Ten things that went wrong, the mistakes Dominic Steele made, and the day he almost resigned.Dominic Steele has just notched up twenty years as senior pastor of Village Church in Annandale, Sydney. But it hasn’t  been consistent plain sailing. In this address at Craig Hamilton’s HUSTLE leadership conference on 2 Timothy 2, Dominic shares about a season when it all went pear shaped, the things that went wrong and the mistakes he made. Next week: Craig Hamilton asks Dominic a series of questions about how that season changed his Pastor’s heart.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Gavin Perkins, senior minister of St Jude's at Bowral, shares insights from his research on church engagement in evangelism. He reveals that while many view it as an individual task, actual conversations with non-Christians are minimal. The discussion focuses on creating an evangelistic culture, tackling barriers like lack of relationships and confidence, and the importance of community in sharing faith. Gavin also emphasizes the role of music and innovative programs to facilitate spiritual dialogues, encouraging a collective responsibility in evangelism.

Sunday Church attendance across Australia is down, but decline has slowed.The Australian National Church Life Survey results are out.  Worryingly the key newcomer indicator has dropped to 5.7%.While evangelism is down, engagement in church based service groups is up. Mid week small groups are up. We take a hard look under the bonnet of the top level results.Ruth Powell is National Director for the National Church Life Survey. Peter Mayrick is with Partners in Ministry and the Center for Ministry Development at Sydney’s Moore Theological College and is a board member of the National Church Life Survey.http://www.the pastorsheart.net/podcast/national-church-life-surveyThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Claims today that the global leader of the Anglican Church is out of step with God. The Primates of the Global Anglican Fellowship (GAFCON), meeting in Kigali Rwanda, have said that Archbishop Justin Welby has,‘Departed from the authentic exercise of his office by normalising and praising those who have departed from biblical teaching and practice…and giving equal place to practices contrary to biblical norms, as Anglicans have received them.  We urge him to repent.’ (https://bit.ly/3DmPVas)And the Archbishop of Canterbury’s explanations are described as 'disingenuous if not duplicitous'. The Gafcon Primates statement comes on top of the statement from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, which if anything, is even stronger. The Global South Fellowship says,‘Archbishop Welby’s first position is lamentable; his second is repugnant to our understanding of the authority and clarity of Holy Scripture. The notion of ‘pluriform’ truth is contrary to the Anglican Ordinal which binds duly consecrated bishops to be responsible for the guarding, teaching and imparting of divine truth in Holy Scripture.’ (https://bit.ly/3smoqas)Archbishop Welby’s actions, which have provoked the criticisms, are his appointment of a new Dean of Canterbury (the lead minister of Canterbury Cathedral in the UK) of a man in a civil same sex partnership. The Global South statement says, ‘It feels as if the present Archbishop of Canterbury has shut the door of the [Canterbury] Cathedral to orthodox bishops, clergy and members of the [Anglican] Communion.’  (https://bit.ly/3smoqas)We are speaking today with: Archbishop Foley Beach, from North America, who is the chair of the GAFCON Movement, but who also is aligned with the Global South.Archbishop James Wong, Primate of Indian Ocean, who is one of the leading figures in the Global South, and who was also at the GAFCON Primates meeting. UK Bishop Andy Lines, who leads the Anglican Network in Europe, and who was also present at the GAFCON meeting.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

