The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

‘Church in Hard places’ co-founders Mez McConnell and Matthew Spandler Davidson are in Sydney to present a key elective on Friday on 'Abuse in the Church' at the Acts29 conference for Australia, New Zealand and Japan.Ahead of the conference they are leading ‘Church in Hardplaces’ bootcamps.  Mez and Matthew talk to Dominic Steele about the transitioning of Steve Timmis out of Acts 29 this week, under a cloud of claims of Spiritual Abuse. To purchase Mez's new book, Creaking on the stairs, Finding Faith in God through Childhood Abuse.*****Update: Read Dominic Steele's report on the opening night of the Acts29 Australian conference 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

There are women in all our lives and churches who have had an abortion. Men, women and children who have been touched by abortion - in our workplaces, churches and families. Senior pastors need to stop turning a blind eye to this subject and talk much much more about abortion in church. New Testament scholar and former nurse Dr Claire Smith says we are currently not meeting this pastoral and evangelistic need. Dr Smith has many suggestions on how to regularly teach pastorally and faithfully on abortion, potentially save many lives in your church. Plus we talk mistakes made in counselling on abortion at seventeen and eighteen weeks and the fallout and pastoral response needed in a post abortion situation. Watch online or subscribe to The Pastor’s Heart: http://www.thepastorsheart/podcast/abortion-clairesmithPregnancy Support and post-abortion counsellingReal Choices Australia: www.realchoices.org.au Zoe Support: www.zoesupport.com.au Embryo Donation Network: www.embryodonation.org.au Priceless Life Centre (Qld): www.pricelesslifecentre.org.auKarinya House (ACT): www.karinyahouse.asn.auBrave Foundation (teen pregnancies and help for carers/schools/health professionals): www.bravefoundation.org.auDiamond Women’s Support (Sydney): https://diamondwomensupport.com/services/ Hope House (Western Sydney): http://www.hopehouse.com.auRachel’s Vineyard retreats (Roman Catholic): https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/weekend/sites.aspx?c=Australia Resources for pastoral careDenise Cooper-Clark: http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/engage-mail/unspoken-grief-pastoral-care-around-abortionERLC on counselling men affected: https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/how-we-can-speak-to-men-in-the-abortion-conversationERLC on speaking to women about abortion: https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/why-our-hearts-matter-when-talking-about-abortion Andrew Cameron on abortion ethics (2004): https://sydneyanglicans.net/blogs/indepth/1721a ‘Pro-life’ ResourcesAustralian Christian Lobby: https://www.acl.org.au Evangelicals for Life—Peter Barnes http://evangelicalsforlife.com March for the Babies (Vic): http://marchforthebabies.org Women’s Forum 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

Is it possible for our different churches to be unified, without watering down the Gospel? What is the role of the church in an increasingly individualistic society?Introducing Julius Kim - the new President of The Gospel Coalition. With over 30 million users on their website in 2019, TGC clearly has a key role in speaking into evangelical spheres and representing Christianity to a wider public.Julius is just 10 days into his role - but Dominic doesn't hold back! In this interview, Dominic will bring key questions around the role of TGC and the change of culture:Is it possible for Churches to work together despite differences?Will this lead to a watering down of the gospel?Concern about how evangelical leaders interact in political debates (especially in the US)?Is it right for a church of Jesus Christ to align themselves with one side of politics? How does this impact the ability of the Church to evangelise?Julius also speaks to the dangers of privatised religion and how individualism is impacting our Churches. Julius will outline what he sees as priorities for evangelical Churches in an increasingly fractured time and what it means to be a ‘’pilgrim” in our own countries. As a Korean American Christian, Julius is uniquely equipped to address the role of the Church in a society which increasingly suggests it is unwelcome.Watch the full interview at http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/juliuskimgospelcoalitionThe 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

Getting money right in the Christian ChurchWhat’s your word to the pastor, when just down the road there is a big prosperity church doing flashy ministry? The Prosperity Gospel is a different gospel, not good news, says the Generosity Monk Gary Hoag. Seminaries have not done a good job teaching on money.  There are big errors:Prosperity - Taking Old Testament promises out of context,Slavery - Sending people back to slavery by teaching the tithe,Culturally - If your message sounds good culturally it’s probably another gospel,Instead what we need to pursue is the Spirit’s fruit of generosity, and Gary says the fruit will then take care of itself.Not only should you not care what the humans think.  You can’t care.  You are playing to an audience of one. Plus how do we define success?  How do we think about outcomes in ministry?  How do we not look for the wrong things?How should we think about budgeting as as 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

