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The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele
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The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

Author: Dominic Steele

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Christian leaders join Dominic Steele for a deep end conversation about our hearts and different aspects of Christian ministry each Tuesday at 2pm Sydney time.

We share personally, pastorally and professionally about how we can best fulfill Jesus' mission to save the lost and serve the saints. 

The discussion is broadcast live on Facebook then available in audio and video on our website http://www.thepastorsheart.net

345 Episodes
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The old saying is ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’  But could the spark of story telling, and celebrating faith increase evangelism in churches and on university campuses everywhere?National Director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students Richard Chin is emphasising the importance of prayer, through what he calls a 'two-for-two' model, and asks churches to join him in consistent branding in a nationwide push to introduce people to Jesus.We discuss practical steps to integrate evangelism into the church's DNA, champion the role of head, heart, and hand in fostering a consistent culture of outreach.Rory Shiner is senior pastor of Providence Church, Perth and Chair of the Gospel Coalition Australia.Baden Stace leads the ministry team at St Stephens Normanhurst in Sydney’s north.Elliot Temple is missions pastor at Christ Church St Ives also in Sydney’s north. ***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
“It’s like they got the exegesis spot on, then closed their eyes, fired an arrow randomly into the air, opened their eyes to see where it landed and said, ‘That looks like a good place to do application!’” - Theological College lecturer on student sermon application.But are those of us who have graduated from theological college much better? For after all the students are just imitating what we have modelled.Dean of Students at Sydney’s Moore Theological College Paul Grimmond has just completed a doctor of ministry project on improving application in evangelical preaching.***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Andrew Leslie is encouraging us to first take a step back from practical concerns and reflect on the beauty and wisdom of the bible’s teaching about manhood and womanhood.In much contemporary debate about gender we focus on practical questions about what different people can do.  However the head of Moore Theological College’s Doctrine Department says the picture of gender in the beginning is not an arbitrary divine imposition that comes with its own set of arbitrary rules and instructions. Rather, the man and the woman together – and only together – irreducibly different and yet one inconceivable without the other, created a microcosm of God’s own very being and character and glory, summing up the wisdom and creative word of God.Andrew Leslie gave the keynote addresses at the Priscilla and Aquila Conference in Sydney. Talk One: https://bit.ly/49ABygt Talk Two: https://bit.ly/3ORxWhI He wants us as pastors to more fully appreciate the beauty of the bible’s teaching.***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Stephen McAlpine says the real question is “Does the future have a church?”The statistics are not our friend.We have been talking on The Pastor’s Heart about dropping church attendance. Stephen McAlpine is writing about the more widespread phenomenon.He says some countries like the US are coming off a high base and in those places there is fat and cultural cachet to play with, whereas the level of religious commitment in the UK has dropped so dramatically that it is possible to imagine a time when Christianity will be a thing of the past.In Australia the proportion of people self identifying as Christians has shrunk to 51% down from 67% just ten years ago.Church attendance across the west is collapsing with the rise of nones and dones.Ministry Consultant Stephen McAlpine from Perth in Western Australia has a new book FUTUREPROOF.Order online: https://wanderingbookseller.com.au/products/future-proof***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Social media is changing again. In an increasingly digital age, our collective consciousness is captured by infinite scrolling, short-form videos, and internet personalities. A church's social media presence has gone from an optional nicety to a key lever for engaging newcomers to church.How can pastors and ministry teams best capture the opportunities that can come with social media? How can a church's resources be best assigned to this new space? What if our gifts and skills don't line up?Hannah Thiem and Liz Fong discuss best practice and minimum dose for churches and pastors on social media.They highlight some of the biggest church wins on social media.Hannah Thiem works at leading social media company Hello Social working with major corporates, and on the side does social media for Sydney Anglicans and Dubbo Presbyterian Church.Liz Fong runs social media for Reach Australia and advises churches on best practice in social media.***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
How can male senior pastors have better relationships with the women on their ministry teams, where everyone shares complementarian convictions.In those contexts - there are stories around that suggesting that relationships between some senior pastors and the women on the teams have been strained and have sometimes broken down completely.There’s been massive cost to the individual, the team, the churches and to gospel work.Clare Deeves has just completed her PhD, studying working relationships between women employed in complementarian ministry teams and the senior pastor who they work with.Clare serves as an Assistant minister at Kallaroo Anglican Church in Perth.  And lectures in church history at Trinity Theological College Perth.***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
