There’s a critical problem here in Sydney, with more than ten percent of churches without a senior minister.

How have we come from ‘oversupply’ just a few years ago to ‘crucial shortage’? And what can we change?

A fortnight ago we spoke to former Sydney Dean Phillip Jensen and he rolled a 'hand grenade down the aisle.' Today we talk to two of Sydney’s leading senior ministers Phil Colgan and Simon Flinders about possible ways forward.

Today we remember JI Packer with two of Australian evangelicalism’s most respected leaders Mark Thompson and Peter Jensen.

Moore Theological College Principal Mark Thompson says Dr Packer was one of the three great giants of 20th century evangelicalism.

Image credit: The Gospel Coalition

Former Archbishop of Sydney Dr Jensen says Dr Packer gave us a robust confidence in the authority of the word of God, and taught us the crucial importance of evangelism.

The Pastor’s Heart. Dominic Steele. And setting vision in the midst of massive change. How do we make plans when because of COVID-19 we don’t know what’s going to happen next week?

We are talking today to two leaders who have really good things to say about vision - Stuart Starr and Tim Clemens.

There’s been an across the board drop in people stepping up to serve in full time ministry roles whether as senior pastors, assistant pastors or people putting themselves forward to study at theological college.

Humanly speaking Phillip Jensen was massively used by God in past decades to prompt an explosion in the number of gospel workers. We ask Phillip what are contributing factors that have caused the current slump, and what needs to be done?

We are discussing a Christian response to Indigenous Australians. We talk the character of God, mistakes made in the past and present, and how we can lead our Churches to promote reconciliation.

We’ll be looking at how we can acknowledge our history and better support Indigenous Christian leaders.

Neville Naden is BCA’s first Indigenous Ministry Officer. Together with his wife Kathie, Neville seeks to support those at the coal face who minister to our First Nations people, many of whom live in rural and remote communities.

Kanishka Raffel, Dean of the Sydney Anglican Cathedral and head of the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Ministry Taskforce.

The Alpha Course is 'emotionally powerful but theologically confused'.

Christian Author Tony Payne has watched through the latest Alpha materials, and joins Dominic Steele to work through the strengths and weaknesses of the popular evangelistic course.

On The Pastor’s Heart, Robert Smith joins us to discuss Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s critique of the binary understanding of sex and gender and how we as Christian leaders can equip our churches to address these complex and controversial issues.

Rowling’s comments in a series of tweets and an online essay have sparked an intense social media backlash.

"It isn't enough for women to be trans allies. Women must accept and admit that there is no material difference between trans women and themselves." - J.K. Rowling.

She’s spoken of people who have regretted their transition, and an over representation of autistic females in those wanting to transition.

We’ll bring together questions about freedom of speech, supporting and championing women and children, a biblical view of manhood and womanhood.

Plus there’s a wider question here about social media pile-on, cancel-culture and the use of labels like “TERF” and “transphobic” to shut down conversation.

We need to lead but for some of us there’s a sense that it’s not obvious where we want to go! And yet we want to take everyone with us.

We apply Kotter’s Change Management theories to the post COVID-19 restart.

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.

Kids and youth ministries have been especially vulnerable during COVID-19.

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?

We talk about the future of singing in church during the COVID-19 recovery 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.

he pub test of ‘religious liberty’ in the COVID-19 reboot

In New South Wales, Australia, pubs and clubs will soon be allowed to open for 50 people but churches will still be restricted to 10.

Cornerstone Presbyterian Minister Mark Powell says “I guess that’s because having a beer and playing the pokies is an “essential” service, whereas worshipping God and having a cup of tea or coffee with a small group of people is just too dangerous? At least churchgoers don’t need to be breathalysed after they leave.”

Mark joins us live to discuss this discrepancy in NSW government health policy.

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?

Leading our churches successfully out of COVID-19 is going to be much more complex than the journey in.

Brian Tung 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.

Today we get totally nitty gritty/extremely practical and we are talking church seating in stage three.. with the Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead.

The road map - from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison - indicates that there is going to be a moment that the government is calling 'stage three', probably/potentially mid July when meetings of up to 100 people will be able to take place.

Michael Stead is the Bishop of South Sydney and he’s been thinking through how to navigate what are the implications of the 100 limit practically on church buildings.

How is a crisis an opportunity to lead strategic change? The road forward . Four scenarios and three questions for every church leadership team.

Churches are starting to plan for a post shutdown world. Adam Lowe is senior pastor of St Barts Toowoomba, as well as being a psychologist who has focused on an organisations and Gary Koo is the Bishop leading the Sydney Anglican Church’s Covid-19 Diocesan Taskforce.

We 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 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.

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.

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.