Author: Contributor
-
Becoming wider, deeper, wiser and smarter
By The Ven. Bob Jackson (Eyam Parish, Derbyshire): Greetings from England! I have fond memories of doing ‘Leading your Church into Growth’ in Queensland a few years ago. But suddenly the way churches grow has transformed, so we need to transform as well! Around 85 per cent of Church of England benefices appear to have…
-
How to include and support unwell people and those living with a disability in your churches
ACSQ contributor (anonymous): I spent much of my younger years unwell on a Disability Support Pension due to a number of interrelated autoimmune conditions that rendered me fatigued, in chronic pain and dealing with unpleasant ‘plumbing’ issues. The worst symptom was the persistent ‘mind-fog’ – I was so out of it that I didn’t realise…
-
COVID-19 Ministry Support ‘Help Desks’
By Kerryn Smith: A cross-commission Resource Collaboration Group was formed in late March to assist parishes and ministries with resourcing and to provide COVID-19 related guidance and information. In an Ad Clerum sent out just before Easter, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall said that the most important and immediate priorities were: Pastoral care for your people; Care…
-
Praying for our parish clergy and lay leaders
By The Ven. Keith Dean-Jones: When I was ordained a priest 43 years ago, I believed that the clergy were the shop keepers who ‘sold’ a religious product and that the people were the customers who ‘purchased’ the necessities for the spiritual life. The price of the transaction was the weekly freewill offering envelope, and…
-
Communicating your church’s care for our communities: media liaison tips
By Michelle McDonald, anglican focus Editor, PMC: Over the last month, the mainstream media has reported on some heartwarming and inspiring stories, as community members work together internationally to assist and stand in solidarity with each other amid the challenging COVID-19 environment. For example, The Guardian has shared about how people in the Bavarian town…
-
BIBLE360: Exploring the Gospels via webinar
By Fiona Hammond, Lay Ministry Education Projects Officer An Impressionist artist and a Cubist artist walk into a bar…no wait that’s the wrong intro! What if you asked four artists, an Impressionist, a Cubist, a Realist and an Expressionist to paint your portrait? Would you expect that each would produce exactly the same image of…
-
‘Caremongering’ in our communities
By Jen Basham, Justice Unit Coordinator Churches around Australia recently suspended public worship and gatherings, and other civic and business life is operating remotely or shutting doors to mitigate the risk of coronavirus spreading. A key to preventing the spread is ‘social distancing’. The word itself is a striking oxymoron, much like telling someone to…
-
Leading small churches (without settling for less)
By The Rev’d Mark Vincent, Parish of East Brisbane. Most churches throughout history have been small. Really small. But that never stopped them from being effective. Whether healthy or sick, successful or failing, effective or anaemic, most churches have been, are, and will be small congregations. Too many priests, pastors, ministers and churches labour under…