The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele – Details, episodes & analysis

Paul Donison responds to global reaction to Gafcon’s reset of the Anglican Communion and its declaration that Canterbury’s time is over.

The Lord is removing his Spirit from the Canterbury–Lambeth lampstand, and the centre of global Anglicanism is shifting from London to Africa.

The average Anglican today is not English, not Western, not male — she’s a young African woman in her twenties, probably Nigerian. The Anglican Communion is now catching up with that reality.

Since the Gafcon Primates’ announcement on 16 October 2025 — declaring that Canterbury is out and that the Bible will be the foundation document for a reordered Global Anglican Communion — reaction has been electric: claims of schism, conflict in Ireland, tensions in ACNA, questions about women’s orders, realignments in England, silence from some primates, and fresh courage from others.

And what does this mean for a blended province like Australia?

Gafcon General Secretary Paul Donison joins us with an update on plans for the Global Bishops Gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, 3–6 March 2026.

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How to turn around evangelistic stagnation in your church — or how to start pursuing a 5% goal?

Across Australian Evangelicalism there is a bold goal — growing our churches by 5% per year through conversion growth.

But some pastors are asking:  “We haven’t seen anyone become a Christian here in years… where do we even start?”

We talk:

• Should we even have an evangelism target?
• What are the theological issues?
• How do you start when conversions have been rare?
• What cultural changes actually make a difference?
• Funnels, programs and “conversion engines.”
• And how to build momentum with stories, prayer and team alignment.

Three pastors who are right at the beginning of the journey, Brett Middleton (St Luke’s Miranda),
Ben Molyneux (St Faith’s Narrabeen) and Dan Au (Cornerstone Kogarah) — We set an evangelism target - Now what? 

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This week marks the 100th birthday of Dick Lucas, one of the most influential evangelical leaders of the 20th century. For nearly four decades as Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, Dick shaped a generation of preachers and transformed a quiet city parish into a global centre of expository Bible ministry. The influence of his clear, fearless, and creative preaching continues to ripple out through pulpits around the world.

We’re joined by Peter Jensen (former Archbishop of Sydney and Principal of Moore College) and Phillip Jensen (founder of Two Ways Ministries, former Dean of Sydney Cathedral, and long-time leader of Campus Bible Study). Both were impacted by Dick’s ministry and friendship.

Dick Lucas was a trainer of preachers. He helped us see what could be done with city pulpits, and founded the Proclamation Trust and Cornhill Course.

Our focus is on learning from Evangelical History from a faithful, eccentric, humble servant of Christ. 

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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. 

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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/?fbclid=IwAR1oWwyuypWcNOcbZrmwuiFcdjcrgrzQ7gQTOXGOyypL-by_PXh_Wf1f82Yhttps://colinbuchanan.com.au/

https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/bestof-colin-buchanan-archbishop

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‘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

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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

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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

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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

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Poverty is fundamentally relational says David Williams

What 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.

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