What can we learn from recent secular literature about the practice of Christian pastoral leadership? Head of Ministry at Sydney’s Moore Theological College Archie Poulos looks at how the 'The Infinite Game' concept, popularized by Simon Sinek, can be applied to ministry. Sinek explores the consequences of short and long term thinking in business and life. Long term success is more likely when an infinite perspective is taken.Then we examine Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal’s book ‘The Human Element: Overcoming the resistance that awaits new ideas.'Archie considers the emotional and psychological hurdles (inertia, effort, emotion, and reactance) that congregations face when change is suggested.We look back to ‘After the Ball’ by Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, a 1989 secular play book for effecting LGBTI societal acceptance.  Archie suggests there are lessons from aspects of that strategy for Christian mission.Plus Archie talks about what impressed him about Andrew Heard’s soon to be released book ‘Growth and Change - The danger and necessity of a passion for church growth.Purchase/download links to the books discussed this week:Growth and Change - by Andrew Heard - The danger and necessity of a passion for church growth The Infinite Game - by Simon Sinek - exploring the consequences of short and long term thinking in business and life The Human Element: Overcoming the resistance that awaits new ideas - by Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal After the Ball - by Marshall Kirk and Hunter MadsenHuman Sexuality and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate - by Mark Thompson (Editor)***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
‘Many of the ways we are running our churches and ministries and many of the ways we are exercising leadership within our churches, has become a significant hindrance to the growth of the church.’Andrew Heard’s about to be released book Growth and Change will be the ‘must read’ book for pastors for 2024.In his opening preface Gospel Coalition founder  DA Carson - says ‘I am usually loath to proclaim that such and such a book is the best in it’s field … but if there is one book that happily serves as the exception to the rule, Heard’s book is it.Change is painful.  Why don’t we want to change?We cannot be content to just be faithful, if we mean faithfulness has no regard for the growth of God’s church.The younger leader is more likely to succumb to the dangers relating to a passion for growth.  However for older leaders,  ‘As we age, it is possible to get stuck… We have battled for so long under the weight of small things, that our vision has shrunk to become no larger than the day to day needs of the church.’How do we get unstuck? ‘Leading change requires significant emotional, relational and creative energy. But most church leaders have very little in the tank…'Pre order ‘Growth and Change’ http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/growth-and-change***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Gospel ministry in the Indian Ocean is growing rapidly.Anglican Primate James Wong leads the ministry in Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius and is visiting Sydney, on a speaking tour of the Church Missionary Society Australian Summer Conferences.Archbishop Wong charts a course for further growth in ministry in his region.Plus he outlines the detailed back room work taking place to reset the Anglican Communion, following the failure of the Church of England leadership to repent, ahead of the significant Global South meeting in Cairo in June.Archbishop Wong is an advisor to the Gafcon Primates Council and serves on the leadership group of the Anglican Global South Fellowship.http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/growth-archbishop-james-wong***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
The massive drop in church attendance is a crisis facing churches across the Western World and there are external pressures and internal weaknesses that need to be addressed at every level of the church.We highlighted a few months ago the attendance drop in Sydney Anglican Evangelical Churches in the last ten years. Raj Gupta first called it a plateau problem.  But the data released at last September’s Synod shows it’s now much worse.  From a high in 2015, attendance in 2019 was down 7.5 percent. And in 2022, attendance was down a further ten percent.Even allowing for a covid factor even assuming some sort of bounce back these are figures that we should talk about.Andrew Heard, the senior pastor of EV Church on the Central Coast, has challenged Evangelical Anglican leaders in Sydney to look at their hearts, head and hands, saying there’s a heart problem and a skill deficit.David Rietveld is senior pastor of Dapto Anglican Church to the South of Sydney, and the author of ‘Being Christian after Christendom' partially agrees with Andrew but gives more weight to the problems in the soil. ***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
We catch up with Australian Christian musician for one of our funniest ever episodes, but with a serious message.Colin talks with Dominic Steele about managing life as a public Christian, living with integrity in family, church and while engaging in the secular media.Colin draws on his experience with Play School to share top tips for kids' ministry and shares his insights on planning public Christian events.We delve into Colin’s approach to songwriting and how he balances truth and clarity within simple songs, designed for kids.Plus Colin launches a new and exclusive song "If you have ever made a mess, say yes!”Colin also confronts controversial questions such as  ESV or NIV, Ford or Holden… and answers tough questions about what he would do if Archbishop?Join us for a wild and fun ride as we explore the heart of this amazing Christian leader.Check Colin's website: https://colinbuchanan.com.au/https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/bestof-colin-buchanan-archbishop***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
‘Do not be anxious about anything’ says the Apostle Paul.  But Paul Grimmond says saying that to an anxious person is a bit like telling an icecream not to melt in summer.How do we think biblically about anxiety while taking on board what else is happening with a person’s biology and environment?How can we see anxiety as a gift? What does the interplay between mind and body look like? How does sin contribute to anxiety?  What place for counseling? Self talk? Paul Grimmond is a lecturer at Sydney’s Moore Theological College.  He came into speak to us about his book -  ‘When the noise won’t stop: A Christian guide to dealing with anxiety’.To purchase a copy: https://bit.ly/3y2FULL***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
As we head to 2024 most of us are recasting ministry teams for the new year.But how can we do this without making some of the mistakes that we have made in 2023?How do we do better with staff teams  and all the various volunteer ministry teams across our church?And even in the best places - there’s an inertia that we will slip back to functioning as rosters… How do we fix that?Grahame Fuller is a long term senior leader at EV Church on the Central Coast.  Jo Gibbs is the Effective Teams consultant for Reach Australia. http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/relationships-results-rhythms-ministry-teams***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