How should a leader respond, when a member of a church community takes their own life? And what can leaders do to prevent such tragedies? Dr Karen Mason teaches counselling and psychology at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. Karen will discuss suicide in the church from the perspective of senior pastors on The Pastor's Heart.Dominic and Karen discuss the right and wrong reactions that pastors and churches make when faced with this situation.They explore the vital role of the pastor in these situations both as a leader and as someone to care for the family long term, as well as detailing practically how to put the funeral together. They also outline how to approach the theology of suicide. Lastly, they discussed hard hitting issues that come along with suicide such as guilt and what to say when someone is struggling with thoughts of suicide.Dr Karen Mason will be joining ADM’s School of Theology, Culture & Public Engagement 2020 to conduct two masterclasses on suicide prevention in the church. Dr Mason is the author of Preventing Suicide and has another book coming out later this year.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

Evangelicals standing up to the culture over the treatment of our indigenous peoples.As Australia Day gets closer, we evaluate the history of Australian Christianity’s interaction with Indigenous people.From Mary Bennett in the 1930s to William Cooper and more recently Kevin Rudd's apology in 2008, we will discuss the impact of the gospel on interactions between indigenous Australians and Christian mission.Historians Stuart Piggin and Robert Linder have just released a major new book Attending to the National Soul, Evangelical Christians in Australian history 1914-2014.Stuart Piggin joins us for a frank discussion on:* Black Armbands vs Whitewashed views of history* Missionary response to the massacres* The Christian roots of NAIDOC Week and Australia Day.* Missionary complacency in removing aboriginal children from their mothers* The evangelical influence behind Kevin Rudd’s apologyLate in the discussion there is a reference to Dominic Steele's father Jeremy Steele's work on indigenous languages.  His website Aboriginal languages of Australia 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

Trigger Warning - this post discusses abusive relationshipsThis week on the Pastor’s Heart, we address the complex issue of domestic abuse within the relationships of ministry leaders. While all abuse is wrong, there are added complexities in ministry relationships.  Often a ministry job is entwined with a ministry families house, income stream, city and community for a ministry family. With that much at stake, wives can feel a pressure not to raise concerns.The dynamics of these relationships then get worse, leaving friends, family and congregation completely unaware and the victim even more isolated. Jenni Woodhouse serves as pastoral care coordinator for the Church Missionary Society NSW & ACT, but previously was chaplain for the Sydney Anglican Church’s Professional Standards Unit.We will ask her how to spot relationships like this, how they come to exist within ministry families and strategies to assist impacted families.There are details of immediate crisis support here.Jenni and Dominic talk further about difficult personalities here and domestic violence here.A sermon by Dominic addressing Domestic Violence is here. The Sydney Anglican Church’s Domestic Violence Policy is downloadable 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

Simon Manchester explains to Dominic Steele how he prepares to teach at a major conference and how to show your congregation the beauty of 1 Timothy 2. Simon’s been lead pastor of one of Sydney’s larger churches, St Thomas’ North Sydney, for thirty years, before standing down last December.  He shares stories about when the St Thomas’ congregation didn’t want him, being summonsed to the Archbishop’s office, and making major changes  Simon is opening the bible this week for two thousand Christian leaders at the Church Missionary Society Summer School in Katoomba in Sydney’s bushfire impacted blue mountains. He’s teaching on ‘The God who seeks’ from 1 Timothy.Check out Simon Manchester's CMS Summer School talks on 1Timothy 1 Part A, 1Timothy 1 Part BDominic Steele's verse by verse talks on 1 Timothy 2 (Unfortunately Simon's are not available free online)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

EV Church's 'Rhett Harris was super provocative at a ministry conference a while back. As Rhett was promoting ministry teams, he was arguing that rostering is contrary to the gospel.' Dominic Steele says "I can't let him get away with these statement and maintain credibility," so I pushed back, and we had a big debate in front of the whole seminar group.'The thesis that Rhett put forward led me to implement a complete restructuring of the ministry practice at our church. I hope that you find it as revolutionary and thought provoking as we did. Rhett and Dominic replay that debate here in this episode from 20 February 2018. 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

How to pastorally approach the death of a little child.We are having this conversation with three pastors who have had children die, because around the Christian world and in the secular press there has been discussion about the death just over a week ago of two year old Olive Aylne, the daughter of Andrew and Kalley Heiligenthal, who are key figures at the Bethel Church in Reading California. Immediately after Olive’s death her parents called for people to pray for her to be resurrected.  The call has sparked a social media movement #wakeupolive, which has been endorsed by many Pentecostal leaders.  We attempt to serve those who might be grappling with the death of a loved one or just may be thinking #wakeupolive doesn't seem to be right way of handling a little girl’s death, but aren’t able to properly articulate why.’Teresa and Dan Lee are on staff at MBM Rooty Hill and Andrew Barry is from Janalli Anglican Church.Kalley Heiligenthal’s original instagram post said, “Her time here is not done, and it is our time to believe boldly, and with confidence wield what King Jesus paid for. "It’s time for her to come to life."Kalley later posted, “Day three is a really good day for resurrection.”On Day seven, Bethel released a statement acknowledging that, ‘we haven’t seen the miracle of Olive being raised,’ and that 'we are moving towards a memorial service and celebration of her life.’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