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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‘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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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

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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

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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 

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Reaching the 70% of the population who are significantly underrepresented in our churches.

We’re talking about everyday Australians — people who’ve gone straight into the workforce rather than university. That includes hairdressers, plumbers, builders, business owners, factory workers, truck drivers, IT staff, and media creatives — as well as many in marginalised communities.

Within this group, there’s huge diversity:

• Some are winners — financially successful builders and entrepreneurs.
• Others are respectables — valuing hard work, morals, and family.
• Some are survivors — juggling multiple jobs and doing it tough.
• And there are those living in hard places — facing struggles with welfare, addiction, and family stress.

Yet while this group represents the majority of Australians, they make up only a small minority in our churches. Why is that? And how can we do better?

• Andrew Beddo — principal trainer at the Vocational Bible College, equipping gospel workers for everyday Australians.
• Coz Crosscombe — director of The Well Training Program at Mount Druitt, focused on training leaders from marginalised communities.
• Simon Gillham — vice principal at Moore Theological College, working on cross-cultural and literacy challenges in ministry.

We discuss why this group is missing from many of our congregations, the cultural and learning barriers they face, and how we can shape ministry, training, and preaching to better reach them with the good news of Jesus.

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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 Churches

http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/problems-of-heart-head-and-hands-andrew-heard

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Rolling out the Global Anglican rescue - with Archbishop Justin Badi Arama 

Nicky Gumbel teams up with the Global South in rebuking Archbishop Justin Welby

Slowly, carefully, but quite deliberately, a new locus of leadership is emerging within the global Anglican Communion, a locus that significantly is intentionally focused on Christ and biblical authority and not focused on London, England or the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

An important meeting of the Primates of the Global South and other leader of the Anglican Community has just wrapped up in Cairo. 

Significantly and surprisingly the 13 orthodox Primates were joined at their meeting by Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of the Alpha Course and London’s Holy Trinity Brompton’s massive UK church planting network. 

Nicky Gumbel has been a friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby since high school. 

Chair of the Global South Archbishop Justin Badi Arama spells out the plans to reset the Anglican Communion, coming out of the Cairo meeting.

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We traverse the historical landscape of identity, starting from Descartes' cogito ergo sum or "I think, therefore I am," to the current age where identity has become a commodity. 

Chris Watkin, the award-winning author of the Biblical Critical Theory, helps us understand possessive individualism, starting with John Locke, expressive individualism, and how both terms help us grapple with modern identity formation.

Plus, we probe into the delicate balance between dignity and humility in the context of human identity. 

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Our focus today is on the massive legacy of some of the greatest women of church history.  We discuss how different the Jesus’ mother Mary (as portrayed in the New Testament) is to Mary as she’s popularly thought of.  We focus on the account of one of the early martyrs, 22 year old mother Perpetua, who was fed to the lions.  

We look at England’s nine day queen Lady Jane Grey and her mentoring by the Swiss Protestant reformer Heinrich Bullinger.  Then there’s the extraordinary story of Salvation Army co-founder Catherine Booth’s campaign to have the age of consent raised in England from 12 to the eventual age of 16.  And Gladys Alward’s 350 kilometer trek across the mountains of China with 100 orphan children.

Click here to purchase Ten dead gals you should know by Rachel Ciano and Ian Maddox

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Whether we are the senior pastor, theological college lecturer, missionary, student worker, Christian publisher, or denominational leader - we all work within an evangelical ecosystem.

And it’s possible for us to make it harder or easier for our ministry peers to play their part in glorifying God. 

Mikey Lynch’s new book The Vine Movement, published by Matthias Media (https://bit.ly/vinemovement), explores how churches, missionary organisations, evangelical student ministries, chaplains and denominations can all work together best.

Mikey Lynch is a director of Reach Australia, leads the AFES staff team at the University in Hobart and is the editorial director for Gospel Coalition Australia. 

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Now, where and how for Sydney Anglicans - with Raj Gupta and Zac Veron

The future of the Anglican Church in Sydney.  

We engage in a ‘Stockdale Paradox’ discussion, confronting the brutal facts about attendance, finances and National Church Life Survey data about mission, newcomers and maturity. 

