The One Thing

By Reach AustraliaReligion & Spirituality Christianity

The One Thing episodes

December 10, 2023328: Celebrating as a Ministry Team
The thing about December is that it is a month of celebrating as we draw near to the end of the year, and as we celebrate Jesus coming into the world. But when it comes to ministry, why is celebration so essential? Jo and Scott talk about the importance of celebrating in ministry and not just in December.

Today we cover:
Why celebrate and the importance of 'smilestones'.

The importance of the rhythms of celebrating: annually, weekly, collecting celebration moments.

Celebrating both God and people

Dangers of celebrating the wrong people, or at the wrong time, or in a way that the person does not appreciate or all the same people

Different ways of celebrating: as a team, publicly, privately, in reviews, etc.

SHOW NOTES:
More On Culture in Church
Celebrating In A Church Plant

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.
21 min
December 04, 2023327: Under the Hood with Dubbo Presbyterian Church
Dubbo Presbyterian has had a history of good evangelical work, but as Allan Blanch and Dave Ferris explain, some key changes have had a big effect on their growth over the last few years.
Clearer outcomes has meant that the church is ready to buy into the vision of the church

Moving staff from congregational oversight to working as a team

Moving from rosters to teams very quickly (and whether they should have done that!)

The importance of outcomes in ministry

The importance of keeping humble and continuing to learn
SHOW NOTES:
Reach Australia Network video featuring Dubbo Presbyterian Church
Building Leaders Days
Reach Australia National Conference 2024

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.
26 min
November 27, 2023326: Under the Hood with Southside Presbyterian Church
Southside Presbyterian Church grew from 100 to 300 people over three years, but interestingly, the pastors decided that they didn't need to grow the staff team. Instead, they've focused on ingraining a culture of teams, instead of having a philosophy of church members just being put on a roster.

Ross Wilson and Ben Mansfield (pastors at Southside) share:
Their team dynamic has changed quite a bit over the years as Ross has sought to make the best of the team that he has.

"You can have control or growth, but you can't have both." Leadership can become a blockage for growth.

It took 3 years to move from rosters to teams, because change takes time.

The importance of understanding pain of changing needs to be less than the pain of not changing.

How they started moving to teams with pre-existing teams like youth ministry.

The importance of clarifying expectations of people on teams.

Obstacles that needed to be overcome, like people not believing that a teams mentality would work.

While they have grown from 100 to 300 people in their church they have not felt the need to grow the staff team.

Giving people responsibility is the key to growth.

Change happens slowly, one thing at a time.

SHOW NOTES:
Southside Welcoming Role Description
Reach Australia Framework ebook
Reach Australia National Conference 2024

Previous Podcasts:
Rosters to Teams
The Importance Of Getting Job Descriptions Right
Leadership Pipelines

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.
27 min
November 20, 2023325: Under the Hood with Captivate Presbyterian Church
Alan Au became the Senior Pastor at Captivate Presbyterian Church in North Ryde, Sydney when it was a church in its infancy. The church had a rocky start after the planter stepped down due to moral failure. Seven years later, the church has been growing and is prepping to start their second service.
The complicated history of Captivate Presbyterian Church

How Alan equips and gives responsibility to key leaders

Developing new young leaders and their leadership pipeline

How he's preparing the church for the launch of their second service

Reflections on the impact of the Leadership Development Program

SHOW NOTES:
Captivate's Leadership Pipeline
Captivate's Discipleship Pathway
Captivate's Org Chart
Captivate's 2nd Service Runway
Captivate Website

Reach Australia Framework ebook
Reach Australia Conference 2024

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.
28 min
November 13, 2023 324: Walking With Unbelieving Family (Part 2)
Dave Jensen (EV Church, Central Coast) and Anna Cox (Reach Australia) are twins born into a ministry family, but they have very different stories. After growing up together hearing the same gospel message, Dave walked away from Jesus in his 20s. Anna describes herself as a rule keeper and Dave as a rule breaker - how did that impact their relationship? This is part one of a two part series exploring how they came to faith and reflecting on why their journeys are so different.

SHOW NOTES:⁠The Storm Tossed Family⁠ by Russell Moore
⁠The Pastor's Kid⁠ by Barnabas Piper

Join the Reach Australia ⁠WhatsApp Prayer Group⁠
⁠Reach Australia National Conference 2024⁠

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠Reach Australia⁠.
For ideas or questions please email ⁠[email protected]⁠
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head ⁠here⁠.
30 min
November 06, 2023 323: Walking With Unbelieving Family (Part 1)
Dave Jensen (EV Church, Central Coast) and Anna Cox (Reach Australia) are twins born into a ministry family, but they have very different stories. After growing up together hearing the same gospel message, Dave walked away from Jesus in his 20s. Anna describes herself as a rule keeper and Dave as a rule breaker - how did that impact their relationship? This is part one of a two part series exploring how they came to faith and reflecting on why their journeys are so different.

SHOW NOTES:
The Storm Tossed Family by Russell Moore
The Pastor's Kid by Barnabas Piper

Join the Reach Australia WhatsApp Prayer Group
Reach Australia National Conference 2024

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.
24 min
October 30, 2023322: How Does the Ecosystem Work In A Multi-Ethnic Church?
In this second part of the conversation Ben and Mark dig into how ecosystem thinking works in a multi-ethnic church.
You should listen to the first part of the conversation.

