Returning to Church Safely After COVID-19

It’s all changing again, isn’t it? Every week, we clammer to TV’s, phones, and zoomed out laptops to hopefully hear a positive answer to one question; will we be able to go back to church as normal next week? As restrictions ease, it’s exciting! The thought of meeting face-to-face without restriction seems so appetising. These times have really shown us the blessing of what it means to be God’s people as the ability to gather has been somewhat removed. As churches joyfully move back to business-as-usual operation, it’s worth spending some time thinking through how we will continue to keep...

Marcus Robertson

Review: Why Does He Do That? Inside the minds of angry and controlling men by Lundy Bancroft

Neil Chambers

We Need to Talk about Abusive Leadership in Ministries

Akos Balogh

A Lament For Hannah Clarke and Her Children

Sarah Balogh

On the Removal of Steve Timmis, Head of Acts 29

Archie Poulos • Simon Gillham

Good men, Boaz and the #MeToo Movement

Honoria Brennan

The dam has been breached. Since the #MeToo movement broke, we have been flooded with stories of assault, perpetrators are neck-deep in allegations, and institutional practices that enabled predators have been busted open. The movement has overflowed to #ChurchToo, and #NunsToo. How do we reconstruct after such devastation? How to make positive changes that are better for both men and women? How do we proceed to that (in Oprah’s words) “new day in the horizon” when nobody says “me too, again”. The movement seems to be at a loss as to how to move towards that day. How do we...

Good men, Boaz and the #MeToo Movement

Honoria Brennan

Domestic and Family Violence – Biblical and Theological Resources

John McClean

The Presbyterian Church in NSW recently ran a training day on responding to domestic violence. It includeed a biblical and theological response; as well as practical training. This post is a summary of a longer paper (download full paper here) handed out that day, even that it only a summary set of notes. It is an attempt to give a theological framework for thinking about Domestic and Family Violence (DFV). Domestic Violence is big news, and in some ways that is good news. Football stars, politicians and celebrities can no longer assume that the way they treat women will remain...

Domestic and Family Violence – Biblical and Theological Resources

John McClean

Why the Recent Stir about Safe Ministry?

Dave Moore

For those of us who have been around churches for most our lives, the emphasis on Safe Ministries programs and screening may still seem somewhat of a new thing. For example, before 2003, most Sunday school volunteers were given little more than a class teaching program and a pat on the back. Today, depending on your church or denomination, volunteers might be required to attend safe training courses, complete extensive questionnaires, provide referees and State “Working with Children” licences. Some will even need to get a full Police background check—just to offer a helping-hand in the kids program they’ve been...

Why the Recent Stir about Safe Ministry?

Dave Moore

Time for Reformation in Rome?

Murray Campbell

An open letter written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, has connected the coverup of child sexual abuse to the highest offices in the Roman Catholic Church: A former Vatican ambassador to the United States alleges in a 7,000 word letter that top Catholic Church officials, including Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, were long aware of sexual misconduct allegations against former D.C. archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. (NPR) For years it has been apparent that there is a culture of abuse among many Roman Catholic priests, and that church hierarchy has been quietly suppressing the stories for many decades. But this...