How can we make our Christmas Services better?With just a few days to Christmas, and while some of us are well planned, some of us are still scrambling around putting things together.Whether it’s Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, or a kids gathering, carols or Gingerbread and Wreathmaking...What are the pitfalls we can fall into?  How do we avoid them?James Galea is senior minister of Freshwater Anglican Church. Dave Jensen will be working next year with the Sydney Anglican Churches Evangelism and New Churches team to encourage best practice evangelism.http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/improving-your-christmas-talk***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Cultural changes and increasing push back against churches are impacting youth ministries. It is getting  much harder for Christian Teenagers to be Christian among their secular peers.Teenagers don’t just walk in the door of a church.What are latest youth ministry trends and opportunities? How can we do youth ministry on the front foot?Andy Stevenson is Director of the Sydney Anglican Youthworks’ youth & children’s ministry division and Special Religious Education (Scripture Ministry).Ruth Lee is Youth worker at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Sydney.http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/collaboration-in-youth-ministry***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Poverty is fundamentally relational says David WilliamsWhat might a theology of caring for the poor look like? The bible’s terms for the poor (widow, orphan and alien) are all relational terms which describe someone who has lost relationships and as a result have lost connection with the land.David and his wife Rachel started serving as missionaries in Nairobi, Kenya in 1999. David now serves as principal of the Australian Church Missionary Society Training College St Andrew’s Hall, where Australian missionaries are trained for six months, before heading out to the field.David has just given a provocative paper at the Anglican Aid conference at Sydney’s Moore Theological College and has agreed to come in and discuss it.The issue for David is not just academic, with his first significant engagement with poverty, starting when working in the slums of Nairobi 20-plus years ago.***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
The Church of England has abandoned the teaching of Jesus with prayers for same sex blessings potentially to start before Christmas. ‘Tragic’ says Gafcon.‘Disastrous’ says the Global South. ‘Deeply Troubled’ says the Church of England Evangelical Council‘First order difference requires first order differentiation’ says Vaughan Roberts ‘It is hard not to dissolve into a flood of tears’ says the Mark Thompson the principal of Sydney’s Moore College. ‘The Archbishop of Canterbury should resign’ - says the Church Society’s Lee Gatiss.The English General Synod has crossed a line that evangelicals across the world had been praying and hoping would not happen.The General Synod expressed its support by a tiny majority of just a few votes for the continued implementation of the House of Bishops proposals to change the position and practice of the Church of England with regards to sexual ethics and marriage. We now expect the English bishops to commend prayers of blessing for same sex couples by mid-December (and provide dedicated services soon after), to prepare guidance which will make it possible for clergy to marry their same sex partners, and that future ordinands will not to be asked to indicate whether their lifestyle and personal relationships are in keeping with the doctrine of the Church of England.Vaughan Roberts is one of the UK’s leading evangelical ministers within the church of England.  Vaughan is senior pastor of St Ebbes in Oxford.http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/vaughan-roberts-on-english-synod***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
Years and years of putting your feet up is the lifestyle of the sluggard.To be a sluggard is a so called ‘deadly sin.’The concept we now know as retirement is a 19th century invention and not a Christian concept.Former Missionary, Bible College lecturer and principal Mike Raiter says the idea that we should stop work at 65 and enjoy 20 or 30 years of rest is not biblical.How should we think about the stage of life that starts at 65.  What are the ministry opportunities available? What are the sins and temptations that the over 65’s are prone to?And how can younger pastors speak to those who are older?http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/growing-old-mike-raiter***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
It’s going to be an especially bumpy six months for religious freedom issues in New South Wales..Legalised Euthanasia will be rolled out in just a few weeks. But what about faith based aged care institutions, where organizations and staff are conscientious objectors to euthanasia? Then there’s the Law Reform Commission inquiry into religious schooling and whether the religious exemptions to anti discrimination law should be removed. And the debate over conversion therapy will come to a head in the parliament. Monica Doumit is Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Catholic Church in Sydney… and was one of the presenters at the Freedom for Faith Conference in Sydney. Mike Southon is executive director of Freedom for Faith http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/euthanasia-discrimination-conversion ***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
A few weeks ago on The Pastor’s Heart we talked with Zac Veron and Raj Gupta about issues confronting Sydney Anglicans.The National Church Life Survey shows a drop in newcomers from 9% in 2011 to 5.4% in 2021 - a more than ten year trend of fewer people joining church. Plus there’s been a 7.5% drop in attendance between 2015 and 2019.But it’s not just the Sydney Anglicans that need a wake up call. It’s most of us in Australian Evangelicalism.And if you are a senior pastor watching from around the world - it’s highly likely that there will be a massive overlap between your problems and our problems. Andrew Heard leads the large and influential EV church on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He’s also the key person behind the influential Reach Australia movement. And is a leader in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churcheshttp://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/problems-of-heart-head-and-hands-andrew-heard***As The Pastor’s Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well.  We want to get better and that takes more resources.  We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor’s Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
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Comments (2)

Rory Weightman

Something has gone wrong with Castbox (maybe other feeds too), last 2 new episodes are going to the end of season 4 not season 5, I only just noticed where they were going!

May 24th
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