Plus we review the recent Sydney Anglican Synod debate where leader after leader poured out their heart. 

• The gap is widening between the diocese’s declining attendance and Sydney’s growing population.
• While there are COVID factors, the National Church Life Survey trends are clearly observable and are worrying.
• There’s a difference between having a heart for evangelism and knowing how to engage effectively. 
• While gross giving has increased, real giving (adjusted for inflation) seems to be down. 
• There’s a clear difficulty with strategic planning and implementation. 
• What to do about the accelerating trend of people moving to larger churches. 

We look at the hard facts and attempt to chart a way forward. 

Zac Veron is the senior minister of Bayside Anglican Church, Sydney.

Raj Gupta is the senior minister of Carlingford Anglican Church, Sydney.

http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/sydney-anglicans-now-where-how-raj-zac

References: 

Slides used in this discussion. 

How to increase your newcomers - 2019 study 

Raw data on Attendance (Zac Veron’s questions) 

Raw data on Giving (Raj Gupta’s questions) 

Raw data on National Church Life Survey (Dominic Steele’s questions) 

Sydney Mission 2020 Goals (set in 2014) 

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Social Justice is a fiercely contested concept among Christians. Often discussions about caring for the poor have not been grounded in a biblical vision for gospel ministry.. 

Evangelicals have been criticized for appearing to be weak on social justice. 

The charge is that we have been so focused on gospel ministry that the poor and disadvantaged have been neglected. How does caring for the poor fit with the mission of Jesus church? 

Tim Swan is the CEO of Sydney’s Anglican Aid, which hosted an important conference last weekend ‘Reframing Social Justice.’  

Ed Loane is Warden at St Paul’s College in Sydney and lectures in Church History part time at Moore Theological College.

Berthier Lainirina is Principal of St Patrick’s Theological College Madagascar

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We send out missionaries.  But sometimes it doesn’t work out.  There’s a forced return home.  Dashed hopes.  And all sorts of understanding and support - from the mission agency, supporter churches, pastor friends and others.

Stan and Clare Lie were serving with the Church Missionary Society, lecturing in theology in the middle east, and serving with a church in Alexandria, before being called home during COVID. 

Jenni Woodhouse is pastoral care consultant with the Church Missionary Society.

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How should Christians respond to customs, traditions, and stories that have associations with false religions, demonic powers, and evil?

Could a church building be covered in cobwebs and used as an invitation to come inside?

Would you run a Halloween event for the kids of your church so they don’t feel like they are missing out? Or would you run something as an outreach to connect to the neighborhood? 

Is it about the occult and to be avoided at all costs and denounced or is it kids in funny outfits and junk food? 

To talk Halloween, kids and churches our guests are: 

Craig Roberts, CEO of Sydney’s Anglican Youthworks and former minister of Neutral Bay Anglican Church.

Kristen Young, Director of student and community care at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. 

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Join us in conversation with Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi, as they unravel the complexities of Modern India and the Hindu perspective, and helpful ways to engage them with the gospel.

Particularly as immigrants from the Indian subcontinent to Australia increase. Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi explore how the foundations of modern India have been profoundly shaped by the Bible and the Protestant Missionary Movement.

They also address touch questions like the issue of female infanticide and widow burning within this context.

Through this enlightening conversation, both gain deeper insights into the intricate tapestry of India's cultural and religious landscape, as well as the potential paths towards transforming the lives of our Hindu friends.

Plus why is India so obsessed with the movie Oppenheimer?

http://thepastorsheart.net/podcast/modern-india-vishal-mangalwaldi

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After a significant debate over two days, the Sydney Anglican Synod has voted unanimously to embark on a bold new five-year mission focus, praying and working towards five percent growth in church attendance through the conversion of the lost, each year.

The resolution, “in a spirit of humble dependence and pastoral flexibility,” invited every part of the diocesan fellowship to commit to the goal. 

Pete Stedman, Senior Minister of Norwest Anglican, spoke of a turning point for his own parish after a review.

“We realised we had drifted from what matters most. We were measuring busyness, not fruit. We were celebrating activity, but not conversion. That day, God convicted us. We repented, and we asked him to change our hearts.”

