Archbishop Kanishka on the terror attack at Bondi - Kanishka Raffel, Martin Morgan and Ben Pakula

Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel calls on Sydney to embrace our Jewish neighbours in love, friendship and support and to reject antisemitism, violence and hatred.

Archbishop Raffel says this is the way of Jesus.

Minister of Bondi Anglican Martin Morgan says they sheltered people in the church last night, who were terrified,  running for their lives.

In a The Pastor’s Heart special, Archbishop Raffel is joined by minister of Bondi Anglican Church Martin Morgan and Messianic Jew Ben Pakula (also an Anglican Minister) in praying for those family and friends and the Bondi community, impacted by the gunman opening fire - leaving 16 dead including a 10 year old girl.

http://thepastorsheart.net/podcast/love-in-the-face-of-terror-raffel-morgan-pakula

Suggested Prayers :-

Prayers prepared by St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney for those affected by the shooting at Bondi Beach, 14/12/25

For the bereaved and injured
Heavenly Father, God of all comfort, deal graciously with those who grieve in this time of deep sadness. We pray especially for family and friends of those who have been shot. Grant them strength and peace in the days ahead. We pray with a spirit of compassion and grace for the Jewish and broader Bondi community, as they come to terms with their grief and shock. We ask you, Gracious Lord, to heal and restore all those who are still recovering in hospital. Be with them and their families as they travel the road to recovery. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

For the first responders
Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son was acquainted with grief and carried our sorrows: Thank you for those who, courageously following in his steps, willingly entered into the trauma of recent events on our behalf – civilians responders, the police, ambulance officers and other emergency medical personnel. We pray also for the police responsible for investigating the circumstances around these crimes. In your tender mercy, grant diligence and protection in their tasks, and rest to their bodies, healing to their minds, and peace to their hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

For the community around Bondi Beach
Our dear Heavenly Father, hear our prayers for the men, women and children, who live and work in or near Bondi Beach and the surrounding areas. We present the needs of residents, shopkeepers, restaurateurs, staff, customers, and visitors to the area. You know them. You know every hair on their heads. We call on you to protect and heal. Allow a healthy process as people respond to these harrowing acts of violence. Thank you, Lord, for the courage and kindness of the people who helped each other on Sunday. May that spirit of kindness continue through your empowering, Lord. As people face anxiety, trauma, and grief, provide comfort, resilience, peace, and safety. Grant wisdom to community leaders and help us know you are a good, gracious God. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

For the wider community of Sydney Anglicans

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Tears, Questions and Hope - When a senior pastor takes their own life? Keith Condie & Trinette Stanley

In the last few months two senior evangelical leaders have taken their own lives. 

The Archbishop’s letter said ‘It is with deep sadness that I write to inform you of the death of a colleague and friend … who took his own life on Tuesday and our hearts are heavy at this time as we come before God with our tears, questions and  … hope in the promise of resurrection.’

We react with a range of questions: Should I have known? Could I have done more? What do I say to the church? What do I say to the world, but most importantly where is God? 

Keith Condie, from Anglican Deaconess Ministry’s Mental Health and Pastoral Care Institute and Trinette Stanley, Mental Health Educator with Anglicare are our guests. 

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What are the dangers when pastors let AI assist… or sometimes author?

How do we think well about plagiarism, spiritual formation and the loss of our pastoral voice?

And are there positive, God-honouring ways to use these tools?

Stephen Driscoll works in Campus Ministry in Canberra.  He's the author of 'Made in Our Image: God, artificial intelligence and you. '

Stephen argues that writing is thinking, and when we automate the writing we risk automating away the deep thinking and wrestling with God’s word that forms the preacher’s heart. 

We talk dangers, temptations, reputation, the Holy Spirit, and the kinds of careful, ethical uses of AI that still require the pastor to be the author.

Stephen helps us preach faithfully and use AI to assist in that in an ethical way in a rapidly changing world. 

Also see:

The traumatic implications of artificial intelligence.

What morality to teach artificial intelligence?

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Paul Donison responds to global reaction to Gafcon’s reset of the Anglican Communion and its declaration that Canterbury’s time is over.

The Lord is removing his Spirit from the Canterbury–Lambeth lampstand, and the centre of global Anglicanism is shifting from London to Africa.

The average Anglican today is not English, not Western, not male — she’s a young African woman in her twenties, probably Nigerian. The Anglican Communion is now catching up with that reality.

Since the Gafcon Primates’ announcement on 16 October 2025 — declaring that Canterbury is out and that the Bible will be the foundation document for a reordered Global Anglican Communion — reaction has been electric: claims of schism, conflict in Ireland, tensions in ACNA, questions about women’s orders, realignments in England, silence from some primates, and fresh courage from others.

And what does this mean for a blended province like Australia?

Gafcon General Secretary Paul Donison joins us with an update on plans for the Global Bishops Gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, 3–6 March 2026.

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How to turn around evangelistic stagnation in your church — or how to start pursuing a 5% goal?

Across Australian Evangelicalism there is a bold goal — growing our churches by 5% per year through conversion growth.

