The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

Check-ins, singing, 4 square meters and the way out of COVID-19.The Australian Prime Minister says in stage three of the Post Covid-19 reopening, groups will be able to meet with no upper limit on numbers from July, but there will be a blanket rule of 4 square meters per person. However, all visitors to buildings will be required to checkin and provide contact details.  For churches that have had no pastoral monitoring of who is attending, this is likely to be a revolution. But how to handle the technological upgrade necessary? We are talking today with Bishop Gary Koo, who heads the Sydney Anglican COVID-19 taskforce, and two Australian IT wizards Melbourne’s Cade Embery, founder of http://www.fluro.io and Sydney’s Nick Utber, from Open Box technology and https://www.adminosaur.com/.Subscribe at: https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/check-ins-singing-4-square-metersThe Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

We are talking Kotter's principles of change managment and how they apply to church leadership in this post COVID-19 season where the immediate steps forward may not be clear. We need to lead to change. But for some of us senior pastors (as things keep changing) it’s not obvious where we want to go!  And yet we need to take everyone with us.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. Peter Mayrick is back with us from Sydney’s Center for Ministry Development at Moore Theological College. http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/changepostcovid19The Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

The Australian Government has recommended the reopening process go through a series of stages.New guidelines have been released for churches in NSW. But they have been changed since the original ones we discussed on The Pastor’s Heart with Bishop Michael Stead a fortnight ago.In NSW we are at Stage 2 (50 people gatherings) and stage 3 (100 people) is expected in July.Bishop Michael Stead is back for an extra discussion…. On social distancing and implementing the health department guidelines.Credit: Contains an excerpt of a video from a Gondwana Choir's Webinar. The research material is produced by Prateek Bahl, Charitha de Silva, Con Doolan and Raina MacIntyre, UNSW.Michael Stead has produced this extra paper. The Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

All ministry is vulnerable during the COVID-19 season. But kids and youth ministries especially. How can we reduce that vulnerability?Kids and youth connections have been difficult online for months now.Kids are over Zoom after weeks of online school.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?Ed Springer is a consultant with Sydney’s Anglican Youthworks.And Dave Hopper consults for the Youth Network of the Queensland Presbyterian Church.The Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

In New South Wales, Australia churches are permitted to gather for meetings of 50 from Monday, but are not permitted to have communal singing.  Rob Smith, Curtis Smith & Dr Charlotte Hespe discuss. NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant says, "Communal singing and chanting should not occur because of the high risk of transmission of the virus. Instead, measures such as one singer standing at least three metres away from others would be safer.” In a special edition of The Pastor’s Heart we talk about the future of singing in church with Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Council Member, and Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame, Doctor Charlotte Hespe, Songwriter and author of ‘Come, Let us Sing’  Rob Smith and Music Director of Church by the Bridge and St. Augustine's Anglican Church, Neutral Bay, Curtis Smith.Some of our questions we consider are: Why singing matters for personal health / why singing together matters for church health.What does the science say about singing and the risks of droplet spread?What if it’s not safe to sing together? – greater good ethical dilemmasWhat if we’re prohibited from singing together? – thinking through our responseIs singing with masks on an option?Reconceiving church in the short to medium termSinging privately / singing in familiesHow do we navigate a way forward as churches?NSW Government health department checklist:https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/industry-guidelines/places-of-worshipNeil Foster’s helpful blogpost.https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2020/05/30/worship-in-coronavirus-time-the-latest-nsw-rules/Here's the NSW government's official media release:https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/changes-for-worship-weddings-and-funeralsHere are the NSW health department rules. https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/_emergency/Public%20Health%20(COVID-19%20Restrictions%20on%20Gathering%20and%20Movement)%20Order%20(No%203)%202020.pdfThe Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

We are addressing how we care for and lead our congregations on the way back. We are seeing states quickly move through the different stages of opening up. How do we handle the fear of change, and navigate the decisions of starting to meet again. How do we help our members flourish in community while keeping a physical distance? How can we come through this stronger? What about the feelings that they and we are experiencing, and how can we support them through the next few months?The best advice for Australian churches is still to expect a protracted period with congregations limited to 100 people, with one person per four square metres, for many Churches, this necessitates change, with congregations to be divided or planted. Jenny Brown heads The Family Systems Practice, is an experienced family systems therapist and the author of Growing Yourself Up. Nigel Fortesque is the senior minister of Christ Church St Ives.  Nigel’s survey of congregational attitudes to the reboot is here.The Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