“This is about humble dependence. It is about acknowledging that we cannot change a single heart. Only God can. But in his kindness, he calls us to pray, to preach, and to persevere.”

Read the full report

This episode (from before the synod debate) will help with your staff team and   to stimulate thinking about how you might best get across this issue. 

Our guests are Pete Stedman, senior minister at Norwest Anglican Church, and a member of the Archbishop’s subcommittee that proposed the 5% goal, Jon Kwan, lead pastor at St. David's Forestville and Jo Gibbs, senior consultant with Reach Australia.

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We put lots of emphasis and training into becoming better teachers.  But how can we improve the clarity, comprehension, conviction and confidence in public reading?

Bad public bible reading is too soft, too fast, with mispronunciations, lack of preparation, bad pausing, emotionless,  lacking understanding of the text, monotone and mono speed. 

Good public bible reading is faithful to text, without errors, understands context, has good eye contact, articulation, conviction, flow. 

Simon Camilleri is a member of Melbourne’s Bundoora Presbyterian Church. See http://www.PublicBibleReading.com

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What are the issues that senior pastors of smaller churches face - personally and to do with church culture, mission and identity.

What are the joys and tensions? What is ministry success? 

What are the common pastoral frustrations? 

How is long term ministry fruitfulness helped or hindered by our ecclesiology? 

What are the particular issues that come up in the middle years of incumbencies? (years four to nine)

The reality is that most churches are small churches… they are under 175 members. 

Stephen Anderson is pastor of Oatley West Anglican Church in the South of Sydney.

Stephen has completed a major project on ‘Encouragement for the small church pastor (http://www.smallchurch.au)

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There have been massive social changes as the western world has shifted from a Christian world view to a post Christian world view. 

In his new book ‘Being Christian after Christendom’, the senior pastor of Dapto Anglican Church David Rietveld analyzes the changes that churches, pastors and parents face in this transition. 

Six weeks ago on The Pastor’s Heart David gave his explanation of the problem (https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/being-christian-after-christendom). 

David is back today to paint a positive way forward for evangelism and parenting amongst the post Christian world view.

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The Barbie movie has started big conversations around the world and is becoming a significant ‘cultural moment’ - opening up and influencing conversations about death, the gospel, the relationships between men & women and worldview. 

We explore particularly the evangelistic opportunities and how Christians might best engage.

• Caitlin Orr is an Anglican Deacon on maternity leave. 
• Sophia Russell is a journalist, mum and member of St Paul’s Carlingford in Sydney’s north west. 
• Jael Riegl is a member at Dapto Anglican Church, to the south of Sydney, and has recently graduated from a degree in English Literature, Law and Philosophy. 

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1 Timothy 2:8-15 might be the most controversial New Testament passage.  

There has been an enormous amount of scholarly attention on this section of scripture, especially over the last few decades, and there are practical questions that we can’t ignore in church life. 

Lionel Windsor is a New Testament lecturer at Sydney’s Moore Theological College. Lionel teaches the pastoral epistles to third year students. So is abreast of the scholarly debate. 

Lionel gave a super helpful seminar a few months ago at the Priscilla and Aquila Conference held by Moore College.  We have linked to that seminar and Lionel’s notes here. 

What are the elephants in the room - Culturally, Philosophically, in Scholarship. 

What are the issues of interpretation? How do we approach the passage? 
What issues surround 1 Timothy?

What is the significance of ‘quietness’?, ‘let her learn’?, ‘to teach’?

What is the connection between teaching and authority? 

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How do we connect for Jesus with the largest group of migrants coming into Australia?

In just in the last few years - the group of Hindus migrating from India have overtaken China and the UK to become the largest constituency of migrants. 

Evangelizing Hindus is a massive priority.

Ben George is chair of the Sydney Anglican South Asian ministry committee known as Satya  

Clive has just started as an Evangelist reaching Hindus / South Asians with Evangelism and New Churches.

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 A heart for the persecuted pastor - with Dan Oli Shani.

One in seven Christians are persecuted globally.  That’s 360 million Christians who are denied access to jobs and education, are arrested, attacked, and even killed for following Jesus.

Worst effected according to the Open Doors World Watch List are Christians in North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Iran.

