Pastors facing up to our imposter syndrome - navigating the noise that leads us to make bad decisions.

As Pastors, we feel the pressure to have the right answers to people’s questions.

We want to be able to navigate the complexities of life and church and land everyone safely at the other end. 

People share with us and the hardest parts of their lives, they trust us with their most private issues, and time and their money.

And they trust us that we will handle the most complex relationship difficulties with wisdom. 

We end up feeling like imposters. Who am I to lead the people of God?  And how can I have wisdom here? 

Archie Poulos from Sydney’s Moore Theological College has found the secular book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment helpful as he has addressed these issues.

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A new study shows that training in systematic self reflection will develop resilience among ministry workers, who are at risk of stress related ill health. 

Self reflective resilience training is beneficial to those in ministry roles and programs in this area can minimise stress related ill health. 

BUT, Not all self reflection is equal. 

Organisational Psychologist with Sydney’s Center for Ministry Development Kirsty Bucknell has surveyed and tested a significant number of Australian Protestant Ministry workers to analyse the relationship between self reflection and mental health outcomes.

Kirsty’s just completed her PhD on this subject and says while there is a high sense of purpose and personal satisfaction in ministry work the stressors and strains of the role have been associated with burnout and stress related ill health.

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We are hearing reports from the university campuses, from young adult ministries, and from youth groups - that there is an increasing openness to the gospel of Jesus - and there’s a new openness among young men. 

There’s a shift in the culture. There’s something happening that is different among young people -  Especially among young men. 

There’s a greater biblical ignorance in the rising generation.  But significantly more openness. 

There’s less hostility when compared to a decade ago.  Walk up evangelism is easier and people are more open to discussing their views on Jesus. 

And people are being saved. And young men are being saved

Andy Stephenson heads the Youth Ministry support team for Anglican Youthworks. 

Dave Jensen works with Evangelism and New Churches encouraging and mobilizing churches in Evangelism and is one of the keynote speakers at the Nexus Ministry Conference on 17 March 2025.

Katie Stringer is involved in high school ministry across Sydney’s secular inner west. 

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As pastors we’re expressing leadership in our churches on gender and sexuality. We want to help our people think biblically - and yet with the culture moving so fast - it is an area that we feel ill equipped. 

On today’s Pastor’s Heart we benefit from the hard work of Sydney Missionary and Bible College Theology and Ethics lecturer Rob Smith who has just published a reworked version of his PhD under the title ‘The body God gives.’

As transgender visibility reaches new heights, we explore its historical and philosophical roots, noting the pivotal cultural shifts since the "Transgender Tipping Point" in 2013. 

We outline the biblical stance on the sex and gender binary while engaging with contemporary philosophical debates. 

We dissect the relationship between second-wave feminism and the transgender movement.

Our discussion ventures into the diverse theories surrounding sex and gender, distinguishing between non-trans, soft trans, hard trans, and queer perspectives. 

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What happens when a leader operates without a clear vision.  And how poetic or concrete should a vision be? 

How to organise things so the overall vision cascades down through every area of church life? 

What should our pastoral approach be to innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards and the nos. 

Biblical vision and Leadership vision: What is the difference? Why do people mangle Proverbs 29:18?
 
Plus infusing the church with vision, in a significant moment and especially via drip feed.

Craig Hamilton is senior pastor of Pitt Town Anglican Church and author of ‘Wisdom in Leadership.’

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There are claims - and you hear them every so often - that archeology has disproved this story or that in the bible, and claims from this or that scholar of particularly late dating of different bible books.

How do we as evangelical pastors react/respond/answer those claims?

Hans Kristensen is senior pastor of Marsfield Community Church in Sydney and is studying ancient archaeology.

He suggests that there are 10 major archaelogical finds that help us to increase our confidence in the Old Testament:

1. There’s evidence of a big population jump in Caanan at exactly the time that the bible said that Yahweh was giving Israel the land, called the ‘Hill Country Explosion.’
2. The Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah boasts of raiding the land of Caanan, saying it was occupied by Israel.
3. In the city of Hazor, archaeologists have found religious idols destroyed and other items intact, just as expected from Joshua 11-12
4. The recently discovered altar at Mount Ebal is likely Joshua’s altar (Joshua 8)
5. In the Tel Dan inscription we now have archeological evidence for King David’s existence.
6. There’s consistent architectural town planning in the cities built around the time of David and Solomon - pointing towards planning and control under one ruler (eg a King).
7. There are similarities between what we know of the temple of Solomon and a similar temple built at Ain Dara, about 30 kilometres from Beirut, showing Solomon’s temple fits into the religious and architectural landscape of the time.
8. The discovery of six massive chambered gates at Hazor, Meggido and Gezer and other architectural discoveries at those sites corresponds with 1Kings 9:15.
9. A ninth century battle account from King Moab of Mersha mirrors the one in 2 Kings 3.
10. The Biblical chronology of the listed kings matches almost exactly with archeological evidence.

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How does godliness play out differently if I am a man, a woman, a young man, a young woman, a husband or a wife?

All Christians are called to live like Christ.  Why does the Apostle Paul choose to write about what godliness looks like for the older and younger and for us as men and women, rather than more generally for us as people? 

Does our age and sex have implications for the challenges we face in living for Jesus? 

Are these things just human constructs or elements of divine gift? 

And what implications does this have for how we think about discipleship and our lived experience of complementarian ministry? 

Paul Grimmond is a senior lecturer at Sydney’s Moore Theological College.  Paul gave the keynote address at the Priscilla and Aquila conference.

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Godliness vs Effectiveness - the Both/And Ministry dilemma 

• Godliness vs Effectiveness
• Theology vs Pragmatics 
• People centered vs Organisationally minded
• Leading from the front vs Serving others 
• Courage to take a stand vs Quick to submit
• Others know I am one of them vs I am set apart to lead
• I lead patiently vs I lead with a sense of urgency 

Most Christians at some point do start to wonder if they are the real deal.  What God asks of us is so far reaching, so all encompassing, that when we come up short, we start to ask ourselves  “Am I an imposter?” “Should I really be a leader?” and perhaps/Am even a Christian at all?’

Gary Millar is the Principal of Queensland’s Theological College and author of a new book ‘Both/And Ministry.’

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What is the work of the Lord? What is in vain if the resurrection is not true? What truly lasts and what does gospel work looks like in our daily lives? 

The debate over eschatology and one’s view of the new heavens and new earth.   Will there be a Sydney Harbour Bridge in the new creation? 

And in the meantime, what should be our priorities?

William Taylor is the rector of St Helens Church in London, where he is engaged in ministry to city workers. 

He has written the book ‘Revolutionary Work’ to address these issues.

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Indigenous Australians and the Christian Gospel - with Michael Duckett 

As we approach ‘Aboriginal Sunday’ (19 January) we focus on the progress of the gospel among the indigenous in Australia.

What are the cultural changes and what openness to Jesus Christ among Indigenous Australians? 

Where are we seeing growth? What are the roadblocks and opportunities for the growth of the gospel among the indigenous communities? How much has to do with the soil.  How much has to do with things that we can change? 

Michael Duckett leads the Anglican Indigenous Ministry at Macarthur/Campbelltown in the far south west of Sydney and Chairs the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Ministry Committee.

Aboriginal Sunday
In 1938 the aboriginal leader William Cooper called on the churches of Australia to mark what he called ‘Aborigines Sunday’ on the Sunday before Australia Day. He ‘requested sermons be preached on this day dealing with the Aboriginal people and their need of the gospel and response to it and we ask that special prayer be invoked for all missionary and other effort for the uplift of the dark people.’

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