Response to Elizabeth McClean and the Counsel Culture
I am grateful to Elizabeth for writing her article and giving me the opportunity to respond to some of the misunderstandings which have been caused by mine. Apologies for any […]
Presbyterians at a Crossroad?
In the NSW Presbyterian Church at the moment there is a campaign which has been mounted to seek to get Presbyteries to reject the Assembly’s decision to have male only […]
Preaching Politics
The lady was quite insistent on speaking to me. She wanted to tell me what was wrong with my sermon. “I was going along fine until you brought politics into […]
Whom will we follow? The Sydney Morning Herald or the Scriptures
When I worked with Sydney Anglicans I came across what was termed ‘the Sydney Morning Herald test’: Will anything we are going to do land us in the SMH? Well, […]
A Memo to the Media from a Presbyterian Minister
The Presbyterian Church of New South Wales has decided to go along with all the other Presbyterian churches in Australia by upholding the biblical teaching that only men can be […]
A Plea for Biblical Discussion at the Assembly
Next week (14-17 July 2026) the New South Wales Presbyterian Church will be holding its annual General Assembly. I am a commissioner and I should be looking forward to it. […]
Counsel Culture and the Church
Western culture can be summed up with three words – cancel, consumer and counsel. In a week where a well-known TV journalist was cancelled because he interviewed someone the establishment […]
The Australian Christian Freedom Index
The Australian Christian Freedom IndexA significant event occurred in the parliament in Canberra today (Thursday 28th May). It was not broadcast live on the ABC. I doubt that you will […]
A Real Consultation, part 3 – Where Do We Go From Here?
The first parts of this correspondence can be found here – This is the third and final exchange of letters: Dear David, I like your metaphor of a sermon in […]
A Real Consultation, part 2 – Can Women be Called to be Elders?
This is part two of my dialogue with a former women elder. Part one is here – https://ap.org.au/2026/05/08/a-real-consultation-a-dialogue-with-a-female-elder/ My friend’s comments are in italics. For those who asked – yes […]
A Real Consultation – A Dialogue with a Female Elder
The NSW Presbyterian General Assembly is holding a ‘consultation’ about the issue of women elders. The consultation is itself a bit of a farce – with some regarding it as […]
A Clear and Present Danger
Setting the Context – A Clear and Present Danger to Presbyterianism in NSW The Presbyterian church in NSW is facing a real existential crisis. There is a clear and present […]
Changing the Lock
Changing the Lock – A Response to Andrew Jaeger Andrew Jaeger has written a lengthy and interesting paper on the current situation in the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales […]
SING!
A New Hymnal for Australian Presbyterians? The lady was upset. “Why are you throwing out the old hymnbooks?”, she asked, as we continued the spring clean of the church. The […]
Is 5% Enough?
A response to recent discussions on evangelism in Australia. There seems to be a change in the cultural atmosphere in much of the West. It may be that people are […]
Where is Jesus Now?
Where is Jesus now? And what is he doing? At Easter Christians all over the world repeat the joyous affirmation of faith: ‘Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.’ But then […]