The average Christian gives only 2.5% But the first step in getting our churches finances right is getting the church leader’s hearts and finances right.

How do we create a dual audience church? How do we do church live and well, simultaneously for both those physically in the room audience and at the same time for those linking in via online stream.

Today we hear from two younger leaders. We’re exploring the joint problem of not enough people putting themselves forward for ministry and the shortage of senior ministers for Sydney’s Anglican Churches.

Moore Theological College Lecturer Mark Earngey and St George North Assistant Minister Mike Leite have been researching for several years the underlying issues that have contributed to the Sydney minister drought.

How to exercise calm present leadership when there’s disappointment, constant change and pressure from every side?

Understanding what’s going on psychologically now with your church, team and you? How to best care for your team? And how to lead now when anxiety levels keep oscillating as the risk from the virus waxes and wanes (and are likely to for the next two years).

Plus navigating how to lead when there are so many different views inside and outside the team about which direction you and your church should take.

Australian church leaders need to make a philosophical shift in every aspect of our ministry, away from leading for recovery and towards planning to lead for endurance.

Dominic Steele says we need to start using the catchcry, ‘Not Recovery, But endurance, ’ in order to set our people’s expectations right.

Dominic was speaking at today’s Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion Conference in conjunction with the Peter Corney Institute.

Rob Smith has been a global leader in evangelical music for three decades. He has a new book out ‘Come, Let us Sing!’ just as singing has been restricted in many churches due to COVID-19.

Rob, who is also a lecturer at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, joins us to talk about some of the principles he’s discovered in a lifetime’s work in Evangelical Music, plus how the current pandemic has caused course corrections.

We’re asking how do we engage with God and engage with each other best in normal circumstances and in the current pandemic. What part does music play in praising, praying and preaching together.

What advice is there for musicians and church leaders on navigating current restrictions (like no congregational singing, one song leader, social distancing etc) in regards to song choices, instrumentation, arrangements, number of songs, introduction, arrangement of meeting, use of the screen, pressure on musicians, leading the congregation in song vs performance ?

To buy Rob’s new book go to: http://bit.ly/comeletussing

After three years of researching the pornography problem and what to do about it, Marshall Ballentine Jones has a message of hope.

The same stats keep recurring – 70% of males and 20% of females struggle with pornography use.

This is true in Christian schools, our churches, and ministry staff. Pornography negatively impacts individuals, their relationships, and society. Males are more likely to initiate sexualised behaviour over social media (called ‘sexting’), while females are more likely to be targets of sexting. If this is news to you - please check out the resistporn.org site, which has the research.

There is a long list of people in our ranks affected by pornography. No one is immune, and the problem remains urgent. Marshall has been on a quest has been to help find effective solutions.

There is no easy fix or silver bullet, but he’s recommending a four pronged tested strategy to as a way forward: 1. Communication, 2 Containment, 3. Co-operation and 4. Clinical support.

More details and to subscribe: http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/pornography

Thousands of Christians packed into John MacArthur Juniors’ Los Angeles evangelical megachurch ‘Grace Community Church’ on the weekend, in defiance of a California state directive.

Moore Theological College’s Lionel Windsor and Northmead Anglican Church’s Adrian Russell give their different perspectives.

There’s a critical problem here in Sydney, with more than ten percent of churches without a senior minister.

How have we come from ‘oversupply’ just a few years ago to ‘crucial shortage’? And what can we change?

A fortnight ago we spoke to former Sydney Dean Phillip Jensen and he rolled a 'hand grenade down the aisle.' Today we talk to two of Sydney’s leading senior ministers Phil Colgan and Simon Flinders about possible ways forward.

Today we remember JI Packer with two of Australian evangelicalism’s most respected leaders Mark Thompson and Peter Jensen.

Moore Theological College Principal Mark Thompson says Dr Packer was one of the three great giants of 20th century evangelicalism.

Image credit: The Gospel Coalition

Former Archbishop of Sydney Dr Jensen says Dr Packer gave us a robust confidence in the authority of the word of God, and taught us the crucial importance of evangelism.

The Pastor’s Heart. Dominic Steele. And setting vision in the midst of massive change. How do we make plans when because of COVID-19 we don’t know what’s going to happen next week?

We are talking today to two leaders who have really good things to say about vision - Stuart Starr and Tim Clemens.

There’s been an across the board drop in people stepping up to serve in full time ministry roles whether as senior pastors, assistant pastors or people putting themselves forward to study at theological college.

Humanly speaking Phillip Jensen was massively used by God in past decades to prompt an explosion in the number of gospel workers. We ask Phillip what are contributing factors that have caused the current slump, and what needs to be done?

We are discussing a Christian response to Indigenous Australians. We talk the character of God, mistakes made in the past and present, and how we can lead our Churches to promote reconciliation.

We’ll be looking at how we can acknowledge our history and better support Indigenous Christian leaders.

Neville Naden is BCA’s first Indigenous Ministry Officer. Together with his wife Kathie, Neville seeks to support those at the coal face who minister to our First Nations people, many of whom live in rural and remote communities.

Kanishka Raffel, Dean of the Sydney Anglican Cathedral and head of the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Ministry Taskforce.

The Alpha Course is 'emotionally powerful but theologically confused'.

Christian Author Tony Payne has watched through the latest Alpha materials, and joins Dominic Steele to work through the strengths and weaknesses of the popular evangelistic course.

On The Pastor’s Heart, Robert Smith joins us to discuss Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s critique of the binary understanding of sex and gender and how we as Christian leaders can equip our churches to address these complex and controversial issues.

Rowling’s comments in a series of tweets and an online essay have sparked an intense social media backlash.

"It isn't enough for women to be trans allies. Women must accept and admit that there is no material difference between trans women and themselves." - J.K. Rowling.

She’s spoken of people who have regretted their transition, and an over representation of autistic females in those wanting to transition.

We’ll bring together questions about freedom of speech, supporting and championing women and children, a biblical view of manhood and womanhood.

Plus there’s a wider question here about social media pile-on, cancel-culture and the use of labels like “TERF” and “transphobic” to shut down conversation.

We need to lead but for some of us there’s a sense that it’s not obvious where we want to go! And yet we want to take everyone with us.

We apply Kotter’s Change Management theories to the post COVID-19 restart.

As we move to restarting physical meetings post COVID19, for some churches it’s relatively straightforward, for others it’s going to be impossible for quite some time, but for a significant number restarting is possible - but will require a significant rearrangement.

Kids and youth ministries have been especially vulnerable during COVID-19.

As we turn our attention to the restart, How do we regroup, recover and restart the young people ministries?

Plus how do the principles of Adaptive Change apply in the kids and youth space?