The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

Having focused on the how-to’s of Covid-10, this week we are focusing on us: our personal lives, our teams and our relationship with Jesus during Covid-19. Greg Lee, senior pastor of Hunter Bible Church and Kirsty Bucknell, a researcher who have developed a program for resilience and mental health, join us to help senior leaders support their teams for the long term, big picture. Rather than fumble through, this is a key moment to pause and consider how we can build stronger teams throughout the next few months. We discuss what our Church and staff teams need from their senior leaders, how to build a robust team culture throughout Covid-19 and how to function as a team not used to working remotely and the best ways to build a culture of fun. We also discuss the multiple different reactions and responses members of our team may have and how we can best pastor them and their families. We drill down on how to encourage and invest in staff teams whose job descriptions have been thrown out the window and are on a steep (and uncomfortable!) learning curve. Kirsty and Greg emphasise a focus on beginning with our own mental health and suggest strategies to identify stressors, personally and for staff. Greg and Kirsty bring very different perspectives to the conversation, Greg leads a staff team of 24 at Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle, whereas Kirsty as an organisational psychologist with a clinical perspective on healthy teams. For more on Kirsty Bucknell’s Resilience in Ministry program: https://tinyurl.com/RiM-RegistrationThe 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

What should we be aiming for now? What does a win look like? Most of us have been doing Church online while socially distancing for a month - but aside from getting a video service online at the right time, how do we measure success right now? Is it likes on Facebook? Online “attendance”? Reach? Number of people engaging in Bible study groups? This week on The Pastor’s Heart, we speak with Tim Clemens and Dave Miers about what a Church should be aiming for and how they can measure success during Covid-19. All ministries cost a certain amount of resources, so this week we discuss how to track effectiveness, when our traditional measures are much harder to gauge. We’ll discuss how we can be seeking to grow God’s kingdom, setting goals for where our ministries will be when restrictions are reduced, measuring weekly successes and how to decide which ministries to continue to invest in. We also discuss what to aim for specifically in terms of mission and maturity.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

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

The zeitgeist has changed profoundly in the last month. Our 2020 vision calendar has been ripped up. We can’t predict what will happen next week, or even tomorrow. As we prepare online presentations for Good Friday and Easter Sunday in this tumultuous context, two of Australia’s leading Chistian communicators  Mike Raiter and Sam Chan join Dominic Steele to talk about how COVID-19 has changed our task.  Mike Raiter is from Melbourne’s Center for Biblical Preaching and Sam Chan is an evangelist with City Bible Forum, Sydney. We discuss the following questions: How has being online changed the audience for our sermons? How do we show the relevance of the gospel to a culture which is reeling? How should communicating online be different to an in person Church service? How do we connect with gospel-curious people in an online sphere?What questions are our covid impacted communities asking about God? How will these changes we are implementing now impact how we do Church into the future?  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

This week on The Pastor's Heart we talk big COVID changes: individualism and community, autonomy and submission, free press & censorship, materialism, wealth and its assumptions and the seriousness of life.Plus the massive advantages for ministry and evangelism in a society which has much more time on our hands and is much more aware of the reality of death.Plus we ask Phillip how Christian leaders can honour Jesus, loving the flock and reach the lost in the Corona season.More at: http://www.thepastorsheart.netThe 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

"Our buildings are shut down, but we can’t shut down our identity of being salt and light and love for the world"Buildings closed. Hearts open with Sydney Archbishop Glenn DaviesSydney Anglicans Archbishop Glenn Davies joins Dominic Steele in a live broadcast to answer questions on how we can lead our churches through the COVID-19 crisis.From midday Monday (23 March) religious gatherings and places of worship have been shut down in Australia, with only a small exception for small weddings and funerals.The restrictions turn church life on its head.Archbishop Davies spoke to The Pastor's Heart today, pointing us to God's plan while also warning our Churches to prepare for the current conditions to last up to six months.We're discussing the implications, challenges and opportunities for the church.Check out the Sydney Anglican web page on COVID-19 responses 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