Brian Tung says leading our churches successfully out of COVID-19 is going to be much more complex than the journey in. He says don’t squander the God-given opportunity to make ‘real’ change in the COVID-19 rollback. How do you fix it even when it’s not broken?  Note, People don’t hate change. They hate loss. How do you make the most of the productive zone of disequilibrium.  Plus how to take small risks smartly with experiments.Brian Tung is the senior minister of St Georges Hurstville in Sydney’s South and he has a doctorate in ministry leadership.Watch online at http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/adaptiveleadershipThe Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

The road forward .  Four scenarios and three questions for every church leadership team. Churches are starting to plan for a post shutdown world.  The Australian Prime Minister has announced a three stage road map, of gatherings of stage one = 10 people, stage two = 20 people, and stage three = 100 people.But significantly stage three could run for a very long time.Adam Lowe is senior pastor of St Barts Toowoomba, as well as being a psychologist who has focused on organisations.  Gary Koo is the Bishop leading the Sydney Anglican Church’s Covid-19 Diocesan Taskforce.Adam outlines four key scenarios facing churches and a series of three questions that churches need to address. Link here. See also an article on strategic change by Adam Lowe here. Gary Koo says there are key lessons we have learned:We’ve had more people engage with our church services than when we met physicallyOnline church has provided opportunities for those with chronic health issues to attend more regularlyOnline fellowship has been helpful for those who find it difficult to initiate conversationOlder members have adapted better than may have been expected.It has provided opportunities for inter-generational encouragementSocially disadvantaged areas have been impacted disproportionatelySmaller churches have been impacted disproportionatelyPeople value church connection possibly more than we realisedThere is competition for our people’s time that stops them from engagingA lot of church life involves doing what isn’t ‘essential’Churches dependent on rental income have been hit hard. There is a disparity between the mental resilience of our senior ministers and our assistant ministers. What is the cause of this?People may not have access to a reliable pathway to access mental healthresourcesMultiply redundant communication is necessary for messagingPastoral care has been undertaken in a more intentional way than before.People have valued ministers making personal contact with themThe Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

A three step plan to reopen Australia - with Peter MayrickWe are reacting quickly to the announcement today from Australia’s Prime Minister Morrison of a three step program to re-open Australia by July.Peter Mayrick, from the Moore College Center for Ministry Development joins us to unpack this. Peter Mayrick has recently completed a survey of churches and ministers on how we are negotiating COVID-19. Peter is clear that this is an opportunity for Churches to reflect on every aspect of ministry.We’ll discuss what this means for the Church landscape in Australia▪ | How to make this happen with credibility and trust?▪ | How this impacts smaller and larger Churches differently?▪ | What will small groups look like socially distanced?▪ | Our natural response and how to fight against that▪ | How to communicate with our leaders and congregations▪ | How to build communityHe has very kindly come in to talk to us about his report released today. The Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show

Lots of our churches have been using evangelistic courses as part of our long term strategy.  But many leaders and evangelism teams are nervous about how to lead in the new world of online evangelistic courses.Laura Riley was leading a term one evangelistic course that switched to online halfway through. And she’s now co-ordinating a fully-online course that started on Easter Monday with 13 guests and four hosts. Laura’s joined by Michael Nguyen, who became a Christian as part of an introducing God course last year and is now helping facilitate. We’ll discuss the nitty gritty of how to make an online evangelistic course work including: How do you make the initial connection work?How and where did we find the members in this group? How to make guests feel relationally safe? The difference age makes in how people relate and connect online? How does the discussion work? What is the timing on the night? Who is in the courses? How different is this to who we might normally see? Any key mistakes to avoid? Would you keep running a digital evangelistic course post COVID-19? Visit the Introducing God website.Download the Introducing God online promo video Watch the full Introducing God training video online (free) Watch the full Introducing God course online (free) The Church Cothechurchco.com is a website and app platform built specifically for churches.  Advertise on The Pastor's HeartTo advertise on The Pastor's Heart go to thepastorsheart.net/sponsorSupport the show