Loving God (especially on a Sunday)
Think about who's up front

Think about how they are presented

Consider different prayer styles

Consider singing in different languages
Mission
Use story telling

When reading the Bible use 5 simple questions:

Remember the gospel has different implications for different people
Serving People
People from some cultures will need multiple taps on the shoulder
Membership
Run membership moments not courses

Remember food is very important: quality and quantity
Deep in the Word
Keep in mind names and illustrations

Simplify and watch for too much detail

Remember the importance of kids spots

SHOW NOTES:
Understanding the Ecosystem in our Framework ebook

Resources Ben and Mark Recommend:
Telling the Gospel Through Story by Christine Dillon
Changing Lanes, Crossing Cultures: Equipping Christians and Churches for Ministry in a Culturally Diverse Society by Andrew Philip Schachtel, Choon-Hwa Lim, Michael Kenneth Wilson
Discipling in a Multicultural World by Ajith Fernando

Webpages:
10 Things I have Learned About Culture by Ray Galea
Multi Cultural Ministry by Caleb Rosado
The Multi-Ethnic Church Hasn't Lived Up To It's Promise by Korie Little Edwards

Planting Centenary:
25. 1 Transitioning Roles to Plant
https://reachaustralia.com.au/reach-australia-podcast-25-1-transitioning-roles-to-church-plant-stepp...

Cross Cultural Reach Australia Podcast Episodes:
⁠23.1 Reaching Australian Hindus⁠
⁠23.2 Reaching Vietnamese Australians⁠
⁠23.3 Reaching Muslim Australians⁠

Join the Reach Australia ⁠WhatsApp Prayer Group⁠⁠ ⁠

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠Reach Australia⁠.
For ideas or questions please email ⁠[email protected]⁠
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head ⁠here⁠.
18 min
October 23, 2023 321: How Can We Move From A Mono-Ethnic to Multi-Ethnic Church?
If Australia is a multi-ethnic nation, how can that be expressed in a church community? How multicultural should we be aiming for churches to be? What are some of the practical aspects of becoming a multicultural church?

In the first part of this two part conversation Pete Hughes talks with Ben Ho, from the Centenary church plant in Brisbane and Mark Boyley from MBM Church in Sydney about how and when to create a multi-ethnic church.

SHOW NOTES:
Planting Centenary:
25. 1 Transitioning Roles to Plant

Cross Cultural Reach Australia Podcast Episodes:
⁠23.1 Reaching Australian Hindus⁠
⁠23.2 Reaching Vietnamese Australians⁠
⁠23.3 Reaching Muslim Australians⁠

Join the Reach Australia ⁠WhatsApp Prayer Group⁠⁠ ⁠

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠Reach Australia⁠.
For ideas or questions please email ⁠[email protected]⁠
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head ⁠here⁠.
20 min
October 16, 2023 320: Why Migrants Are Good For Your Church
For centuries, Christians have dispatched missionaries to far-flung regions, carrying the gospel to those who have yet to hear it. Australia, too, has been a participant in this mission. Now, those individuals to whom missionaries were sent are making their way to our shores, and this is indeed a tremendous blessing!
Pete chats with Kamal Weerakoon who has recently completed a PhD on migrant Christians coming to Australia.

SHOW NOTES:
Mission Movements Kamal recommends
Indian Reformed Fellowship of Australia
Indian Gospel League (Partnering with Moore College)
Presbyterian Theological College Dehra Dun
CTS in Sri Lanka
Lanka Bible College and Seminary

Cross Cultural Reach Australia Podcast Episodes:
23.1 Reaching Australian Hindus
23.2 Reaching Vietnamese Australians
23.3 Reaching Muslim Australians

Join the Reach Australia WhatsApp Prayer Group
Reach Australia Multiplication Days
Reach Australia Leadership Development Program

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.

31 min
October 09, 2023319: When Your Church Has 30 Different Cultures
In August 2021:
there were 3.0 million permanent migrants in Australia who arrived since 2000

India was the top country of birth among permanent migrants (439,700 people)

59% of permanent migrants were Australian citizens (1.8 million people)

89% of permanent migrants reported being proficient in English (2.7 million people).
How do we think about this as churches? Jo sits down with Paul Webb from Chester Hill Anglican Church to talk about the church he and his wife serve in. In a church of 150 people they have 30 different cultures and more than 30 languages.

SHOW NOTES:
Richard Hibbert is a key person who has helped Paul think through cross culture:
Leading Multicultural Teams by Evelyn and Richard Hibbert
Other papers by Richard Hibbert
Cross Cultural Reach Australia Podcast Episodes:
23.1 Reaching Australian Hindus
23.2 Reaching Vietnamese Australians
23.3 Reaching Muslim Australians
Join the Reach Australia WhatsApp Prayer Group
Reach Australia Leadership Development Program

CREDITS:
The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.
For ideas or questions please email [email protected]
To support the Reach Australia Online Library head here.
21 min