Worship is sometimes described as the missing jewel in the evangelical crown. It has become perhaps the major focus of a majority of Christian churches in the second half of this century. But once again, our focus reveals our sinfulness. By placing our own activities in church under special focus,
Towards a theology of pastoral breakdown20 years ago in the class room, Broughton Knox predicted that it would be our generation of ministers that would have to deal with the problem of total pastoral breakdown. That is, we would have to work out what is to be done when the
Every year Christian denominations see a slow, but sad, trickle of ministers leave their ranks by premature resignation. They leave for a variety of reasons, but often because of marriage break-up, serious moral lapses (usually sexual), and severe disagreement over denominational (but not necessarily gospel) distinctives like baptism and the
NB The procedures and requirements for Anglican ministers have changed since this article was published. For an update, visit the Anglican Diocese of Sydney website.You are an Anglican minister, and the youth worker of the local Presbyterian Church comes to you and confesses that he has been sexually abusing some
Sometimes we can live so close to a doctrine that we overlook the immense power of its truth. The cross can become an empty slogan; the resurrection a mere proof-text for Jesus' divinity; the incarnation something we only think about at Christmas. In this light, an increasing number of theologians
In his rediscovery of a God-centred gospel, Martin Luther very much a man for the 20th Century. Robert Doyle explains why.In a provocative article in issue 35 of The Briefing (16 Oct 89), the author convincingly argued that the language of Luther's great discovery, ‘justification by faith alone’, is a