It’s a moment of honesty for Sydney Christians as we talk the ‘elephant in the room.’  Despite rises in giving, clergy numbers and population the number of Christians in Sydney Anglican Churches is in plateau or decline. Raj Gupta is the senior minister of St Paul’s Anglican Church, Carlingford, a member of the Anglican Growth Corporation. Raj asked questions at the latest Synod about attendance numbers, the pipeline into ministry and about Rectors leaving mission critical senior leadership roles in their mid fifties.  See links here (http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/the-plateau-problemA decade ago the Sydney Anglican Church endorsed a Mission 2020 strategic plan for mission.  For the first time there were specific, measurable and time based goals set.  These will be able to be assessed rigorously in the next few weeks when the Australian National Church Life Survey denominational results are made public. Raj is concerned that the trend in regards to newcomers has not been strong. See the graph below. He notes that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results, and so wants a fresh broad conversation among senior leaders about what could be changed. What hard conversation is needed in your ministry network? http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/the-plateau-problemThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Four leading Victorian Christian leaders on the controversy that has erupted in Australian National Politics - around the chair of the Victorian based City on a Hill church movement Andrew Thorburn, over his appointment as CEO of the Essendon Football Club and then almost immediate resignation. When faced with an ultimatum to choose between his church and his new position at Essendon, Thorburn chose his church. Melbourne’s Herald Sun started the controversy by publishing quotes from two ten year old sermons from City on a Hill on abortion and homosexuality. Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews described City on a Hill’s mainstream Christian views as appalling, intolerant, bigoted, hatred and wrong.  Our guests:… Neil Chambers, Senior Pastor, Bundoora Presbyterian ChurchStephanie Judd, Ministry Director, City on a Hill, MelbournePete Sorrenson, Victorian team leader, Australian Fellowship of Evangelical StudentsTim Grant, Pastor, Grace Christian Community Church.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Marriage is a great opportunity for selfishness. Al Stewart, the national director of the Australian Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, has some advice for husbands which can be summarised in three simple words. Don’t be selfish. Al challenges husbands and fathers to use power for the good of others, especially our wives and children. In regards to sex, Al tells men to be nice, smell good and plan. Al Stewart is the author the book Masculinity: The Manual (https://bit.ly/mmmasculinity)The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Australia has the world’s worst rate of gambling losses per capita, even though it is home to less than half a percent of the world’s population with 20 percent of its pokies. NSW, particularly Sydney, are worst of all with approximately over double the rate of poker machine losses compared to every other Australian state and territory. About 40% of all pokies losses come from problem gamblers. Anglican Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant and Wesley Mission’s Stuart Cameron are asking both sides of politics to come together to address the crisis. (Episode photo courtesy Sydney Anglican Media)The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

Billions watched on as the funeral of Queen Elizabeth was broadcast around the world yesterday. What can we learn about today's funerals from this event though? What worked? What didn’t work? Is there anything our guests would have done differently? Joining us is David Peterson, former Principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London who is now lecturing as an adjunct faculty member at Sydney’s Moore Theological College, Rachel Ciano, who lectures in Christian History at Sydney Missionary and Bible College and Chris Braga, the Senior Pastor of Grace West Anglican Church at Glenmore Park in Sydney’s West. http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/queens-funeral-reviewThe Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.

‘When they go low, we go high.’ - That’s what Michelle Obama said. The former American first lady’s comments came to mind as I listened to Sydney Archbishop Kanishka Raffel give his first presidential address to the Sydney Synod since being elected during Covid. Archbishop Raffel’s ‘Do you see the crowds’ address at Oran Park was mission driven and gospel focused, particularly asking how to reach the new housing estates where 30 new churches are needed to reach the hundreds of thousands of people who are moving into the Greenfields areas to the west of Sydney. There was no mention of Brisbane. It was a stunning contrast to the address South East Queensland Archbishop Phillip Aspinall gave. It was a hand grenade presentation, attacking evangelicals and Sydney Anglicans, which has so far led to the resignations of two of his ministers and the splitting of two Brisbane congregations.The second minister to resign in Brisbane is Peter Judge Mears.  St Johns Wishart Rector Peter Judge Mears is our guest on The Pastor’s Heart. St John’s Wishart spent Sunday processing the news and the invitation to join the new Southside Anglican Church. This church is the second congregation of the new Diocese of the Southern Cross, created as a lifeboat to support orthodox Christians forced out by revisionist Bishops.The Church Cohttp://www.thechurchco.com is an excellent website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.