Essentials

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Written by: Alanna Glover

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a magic formula that could ensure disaster-free Sundays? (Spoiler: there isn’t). If you’ve been in church ministry for any time at all, I’m sure you’ve experienced your fair share of Sunday service mishaps. (I’m convinced Lionel Richie wasn’t in parish ministry - there is nothing easy about Sunday mornings, sir!) This isn’t entirely surprising; most local churches in Australia are small, often minimally staffed, attended sporadically and run by average people who volunteer their time. If you do it for enough years and with enough people you’re bound to have moments where you stop and think, “will this ever get better?!” Church singing can be a particularly challenging exercise in this context. Music attracts lots of opinions, lots of emotions, and lots of logistical hurdles - it is hard to get it right! I’m sorry, I don’t have quick fixes for you, but I do have some helpful pointers for setting up a music ministry that enables your church to teach and admonish one another with the word of Christ in song.

Read more: Planning for growth in a struggling music ministry.

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Written by: Mark Simon

“Sing to the Lord” is the repeated refrain of the Psalms, and one which shapes our corporate worship week by week. Christians delight to sing. Great congregational singing is a key ingredient for healthy, growing churches. Christian songs also shape our personal journeys of maturing in faith, obedience and service. Music ministry is thus a vital aspect of our gathered and dispersed church life, equipping and helping us as Jesus’ disciples to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. In this edition of Essentials we focus on music ministry in our churches.

We hear from Greg Cooper on the manifold ways that singing contributes to spiritual formation. Alanna Glover and Philip Percival urge us to engage heart and mind as we sing, and not to pit emotions against truth, but respond to the gospel with our whole being. We have two practical ministry articles which dig into the nuts and bolts of music ministry. Angela Chandler analyses some trends and expectations in church music before elaborating on practical ways to engage and include a wider, more diverse, pool of people in congregational worship. Alanna Glover addresses the needs of smaller churches, where forming and sustaining a music team can be a constant struggle. She outlines principles for a church’s music ministry that will equip it for long-term growth. You’ll also find links to several resources Emu Music have developed to serve the local church’s music ministries: conferences, training, and a new searchable, curated ‘Hymnbook’ of contemporary and classic songs.

Continuing the focus on praising God through song, I present a Bible Study on Ephesians 1:3-14, exploring this joyous hymn of praise for the ways it informs and models the praise of God in corporate song. Rhys Bezzant brings us a review of A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship – a book that analyses the currents that flowed into the praise and worship music that dominates our churches today.

Stephen Hale offers his own plea for greater variety in the subject matter of congregational songs. You’ll also find Stephen’s invitation to come to the EFAC Australia Conference in April – it will be a wonderful time to ‘Recharge, Refresh, Renew.’

I trust that as you read you are encouraged to sing with renewed joy and thanks for God’s grace to us in all its forms.

MARK SIMON, EDITOR

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Written by: Stephen Hale

National Evangelical Anglican Conference 2024

I’m writing to actively encourage you to come to the EFAC Australia Conference in late April this year in Sydney. We’ve billed it as Recharge, Refresh, Renew. We hope those who come will go home feeling inspired as well as refreshed in ministry. It’s been a tough few years for all who lead and many people are in need of encouragement and inspiration. Evangelicalism within the Anglican Church of Australia is continuing to extend and grow and there is much to be excited about, in the midst of the many challenges.

Our Bible Study leader is Rev Charlie Skrine, Rector of All Souls Langham Place. Charlie is a fine preacher and will bring the perspective of someone leading in a challenging context in the midst of the current turmoil in the Church of England. Archbishop Kanishka Raffel as President of EFAC will open the conference by sharing with us the challenges they are facing in his own Diocese.

You’ll discover what is distinctive about Gospel Leadership with Rev Adam Lowe; Jeri Sparks Jones will encourage you with Gospel Optimism for Young Adults; and you’ll learn about Wellness and Mental Health in our community and how we can respond from Valerie Ling. You will also be able to connect and learn from other people in your areas of ministry. There will be streams for everyone from rectors to youth workers, to key lay leaders and more.

If you want to be refreshed, recharged and renewed you can join us in Sydney on April 30th to May 2nd.

Stephen Hale
Chair EFAC Australia

Audio and video recordings from the conference can be found on the Events/National Conferences tab

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Written by: Chris Porter

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Written by: Chris Appleby

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Written by: Mark Simon

Raising Tech-Healthy Humans
DANIEL SIH
Publish Central, 2023
REVIEWED BY MARK SIMON

Daniel Sih’s book for parents on shaping the technology habits of their children is just what it claims to be – helpful guidance for parents grappling with technology usage in the modern world. Every parent I know grapples with this area. Countless studies and articles highlight the potential dangers of excessive technology use by children (and adults), and Sih includes brief highlights of some potential harms. So the need for guidance in this area is clear, and Sih serves up a range of practical strategies underpinned by a foundational principle: parenting is about raising adults, not children. Therefore, “the role of a parent is to love, mentor and equip their children with the physical, emotional and psychological experiences they need to become adults.” (p.7) The strategies, perspectives and reflection questions he presents all contribute to a parent’s ability to raise tech-healthy adults, not just to minimise arguments about screen time.

A brief chapter on brain development and function highlights the reasons children so easily get addicted to technology (it engages the ‘downstairs brain’ – impulsive, emotional, fight/flight responses), and introduces a distinction between passive and interactive media. Passive media (such as TV and movies) has been around for decades, but more recently the proliferation of interactive media (such as video gaming and social media) encourages users to ‘lean-forward’ to engage with it, and overstimulates the downstairs brain, making it the more problematic form of technology for healthy brain development.

The core of the book is a framework based on the acronym ‘Starter’. Start with self; Take it slowly; Age appropriateness; Regular talk; Tech-healthy rhythms; Encourage adventures; Rely on others. For each of these principles, Sih combines research and insights with practical suggestions. The book is a short and easy read – perfect for time-poor, technology-saturated parents. It includes an appendix ‘100 Fun Non-Screen Activities to do with Kids’ – which reminds us all that the best things in life are free (teddy bear picnics, dress-ups, board games, exercising together, music, water fights…)

One interesting feature of the book as a short-listed finalist in the Australian Christian Book of the Year Awards is that it doesn’t present any explicitly Christian perspectives on technology usage in the family. There are plenty of implicit priorities that Christian families would affirm (such as mentoring, and mutual accountability), but the book got me wondering whether parenting in a Christian context adds any distinctive dynamics or goals into the mix.

The book is also best suited to parents of younger children and pre-teens, since it acknowledges the capacity to impact or radically change course with teenagers who have already become set in unhealthy habits requires a different approach. Despite these minor quibbles, there is much benefit to be gained by readers of Sih’s book (not just parents, but anyone who uses technology).

Rev Dr Mark Simon is Lecturer in New Testament and Research Associate at Ridley College, and minister of St Luke’s Vermont.