Leading your church in the corona era with Pastor Eugene Hor, Bishop Gary Koo and Dr Irmgard Pascoe How to give spiritual leadership in a highly anxious season?How to lead from the word of God?What does calm leadership look like?How can we lead when other church leaders around us are making different calls?Why do different contexts lead to different decisions?How to see this season as a blessing from God - that might lead to missional benefits?How to act not in selfishness, but in love and care for our neighbours?Navigating the finances of the church? Dr Irmgard Pascoe is a general practitioner with an interest in immunology and public health, Bishop Gary Koo is leading the Sydney Anglican Churches response to COVID-19 and Pastor Eugene Hor leads the English ministry at GracePoint Presbyterian Burwood. See Dominic Steele's message to his congregation on COVID-19 at http://www.villagechurch.sydney/corona 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

It’s a confronting conversation this week - especially for senior pastors - as we discuss the top 15 mistakes senior leaders make, with Craig Hamilton from Glenmore Park Anglican Church.Craig will challenge us to redefine success, develop and consider a leadership pipeline and assess the ways we use our time. It will be a challenging - potentially painful - discussion, but it’s one every Christian leader should reflect on. Our leadership impacts the lives and salvation of thousands, so it is key we do that to the best of our ability.Some of the key areas areas we will discuss are:Attracting and retaining a strong teamSetting a strong and positive Church culture and developing systems and opportunities for developmentTraining and investing in leadersResponding to crisisDelegating and trusting your teamCraig is the author of Wisdom in Leadership. He has a new book coming out later this year and has given us a sneak peek.I am expecting to find the conversation helpful for reflecting on individual leadership strengths and weaknesses, and hope you will too.Check it at http://www.thepastorsheart.netCraig is the author of Wisdom in Leadership from Matthias Media.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

Seven million Australian  Non Christians Would Accept an Invite to Good Friday Easter is a key time in the calendar year where Churches see non-believers visiting. How does Easter fit into your evangelistic pathway? How can you get Easter guests back? How do you create an atmosphere which helps believers celebrate the truth of the resurrection and equally, helps newcomers consider the resurrection for the first time.This week we will speak with Luther Symons lead pastor of Hope Anglican Church and Matt Varcoe Maturity and Mission Director at Grace City Church about how they approach Easter. They’ll be sharing their approach to Easter including:They’ll answer questions like: How does Easter fit into your evangelistic pathway? How can you see Easter guests return? How do you create an atmosphere which helps believers celebrate the truth of the resurrection and equally, helps newcomers consider the resurrection for the first time.Matt and Luther share their approach to Easter including: Specific issues Churches face, and how to address them What not to do Meeting (and breaking!) expectations How to address different demographicsWho is likely to be in the room Which services to emphasise Follow up opportunities and pitfalls How Easter needs to fit in with a wider, year long evangelistic strategy  However, this conversation is not at all limited to Easter. Instead, Matt and Luther share how to create “credible, trusted, mission events” that our congregations will feel confident to invite people to, the problem with having one-off evangelistic events and how to create clear and specific next steps which your Church is working together to achieve. They discuss specific strategies like movie nights, carols in the park, “open house” Sundays and using baptisms or videos during the event. While it is not too late for this to impact how you address Easter, it wiThe 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

Do you put on attractional events, just to keep evangelism on the agenda? Do you preach the importance of sharing the gospel and not see any action? Is our issue with evangelism fueled by a reliance on introductory courses? Or are courses the only approaches bringing any measurable fruit?This week we speak with leaders in the evangelistic space in Australia: Sam Hilton, Mission Pastor at Hunter Bible Church Newcastle and Tony Wright, the Australian Manager for The Word 1-2-1 at City Bible Forum, whose written a provocative series of articles for the Gospel Coalition about the state of evangelism in our Churches. We come together to discuss the issues he raised and what we can do better. Sam and Tony rely on different ministry strategies in the contexts they work in. Dominic has also been heavily involved in one-to-one ministry as well as the creation of Introducing God. Together, they will discuss the pros and cons of 1-2-1 Bible reading and evangelistic courses, including the reach, growth of Christian maturity, visibility, success rate, the time needed and longevity. We will also discuss the health of a deeper level of spiritual health of our congregations and the importance of training them in evangelism. Our conversation will raise key questions around Church health, growth and developing an evangelical DNA.Read Tony Wright’s articles for the Gospel Coalition. 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