All that sounds so distant from the comfort of an armchair in Sydney.

Open Doors International is deeply engaged with ministry to persecuted Christians.  

Open Door’s Global CEO is Dan Ole Shani from Kenya.  Dan shares his pastor’s heart for the persecuted with Dominic Steele, and suggests ways forward. 

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What is meant by each of the terms biological sex, gendered behaviors or expressions, sexual orientation and gendered identity? How do the various terms relate? 

We talk to former director of Sydney University’s  Graduate Program in Sexual Heath, Dr Patricia Weerakoon, Rob Smith, who is head of doctrine at Sydney Missionary and Bible College and Rev Kamal Weerakoon, who has done masters studies in this area.  

Rob, Patricia and Kamal  are encouraging us to treat with love and compassion those with gender dysphoria or gender incongruence. 

They want to warn against being intimated, silenced and demoralized by pressure from activists and lobby groups who might seek to impose a transgender ideology on everyone.

They have just published ‘The Gender Revolution’ which attempts to chart a biblical, biological and compassionate response. (https://matthiasmedia.com.au/products/the-gender-revolution)

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We take a pulse check on the health of preaching in Australian Evangelical Churches with one of our leading preachers, from Melbourne’s Centre for Biblical Preaching, Mike Raiter. 

Mike has just spent a few weeks surveying twenty different Australian Churches - watching  their sermons online - and analysing them on type of sermon, biblical genre, who was being preached to, faithfulness to text, length of sermon, appropriateness of application, and how well the preacher addressed the heart? 

Mike listened to ten evangelical Anglican Churches from across the country, and ten evangelical churches from a range of denominations from the Queensland capital Brisbane.

Mike’s detailed review of the sermons is published in the EFAC Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion Magazine. 

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Major cultural change is making a big impact on Christians and the church.  Something radical has changed. 

Admitting you follow Jesus ‘weirds people out’ in a way it never has before.  And doing church the way we did no longer yields the same results. 

Senior minister of Dapto Anglican David Rietfield says there’s fewer new people and the regulars are coming less frequently. 

David has a new book out ‘Being Christian after Christendom’ 

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The call to ministry is a call to lay down your life for others, but how do we create a well-thought-out roadmap toward pastoral perseverance - when there are external and/or internal difficulties? 

How do we approach congregational conflict, criticism, unrealistic expectations or personal health, financial and family stress? 

Why is pastoral friendship not optional, but essential? 

Today on The Pastor’s Heart, there’s advice for pastors who feel isolated and are feeling like quitting. 

Brian Croft leads Practical Shepherding in Louisville Kentucky.

Matthew Spandler Davison also lives in Louisville, serves with Practical Shepherding, and as an executive director of 20 Schemes, Church in Hard Places in Scotland as well as the preaching pastor for Redeemer Fellowship in Bardstown, Kentucky. 

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What is the relationship between concupiscence and sexual same sex attraction?

One of the most contentious issues facing the Christian Church at this moment is how can Christians think and speak truthfully, clearly and compassionately about desire and temptation in a way that does not condone or encourage sin? 

There were years in Christian ministry where I never really thought about the term concupiscence, and many of my peers, when I mention it say. ‘Remind me again what concupiscence is?’

The tenth of the Anglican Church’s 39 Articles says (in part) that: ‘concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.’

Over the last few years, the relationship between the doctrine of concupiscence and ministry to those who experience same sex attraction has become a burning issue (and a right understanding of it will massively help many of the debates around ministry to Christians experiencing sexual same sex attraction).

Rob Smith lectures at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, serves in the Sydney Anglican Ministry, the Council of Living Faith, and is a member of the Sydney Anglican Doctrine Commission, which has just produced a report on the relationship between concupiscence and sexual same sex attraction. 

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Are our Gentile Pastor’s Hearts out of step with God? 

The Apostle Paul says the gospel should be first for the Jew, but Joseph Steinberg, is calling for a rethink, saying often the western church has as it’s priorities: the gospel being ‘last for the Jew.’

Should we think of Jews as ‘another people group’ or given their special place in God’s unfolding plan, should they have a special place in mission priorities?