But some pastors are asking:  “We haven’t seen anyone become a Christian here in years… where do we even start?”

We talk:

• Should we even have an evangelism target?
• What are the theological issues?
• How do you start when conversions have been rare?
• What cultural changes actually make a difference?
• Funnels, programs and “conversion engines.”
• And how to build momentum with stories, prayer and team alignment.

Three pastors who are right at the beginning of the journey, Brett Middleton (St Luke’s Miranda),
Ben Molyneux (St Faith’s Narrabeen) and Dan Au (Cornerstone Kogarah) — We set an evangelism target - Now what? 

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Something is happening. In England the data shows a quiet revival. In France a new evangelical church is opening every ten days. But what about here in Australia?

Among young adults we’re hearing stories of renewed interest in Jesus, fresh conversions and surprising openness. Is this a cultural phenomenon or is it something deeper?  And how do we ride the wave?

We talk about ground level experiences, the big picture, the influence of politics, and the five percent conversion growth goal for Sydney Anglican churches.

We’re joined by three frontline evangelists:

• Dave Jensen from Sydney Anglican Evangelism and New Churches
• Sam Mahdavi from Wollongong Baptist Church
• Pre Shunmugam from MBM Rooty Hill in multicultural Western Sydney

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What does healthy, joyful, word-shaped congregational singing look like in a culture obsessed with self-expression?

We are shaped more than we realise by the culture around us. And today one of the most powerful cultural forces pressing on our churches is expressive individualism — the idea that the authentic self must be expressed and affirmed.

But what happens when this cultural air we breathe seeps into our church music? When sincerity becomes more important than truth, when the band is excellent yet the congregation is silent, and when singing shifts from “we proclaim Christ together” to “I express what I feel”?

If we do not address this, we risk disengaged congregations, weakened church identity and a missed opportunity for deep spiritual formation that comes as we sing God’s word to one another.

Alanna Glover — longtime church music leader, former member of Garage Hymnal, ten years with Emu Music, songwriter, trainer and theologian — has just completed significant research on expressive individualism and congregational singing in evangelical churches.

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Marcus Loane said no.  The King said yes. 

For the first time in more than 800 years, an English monarch has prayed publicly with the Pope.

King Charles III — the Supreme Governor of the Church of England — joined Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel in a highly choreographed moment of unity. But for many Protestants, this was not a moment to celebrate, but to grieve,

The Reformation was born out of deep conviction that Rome had departed from the apostolic gospel — that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Those convictions have not changed. And yet, the sight of a Protestant king kneeling in prayer beside the Pope suggests that they believe these dividing lines no longer matter, that the Reformation is no longer relevant.

Half a century ago, in 1970, when Pope Paul VI visited Australia, Sydney Anglican Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane — refused to pray with the Pope, saying shared prayer implied shared faith, and that the great truths of the Reformation still mattered: salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Loane’s grandson, Dr Stephen Tong, joins Rachel Ciano, Lecturer in Church History at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, and Dominic Steele on The Pastor’s Heart to discuss what's happened in Rome this week - as the leaders of the Roman Catholic and Church of England Churches downplay the Reformation's significance.

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“We are now the Global Anglican Communion,” says Archbishop Laurent Mbanda — the Chair of Gafcon, Primate of Rwanda, and leader of Global Anglicans.

Bible-believing Anglicans around the world are praising God today.

The Anglican Communion is being reordered — reset — with the Bible once again at its foundation.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the revisionists, and the so-called Canterbury Communion are out — they’ve repeatedly abandoned Cranmerian Anglicanism, and ultimately, Jesus himself.

This reordering seeks to restore the Communion’s original structure — a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Formularies of the Reformation. There will be no communion with those who have abandoned the authority of Scripture.

A new Council of Primates will be formed, electing a chairman to preside as primus inter pares — first among equals.

Archbishop Mbanda is here in Sydney this week with a group of Primates and the founding fathers of Gafcon. Their informal consultations culminated in a clear and momentous statement — so significant that an online Global Primates Meeting was held at 11 p.m. Sydney time last night to ratify the decisions made.

Many of those leaders are now on planes heading home. But Archbishop Mbanda, joins us in our Pastor’s Heart studio. 

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How can we help those trapped in addiction? What about when we ourselves are the ones struggling?

Addiction is often an elephant in the room for pastors — whether it’s alcohol, substances, pornography, or sex addiction. And Antony’s research is asking: “How does the gospel of Jesus Christ bring real hope into the deep brokenness of addiction?”

Antony Dandato is Principal of Harare Theological College in Zimbabwe — a college that’s supported by our friends at Anglican Aid.

Antony did a ministry apprenticeship in Perth, Western Australia, before returning home to Zimbabwe, where he led student ministries and the national Ministry Apprenticeship Program. He’s now heading up Harare Theological College — and somehow, in the midst of all that, he’s also working on a PhD exploring addiction.

Antony brings observations from ministry in Zimbabwe, and how churches everywhere — including ours — can respond with both truth and compassion.

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