Where Do We Sit? A Practical Reflection for Returning Churches

This is not an article about how to live your best COVID-era ministry life. There are lots of those out there, and many are helpful and some make me want to lay my head on my desk and weep. One of the difficulties of writing what you know in the time of Coronavirus, is that all of us have had such different experiences of the pandemic. In Darwin (mercifully spared from the worst of the virus’ effects) it was mostly our routines which suffered. Some spent near-lockdown at home wrangling kids and some were busier than ever overhauling their work...

Laura Graham

Zooman Beings

Steve McAlpine

Shepherding Teams Out of COVID-19

Greg Lee

Helping the Unemployed During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dharshi Anendsingh

Pandemic Perspectives (SA): Part 2

Editor

Asterix and The Plague: Evangelism in the Time of COVID-19

Josh Apieczonek

Can I ask a bit of a naughty question? Did you have a negative reaction to articles about mission and evangelism during this pandemic? Maybe they irritated or depressed you? Maybe you just felt flat and uninspired and their earnest, enthusiastic tone grated a bit like those slightly unhinged, caffeine-tinged charity muggers with their battering clipboards and backpacker accents. There are lots of possible reasons for this: you feel overwhelmed already and mission seems like just another burden, or it feels a bit mercenary to be taking advantage of people in a crisis like this, or maybe it’s that evangelism...

Asterix and The Plague: Evangelism in the Time of COVID-19

Josh Apieczonek

In the Midst of COVID-19 Kind Words Matter More Than Ever

Glenn Hohnberg

Kind words matter more than ever. Have you heard them? It’s not hard to start the day badly: grumping first thing because the kids left the dirty breakfast bowls out; Scowling because … because the caffeine hasn’t hit home yet; ignoring someone who needs kindness, direction or just acknowledgment. And so, the bad day builds. Soon everyone in the household is one tripwire away from an explosion. One unkind word has ricocheted around the house wounding people. And these wounds are carried into the day. And they rarely heal. They burn and bubble in the heart. Words are very powerful....

In the Midst of COVID-19 Kind Words Matter More Than Ever

Glenn Hohnberg

Three Key Questions for Ministry Leaders to Ask During COVID-19

Paul Harrington

Paul Harrington gave this talk at the recent ‘ReLaunch Australia’ conference, helping Pastors prepare their churches for re-launch as restrictions ease. To listen Paul’s talk, click here. To find out more about the practical help on offer for Pastors from ReLaunch Australia through their “Learning Labs”, click here. Hasn’t it become so easy to define ourselves through a COVID-19 lens: How many active cases? How many deaths? How many recovered cases? And so on. For Christians, this is a mistake. Of course COVID-19 has profoundly shaped the context and culture we are ministering in right now. But we must first...

Three Key Questions for Ministry Leaders to Ask During COVID-19

Paul Harrington

Pandemic Perspectives (SA): Part 1

Editor

“Pandemic Perspectives” is a two-part post from members of the TGCA South Australia board. In this edition we feature views of the recent (and ongoing) COVID-19 crisis from a pastor, layperson and a church planter. A View From a Pastor (Paul Harrington, Senior Pastor of Trinity Network of Churches) I don’t know a single pastor who hasn’t felt, at least to some degree, like COVID-19 pulled the “vocational rug” out from under their feet. I had my patterns—preaching, teaching, leading, training and pastoring—and then, I didn’t. After 30 years in full time vocational ministry I had to learn new skills; learn...