Two words put together have the effect of either striking terror or creating excitement. They are the words 'church' and 'planting'.

Kurt has a strong sense of 'call'. He's never been to theological college (or wants to) and he does not work on a church ministry team. Kurt is a layman. A regular guy, I suppose. He takes the bus to and from work, loves his wife and daughters and lives a relatively quite sort of life. Well, almost.

Last month I made a plea that we keep our eyes open for gospel opportunities. This month I want to give an example of the opportunity The Da Vinci Code offers.

In 2005 Stuart Robinson will uncover new ideas for outreach. This month we head south to Victoria and investigate St Jude’s, Carlton – a church ministering to people from Melbourne’s top-end to its projects.

The place of 'altar calls' has exercised my mind in recent weeks. Shall I play it safe and 'work the cards', or should I step out and ask them to step out too?

Christians need to be snoops! Not busy bodies, but always watching what is going on around us.

It was a farewell to some people from the 11am congregation - people that Enzo and Ralph had barely met. So why the aversion to church? What's the difference between a Sunday arvo nosh up and a Sunday morning service?

The church will never be able to reach the Diocesan Mission goal! I say this not because I don’t believe in the power of God as He works through His church, but because we misunderstand what the church is.

Had a coffee with Al this week. He was wearing an F.B.I. sports shirt. A real one. Al has worked in intelligence and policing for many years and has moved with his family to Sydney. Al tells me he’s an atheist. He comes to church not only because his wife and children encourage him to, but because of the “little things…”

I can't believe I was so naive. The idea of being part of a live nativity scene in the Community Carols 'event' seemed reasonable enough.

I have noticed that like most of Sydney, churches move into holiday mode in January. November is very busy as we put the final touches on the program for next year, and December is filled with events that wind up the year and as Christmas approaches opportunities for public evangelism are taken.

The catchcry of contemporary missional thinking is, "go to 'them' ". The "them" are of course the 'not-yet-christians' (the p.c. term for pagans, or unbelievers).

Christians who want to see the world hear the message of salvation in Jesus are constantly seeking methods to include new people in our church meetings.

We're in "mission mode" at our little church in Pyrmont. Some might deem our efforts decidedly old-fashioned. "1950's evangelism" is how it was put to me recently. But here's the thing; we're actually interacting with outsiders.