Episode 29. Mental Health for Leaders (with Richard Black)
How can leaders stay mentally healthy? Richard is joined by counsellor, former pastor, and founder of Mind Health, Richard Black, to discuss how leaders in the church can stay emotionally healthy even amid the immense pressures of ministry.
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Episode 28: Religious Extremism (with Doug Pratt)
Violence for Jesus? As absurd and oxymoronic as it sounds, there exists in our world extremists willing to perpetrate violence in the name of their religion—including Christians. This might seem like a remote possibility for the New Zealand church, but in a rapidly changing society, we can’t afford to be complacent.
Richard interviews a world-leading expert on the topic, Doug Pratt, about religious extremism, how to spot it, and what to do if someone you know starts flirting with taking their faith to violent extremes.
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44:32
27. NZ Needs a Younger Church (with Jake Mulder, Laura Hewett, Mike Crudge)
The recent Church Life Survey revealed a disturbing truth about the New Zealand church: it’s ageing. Why is that a problem, and more importantly, what can we do to reverse that trend? Rosie is joined by Jake Mulder (author of Growing Young) Laura Hewett (youth pastor) and Mike Crudge (Baptist Union comms director) to discuss helping churches to “grow young” by attracting young people. Get inspired about engaging younger generations to ensure that the Kiwi church survives and even thrives in the future. (Pssst! If your church didn’t participate in the Church Life Survey this time, let them know you want to do it next time—the greater the participation, the better the data! And if you want to read more of Mike’s musings on the survey, check out https://baptist.nz/church-life-survey-first-response/)
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26. Surveying NZ, Pt. 2: Kiwis Aren’t Religious (They’re Spiritual)
The recent Faith and Belief Survey gives us a brilliant insight into the spiritual landscape of Aotearoa. No doubt, you’ve heard the news: religion is on the decline. But did you know that most non-religious Kiwis still have some sort of spiritual beliefs. Chris Clarke, CEO of the Wilberforce Foundation, discusses this valuable research with Richard and explains what it means to live missionally as the church in New Zealand.
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25. Surveying NZ, Pt. 1: The church is ageing
The Church Life Survey was recently conducted to give an up-to-the-minute snapshot of the church in Aotearoa. One of the key findings? The church in NZ is ageing - and that’s an ominous sign for the future. One of the masterminds behind the survey, Peter Lineham, joins Richard to discuss what this means for the church now and in the future. Due to Lineham’s background in the Open Brethren Heritage movement, he digs deep into data especially relevant to those churches.
New Zealand