The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

How to preach to build confidence so members want to invite Islamic friends and workmates to church and better educate our Christians for conversations with Muslim friends.

What topics might we address?  How to best engage with the authority and authorship of the Bible vs the Qur’an, plus Jesus and Muhammed, the Trinity, Incarnation, Sin and human nature, Judgement and Salvation.

Sam Green works for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students and is the author of ‘Where to start with Islam.’ https://bit.ly/3N0wx6Q

Plus Sam Green shares his pastor’s heart ahead of a big debate with Muslim Apologist Abdulla Kunde at the University of Sydney hosted by the Islamic Students Society.

Further resources:
Sam Green debating at Sydney University, 2023 https://bit.ly/3BbmKIy

Sam Green reference page on ‘Sermon Illustrations and Islam’ https://bit.ly/3zsaqDq

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How do you work in a team excellently with those above you in ministry? 

How do you as a team member take responsibility for the success of your church? 

What can ministry team members do well to help the whole team function better?

What mistakes do team members make? And what about confidentiality on team?

Michael Davies is associate pastor of Lighthouse Church in Gorokan, NSW.

Megan Stevens serves at Vine Church in Surry Hills in Sydney. 

Peter Blanch is a ministry consultant with Reach Australia

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How do we help children in Christian families escape and recover from the devastating effects of domestic abuse?

Pastoral consultant Jenni Woodhouse says there is a hidden epidemic of coercive control where a parent with narcissism or borderline personality disorder makes life impossible for their both their spouse and children.

We also explore the impact of domestic abuse on children of all ages, from teenagers to toddlers.

What responsibility does the church have? What should a church leader do?  

How can we as church leaders detect and address these issues in the congregation?

Jenni Woodhouse is a pastoral care consultant with the Church Missionary Society.

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What should the church pastor / staff team / church council or bishop do about the big drop in attendance?
 
A new report (bit.ly/AttendancePatterns) shows Adult Attendance in churches in Sydney is down 7% or 14% against population (over a decade). 

Adult attendance declined at approximately two-thirds of Sydney Anglican comparable church centers, and only one-third of church centers recorded an increase in attendance.

The big problem is newcomers.  We just are not reaching them.  Newcomers are down to 5.4%.

And with fewer new people joining churches, the churches that are growing are primarily growing at the expense of churches that are declining.

A noticeable decline in attendance was recorded in 2018-2019, especially in the most rapidly secularising areas of our region. 

The issues are not just external. We have internal issues. There are denominational and congregational factors at play. There are key church health characteristics that show internal health factors are lower in those regions - factors relating to congregational character and leadership. 

Geoff Bates pastors Life church in Sydney’s North West and chairs the committee that produced the Attendance Patterns Review report. 

Toby Neal pastors Vine Church in inner Sydney, which has seen remarkable growth.

Dave Jensen works at assisting churches to grow in their evangelistic temperature through Evangelism and New Churches. 

Host Dominic Steele also served on the committee that produced the report.

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Plus how the Tanzanian Church has been built through the labors and prayers  of Australian Christians, and why prosperity gospel preachers are as wicked as witch doctors!

We are joined by Bishop Mwita Akiri from Tarime in rural Tanzania, Judith Calf who served as a missionary in theological education in Tanzania for 20 years, and Tim Swan who leads the Anglican Aid Ministry here in Australia.

To support Anglican Aid projects in Tanzania: https://anglicanaid.org.au/locations/tanzania/

The Church Co
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What impact does growing up in a pastoral family have on ministry kids? 

Valerie Ling from the Sydney Centre for Effective Living joins us to unpack the ‘Ministry Kids Wellbeing Survey,’ revealing what Australian ministry children, say about their upbringing. 

They tell of heightened responsibilities and an acute awareness of adult realities plus concerns about  feeling different from their peers.

We explore the broader impacts of pastoral life on children, and explore displacement, constant mobility, difficulties in forming lasting friendships and achieving a sense of belonging.

Comparisons are made with the experiences of diplomats and defence ministry kids, emphasizing the common struggles and the critical role parents play in providing stability.

Plus we talk the importance of empathy and creating safe spaces for doubts.

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One of the world’s leading New Testament Scholars Thomas Schriener is in Sydney for the Moore College Lectures on ‘The Battle for the truth of the gospel.’

At the center of his attention is NT Wright and the New Perspective on Paul, a debate that questions whether ancient Judaism was legalistic.

Schreiner tells of his roots in Roman Catholicism, a transformative evangelical faith, and the enduring importance of the Reformation perspective of justification by faith alone.

Schreiner, who chairs the Christian Standard Bible translation committee, takes us behind the scenes of the Christian Standard Bible's translation process, revealing the rigorous debates and decisions that shape how we read that translation. 

He outlines how denominational diversity influences translation accuracy. 

Plus we unpack the profound need to teach biblical gender roles in contemporary culture.

Thomas Schreiner is professor of New Testament at Southern Baptist Theological College in Louisville, Kentucky. 

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Religious Freedom leaders are calling on Australia's Government to quickly bring a Religious Discrimination Act to the parliament.

Mark Sneddon says the Religious Discrimination Act is not about granting unlimited freedoms, but about preventing adverse treatment of religious individuals and organizations.

He says there needs to be a fair compromise that the rights of all involved, which should be supported by both sides of politics.

Mark Sneddon from the Institute for Civil Society,
Mark Spencer from Christian Schools Australia,
and Mike Southon from Freedom for Faith bring this update on where the Australian Religious Freedom debate is up to, following this week's Freedom For Faith conference. 

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What does Expressive Individualism mean for churches?  And what specifically does it mean for church music?

Here is the expressive individualism worldview: ‘Truth comes from inside me.  It’s important that I look inside to discover who I truly am’ and ‘I need to express my individuality and personal truth to the world around me to receive validation.’

That truth comes from within - is the unspoken assumptions of guests who come to our churches.

And it’s a worldview that has impacts inside the church, including inside our music teams and inside the heads of the songwriters who write the songs that we sing.

Philip Percival and Alanna Glover lead the work of Emu Music, focusing on writing congregational songs and the training of church musicians and leaders.

Alanna is doing a masters research project in Expressive Individualism & music, and Philip’s PhD is in the biblical theology of worship.

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Disillusionment is one of the great threats to the Christian life and to Christian ministry  

A wise man said the worst thing in ministry was not a pastor who quits, but a pastor who doesn’t quit, but who keeps going when they’ve given up.

Sydney Missionary and Bible College Karl Deenick shares his own experience of hitting a major wall after seven years of pastoral work. 

We unpack how ministry challenges can lead to a sense of disillusionment, especially among millennials, plus a way back. 

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