Joseph Steinberg is Global CEO of International Mission to Jewish People.  Mark and Rahel Landrom are Sydney Missionaries with International Mission to Jewish People. 

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In almost every personal conversation I’ve had since returning from Africa I’ve been asked about my personal reflections on the almost four weeks that Catherine and I spent there. 

How was Gafcon?  What was significant? What stood out? How has Africa impacted you?

This episode features conversations with Archbishop Tito Zavala (Chile), Archbishop James Wong (Indian Ocean), Rico Tice (Christianity Explored), Richard Coekin (London), Vaughan Roberts (Oxford), Michael Charles (Anglican Aid http://www.anglicanaid.org.au), Melina Galiboma (Link Officer, Mara Diocese),  Bishop Mwita Akiri (Teremi, Tanzania) 

1. Gafcon Kigali was a landmark moment in Global Anglican history and it was a privilege to play a small part in it
2. Gafcon emphasised faithfulness to Jesus and the priority of mission
3. There are real issues that theological conservatives need to talk about regarding sexuality
4. It was good leave the Kigali first class hotel and see real Africa by touring rural Tanzania.  
5. It’s amazing what CMS and Anglican Aid have and are achieving in rural Tanzania
6. Key to the future is raising theological education standards in Africa
7. Christians are helping with the darkside of the Serengeti - preventing Female Gentile Mutilation
8. The Africans’ hospitality and generosity was overwhelming

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Our Pastor’s Hearts are in New York City as we honour New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church founder Tim Keller who died yesterday. 

All the congregations of Keller’s church Redeemer Presbyterian Church met together overnight, for an evening originally planned to cast the next stage of Redeemer’s Vision, but which became a moment for the church family to grieve and pray after the death of Rev Keller.

Tim Keller had a massive impact on New York City, and globally, as an author, preacher, the co-founder of the Gospel Coalition, and the founder of City to City. 

Tony Carnes, who joined Redeemer a year after Keller planted the church, and writes for nycreligion.info, says it was a night of high emotion as they remembered their pastor, grieved, prayed and celebrated together, and looked forward to the future. 

Read Tony Carnes obituary for his pastor here. 

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Richard Borgonon is the author of Word 1-2-1.  He presented at the recent Gafcon Conference in Kigali, Rwanda alongside Christianity Explored’s Rico Tice on how a church might have an integrated evangelistic strategy incorporating both an evangelistic course and a program where members are encouraged to personally evangelise their friends through personal bible reading. 

After Rico Tice headed off for a coffee, we sat down to ask Richard how might this work.

http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/attractional-and-missional-richard-borgonon 

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After Queen Elizabeth’s funeral last year, Saturday’s coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla was probably the biggest reaching church service of our lifetimes.

We analyze the service theologically and missionally and compare it with the coronation service of Charles’ Mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Is it in any way better theologically and where is it worse? 

• Mark Earngey lectures in Church History at Sydney’s Moore Theological College. 
• Sandy Grant is the Dean of Sydney.  And today is leading three Sunday services at St Andrew’s Cathedral marking the coronation.
• Brett Murphy is Vicar in the parish of St David’s in Broom Leys in Leicestershire in the UK.

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Sydney’s Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has responded to Gafcon’s Kigali Commitment which says the Archbishop of Canterbur Justin Welby’s continued leadership of the Anglican Communion is entirely indefensible.

Leaders representing 85% of the Anglican Communion say they have no confidence in the Archbishop of Canterbury or the other instruments of the Anglican Communion.

In his first interview, since the release of Gafcon’s Kigali Communique, Archbishop Raffel sits down with Dominic Steele while on a tour of Anglican Aid projects in rural Tanzania (see http://www.anglicanaid.org.au). 

Archbishop Raffel was named new Vice Chair of Gafcon at the meeting in Rwanda in April. 

Responding to the criticism of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Kigali Commitment, Archbishop Raffel said if 85% of membership rejected my leadership, I’d resign. 

#gafcon23 #gafcon #anglican #tanzania #anglicanaid #cms

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An extraordinary story of God working by his spirit in the life of African Anglican Primate Laurent Mbanda

As a four year old barefoot refugee Larent (and his parents) fled Rwanda in 1959 for Burundi. 

