The Pastor's Heart with Dominic Steele

The death of Pope Francis marks a pivotal moment for Roman Catholics.

What does this transition mean for the future of Catholicism and how should Protestants respond?

From Vatican City, Leonardo Di Chirico offers a firsthand perspective on reactions in Rome, while Rachel Ciano provides historical context from Sydney.

Many Protestant leaders have referred to Francis as a "brother in Christ," but...

New South Wales’ Conversion Practices Ban Act has just come into effect — along with guidelines from Anti-Discrimination NSW that many Christian leaders believe overstep the legal boundaries and impact ordinary pastoral ministry.

We are joined by legal expert Associate Professor Neil Foster, South Sydney Bishop Michael Stead, and Summer Hill Anglican Assistant Minister Simon Swadling. 

Together, we unpack the implications of the new ...

The new McCrindle report ‘An undercurrent of faith’ says: 

• Those turning to Christian faith are not who we might expect - it’s especially older people, the recently widowed and recently separated or divorced.
• The move is most on away from Christian identity in outer suburbia and regional areas.
• Australians are still turning to Christianity in large numbers, despite a decline in Christian affiliation.
• While 85,000 15-24 year olds ha...

The average 11-year-old spends 4.5 hours daily on non-school screens. By 15, 70% of boys regularly view pornography. This isn't harmless fun—it's rewiring young brains during critical development. 

The addictive nature of social media, the mental health impact on teens, distorted identity and comparison, the way the attention economy undermines discipleship.

Parents (and pastors) so often feel out of their depth.

Marsha...

Today we review the 50 year impact of The University of New South Wales’ Campus Bible Study on Christian ministries across Australia and around the world - in raising up gospel workers, sending missionaries, planting churches and in Christian publishing. 

Former Anglican Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen led the ministry for thirty years till 2005.  Since then Paul Grimmond and Carl Matthei have been senior chaplains. 

Alan Stewart start...

Proclamation is for every Christian, one’s Christian faith is always public and a command is not needed to link faith to speech. 

'I believed therefore I spoke' - That’s what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:13. And yet it’s a verse hardly referred to in the last few decades in discussions over who is responsible for evangelism. 

Chris Braga of Grace West Anglican Church Sydney told the Nexus Conference in Sydney th...

Pastors facing up to our imposter syndrome - navigating the noise that leads us to make bad decisions.

As Pastors, we feel the pressure to have the right answers to people’s questions.

We want to be able to navigate the complexities of life and church and land everyone safely at the other end. 

People share with us and the hardest parts of their lives, they trust us with their most private issues, and time and their money.

And they tru...

A new study shows that training in systematic self reflection will develop resilience among ministry workers, who are at risk of stress related ill health. 

Self reflective resilience training is beneficial to those in ministry roles and programs in this area can minimise stress related ill health. 

BUT, Not all self reflection is equal. 

Organisational Psychologist with Sydney’s Center for Ministry Development Kirsty Bucknell has sur...

We are hearing reports from the university campuses, from young adult ministries, and from youth groups - that there is an increasing openness to the gospel of Jesus - and there’s a new openness among young men. 

There’s a shift in the culture. There’s something happening that is different among young people -  Especially among young men. 

There’s a greater biblical ignorance in the rising generation.  But significantly more openness...

As pastors we’re expressing leadership in our churches on gender and sexuality. We want to help our people think biblically - and yet with the culture moving so fast - it is an area that we feel ill equipped. 

On today’s Pastor’s Heart we benefit from the hard work of Sydney Missionary and Bible College Theology and Ethics lecturer Rob Smith who has just published a reworked version of his PhD under the title ‘The body God gives.’

As...

What happens when a leader operates without a clear vision.  And how poetic or concrete should a vision be? 

How to organise things so the overall vision cascades down through every area of church life? 

What should our pastoral approach be to innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards and the nos. 

Biblical vision and Leadership vision: What is the difference? Why do people mangl...

There are claims - and you hear them every so often - that archeology has disproved this story or that in the bible, and claims from this or that scholar of particularly late dating of different bible books.

How do we as evangelical pastors react/respond/answer those claims?

Hans Kristensen is senior pastor of Marsfield Community Church in Sydney and is studying ancient archaeology.

He suggests that there are 10 major archaelogical fi...

How does godliness play out differently if I am a man, a woman, a young man, a young woman, a husband or a wife?

All Christians are called to live like Christ.  Why does the Apostle Paul choose to write about what godliness looks like for the older and younger and for us as men and women, rather than more generally for us as people? 

Does our age and sex have implications for the challenges we face in living for J...

Godliness vs Effectiveness - the Both/And Ministry dilemma 

• Godliness vs Effectiveness
• Theology vs Pragmatics 
• People centered vs Organisationally minded
• Leading from the front vs Serving others 
• Courage to take a stand vs Quick to submit
• Others know I am one of them vs I am set apart to lead
• I lead patiently vs I lead with a sense of urgency 

Most Christians at some point do start to wonder if they are the real deal.  What God as...

What is the work of the Lord? What is in vain if the resurrection is not true? What truly lasts and what does gospel work looks like in our daily lives? 

The debate over eschatology and one’s view of the new heavens and new earth.   Will there be a Sydney Harbour Bridge in the new creation? 

And in the meantime, what should be our priorities?

William Taylor is the rector of St Helens Church in London, where he is engaged in ministry t...

Indigenous Australians and the Christian Gospel - with Michael Duckett 

As we approach ‘Aboriginal Sunday’ (19 January) we focus on the progress of the gospel among the indigenous in Australia.

What are the cultural changes and what openness to Jesus Christ among Indigenous Australians? 

Where are we seeing growth? What are the roadblocks and opportunities for the growth of the gospel among the indigenous communities? How much has to ...

We speak to Alistair Begg about pastors, suffering, humility and surviving long term in ministry.

Alistair Begg is in Australia speaking at the Church Missionary Society conference in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. 

Alistair has served the people of Cleveland Ohio for 42 years at Parkside Church and has a global impact through the influential Truth for Life Ministry. 

We go backstage with Alistair to discuss:

• His teaching on 1...

How should we guide our congregations in thinking ethically about engagement in Bitcoin? 

What is Bitcoin? 

How do we as Christian leaders assess the morality of bitcoin? 

Proponents say that it’s design fosters transparency and fairness and promotes economic justice.

Critics highlight its speculative risks and potential for illegal use. 

Jeffri Chiam is on the team at St Mary’s Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur.  In 2024 he completed a final y...

Most of us evangelical pastors, theological colleges, indeed the whole of evangelicalism - we have a blind spot when it comes to Roman Catholicism in our theology, missiology and practice. 
 
Where do we as Evangelicals make mistakes in our engagement with the Roman Catholic world? 

What can we change?  What should we change?

How do we best see our Roman Catholic friends come to a personal saving relations...