we’ll never be able to make the changes that undergird growth.

Developing leaders is a significant and important investment for all ministry teams. Are there specific requirements and understandings for developing female leaders, though?