What is Christian parenting?  How do we do family Bible time well?  How can we prioritize church, even when it’s hard?  Navigating social media with teens? And how to parent teens who are doubting, drifting or deserting? Parenting is joyous, magical, tiresome, boring, stressful and complicated.Harriet Connor is editor of ‘Parenting in God’s family: Biblical wisdom for everyday issues.’ (https://bit.ly/4eJgars). Kat Ashton Israel is a contributing author. The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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/3N0wx6QPlus 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/3BbmKIySam Green reference page on ‘Sermon Illustrations and Islam’ https://bit.ly/3zsaqDqThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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 AustraliaThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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 Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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. The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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. The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

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. The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

What would Dave Keun and Jon Kwan like to tell their younger selves if they could travel back in time before they took on the position of senior minister?How has their sense of ownership changed?What has been most difficult about the transition to the role? What mistakes have they made?Dave Keun has been senior minister of Kellyville Anglican Church in Sydney’s North West since March  2022.Jon Kwan has been lead pastor of St David’s Forestville (on Sydney’s Northern Beaches) since May 2022.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Roadmap for a reset communion - with Paul Donison and Glenn Davies The chair of Gafcon Laurent Mbunda and chair of Global South Justin Badi Arama are to meet to work out a roadmap for the resetting of the Anglican Communion. Global South Anglicans have endorsed the Former Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies call for the communion to be reset on biblical foundations.  The Global South have called on their Primates to work with the GAFCON Primates Council and other Orthodox leaders to reset the communion on its biblical foundations as a matter of urgency.In other Anglican news. The Church of England General Synod is meeting in York.  They are considering whether to press go to move towards the next stage of endorsing their bishops’ proposals for same sex blessing.  Orthodox Anglicans united under a banner called The Alliance are calling for structural differentiation in England (essentially a new province).  The Bishop of Oxford has hit back telling The Alliance to take a running jump. Orthodox Anglicans from across Australasia gathered in Brisbane last week. New daughter churches are being planted within the fledging diocese of the Southern Cross. A new Archbishop appointed to lead the Anglican Church of North America. Steve Wood will replace Foley Beach. A collective meeting of orthodox leaders in Cairo has met for a week on ways that faithful christians might be able to reset the Communion. The Global South Anglicans met in Cairo the week before that and voted to call for the chair of the Global South Justin Badi Arama to work with the chair of Gafcon to reset the communion. Our guests are new General Secretary of Gafcon Paul Donison and new Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross (and former Archbishop of Sydney) Glenn Davies. The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

All the time in church there are unexpected things happening.  We or someone else makes a decision to change something which then relationally or missionally impacts another area of church life that we didn’t expect.Sometimes we put  too much attention into one area of church - and now other areas are suffering.Whatever size your church is - the church system is complex, interdependent and interconnected.Sometimes the presenting problem won’t actually be the real problem, there’s something else causing it which is not immediately obvious.Greg Lee is senior pastor of Newcastle’s Hunter Bible Church.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

How do you balance the instability and chaos of external ministry with adding a foster child or adopted child to a ministry family?What are the implications of taking children in crisis into the ministry home? What motivates ministry families to become foster parents or to adopt? How do older children and the church respond? Sarah and Mat Yeo serve at Hurstville Grove Anglican Church in SydneyMatt Wilcoxen pastors St John’s Darlinghurst in inner Sydney.To purchase ‘The Forgetful Prince’: https://youthworksmedia.net/products/the-forgetful-princeThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

What is it to be #likeaman?There are not many places in the New Testament where men are spoken to specifically.Today we are thinking about being a Christian man.In the ESV and NASB the translation of 1 Corinthians 16:13 has ‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong’. (ESV)But what does that mean?Dominic Steele put that question to panelists at the recent Men Meeting the challenge conference:Adrian Russell, senior minister of Northmead Anglican Church.Craig Hamilton, senior minister at Pitt town.Robin Kinstead, senior minister of Figtree Anglican.And Phillip Jensen who heads up Two Ways Ministries. The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

There are three different ways that the adult population of churches can grow:Adults being saved. Christians transferring from another congregation within your denomination of switching from another denomination. Children of members growing up in the church and taking on their parents faith for themselves.Most evangelical churches - even growing churches - are underperforming in the first and third ways.In the Sydney Anglican Church parents report that an average of only 65% of their children who grew up in church are currently professing Christ. That number hasn’t changed in ten years - despite a targeted effort to increase it to 70%.The second way is people switching from another church within your denomination, or transferring from another denomination.Sydney Anglican Youthworks Consultant Al James says key focuses are deep discipleship, deep connection and authentic discussions at home with parents about faith. To watch Al James' Seminar on helping young people stick with Jesus, click this link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/b8d6fc0eThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

A new massive ethical question has risen up with the advent of artificial intelligence. How will people decide what kind of morality to give to their artificial intelligence creations?There will need to be a morality.  But what should it be?The market is already making different choices. Elon Musk has said he wants the AI behind X (formerly Twitter) to be morally flexible.   He wants his AI to appeal to all people: left and right, authoritarian and democratic, kind and brutal.Stephen Driscoll is the author of ‘Made in our Image - God, artificial intelligence and you’.To order online: http://matthiasmedia.com.au/products/made-in-our-imageThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

How can a senior minister best train junior preachers (student ministers and assistant ministers) in preaching?There’s a tension we all feel: we want to be a training church raising up the next generation of leaders and yet we also want to make sure that the quality of what happens in our gatherings is high.We don’t want a Sunday morning ‘plane crash in the pulpit’, where people at church that day think‘I wish I had stayed home today’ or ‘I wish I had gone to St Bloggs down the road.’Toby Neal is at Vine Church in Surry Hills in Sydney.  Toby says there’s been days when he sat at the back of the church, head in hands thinking, “Oh dear - I hope we don’t have anyone new here today!”The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Artificial Intelligence is an oncoming tsunami that will catch all of humanity off guard. It is a change more like a wheel than a typewriter.But what will this do to our sense of self?Stephen Driscoll, in ‘Made in our Image - God, artificial intelligence and you’ says artificial intelligence may do great harm - giving more power to sinful people, governments or companies.He says artificial intelligence will likely trend towards people pleasing - giving each of us what we want now/a sense of heaven now or it may become more debauched.It may even become an existential threat to us - because EITHER it lacks a wise moral system OR it righteously opposes our sin.Artificial intelligence will likely lure us into our own individual heavens and unbundled freedoms, but it won’t fix our souls.Stephen Driscoll works in ministering to postgrads and academics at the Australian National University in Canberra as part of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students.Matthias Media Link to purchase: https://matthiasmedia.com.au/products/made-in-our-image.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.