Larent came to a saving trust in Jesus Christ as a child. He later lead the Compassion Relief Effort in the way of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. 

Larent Mbanda is now the Anglican Primate of Rwanda and the Deputy Chair of the Gafcon Movement. 

Take a moment to be encouraged by the extraordinary story of God’s grace in his life, and the amazing ways that God has used him. 

Larent Mbanda will be the host of the big Gafcon Conference 17-21 April 2023 in Kigali.  We will be bringing you all the news from that conference live from the Kigali Foyer. 

Anglican Aid
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What is the relationship between clergy leadership behaviors and burnout? 

How does destructive leadership behavior relate to burnout? 

What about conflict at church?  How does a minister being the target of personal violence correlate to thoughts of quitting? 

How is it different if you are a solo minister or part of a team?  

And what if you are the team leader or a team member?  Plus how is it different for women in ministry?

We discuss this past episode and this one  

See Valerie’s comments

Valerie Ling leads the Sydney’s Center for Effective Living and Center for Effective Serving 

http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/behaviour-and-burnout-valerie-ling

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How do we as pastors help people with addictions? Addictions to alcohol, gambling, narcotics, gaming and sex addictions.

How much is sin? How much is addiction? 

Penny Wilkinson and her husband Andrew direct the Overcomers Outreach ministry and the Overcomers Place in Sydney. 

Penny has just marked 20 years of Sobriety, having had her last drink of alcohol on 18 March 2003.

http://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/overcomers-penny-andrew-wilkinson

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Today our focus on The Pastor’s Heart is on how to preach for transformation for real changes in people’s lives. 

Two men with a lifetime’s passion for preaching — Robin Sydserff,  Director of the Proclamation Trust and David Cook, former principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College and a long-time preaching mentor - now with the Expository Preaching Trust.

We start by looking at how Christian leaders the UK and Australia influenced preaching patterns overseas. 

We look at preaching that has led to record enrolments at Bible Colleges, the purpose of preaching, the life and relationships of the preacher, training preachers and what patience is needed in preaching growth. 

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We are not called to be entertainers, but preachers.  How might we as individuals and as leaders of God’s people tremble before him? And are we going soft on this?

What is the connection between the text and the preacher? As a preacher, how long since you have been rebuked and repented? How has your world view has been challenged recently? 

Paul Grimmond is Dean of Students at Sydney’s Moore Theological College. 

Phil Coglan is senior pastor at Sydney’s St George North Anglican Church.  

They were both keynote speakers at the ‘Tremble at His word’ Nexus Conference in Sydney last week (http://nexusconference.sydney).

http://thepastorsheart.net/podcast/tremble-at-his-word-phil-colgan-paul-grimmond

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How might our church best relate to other organisations (churches, denominations and parachurches) who are also engaged in the grand cause of reaching the world for Christ?

What is the difference between a church and parachurch and how might they best interact? 

Are para-churches really just crypto-churches? And would we be better off calling them what they really are?   Or do we need to change our patterns of governance and membership to make room for a broader and more diffuse idea of church? 

There are a whole lot of complexities and difficulties wrapped up with how we function togther? 

Mikey Lynch is a Director of Reach Australia and is the new editorial director for the Gospel Coalition Australia.  Mikey leads the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students staff team doing ministry in Hobart at the University of Tasmania. 

Matthias Media have just released his new book ‘The Vine Movement - supporting gospel growth beyond your church.’

https://matthiasmedia.com/products/the-vine-movement

Support The Pastor's Heart 'Heart of Gafcon' coverage by clicking here. 

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How do we work together in complementarian ministry as we lead small group bible studies/growth groups/community groups? 

Small groups are the heart beats of our churches, where we wrestle together on how God might have us live.  

Most groups have a male and female paired together in leadership. But how do those two people work together?

Do we see their roles as identical/mirror images of the other.  Or are the roles different? 

Kara Hartley is Archdeacon for Women’s ministry in the Sydney Anglican Church. 

Tony Payne is chair of Matthias Media, serves on team at Campus Bible Study at Sydney's UNSW, and podcasts with Phillip Jensen at Two Ways News. 

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