The Pilgrim's Podcast

Pilgrim’s Podcast #24: Jeremy Halcrow, Media, Journalism & SydneyAnglicans.net

Mark — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:02:35 +0000

Well there! Here’s another cracking episode of the Pilgrim’s Podcast to begin the year twentyten with!

In this episode we head out to the studios of Anglican Media Sydney and interview Jeremy Halcrow. He’s a great bloke who is a veteran Christian journalist, a former media relations consultant and the current editor of Southern Cross Newspaper.

In this fascinating chat we really try to grapple with how technology and journalism intersect with Christianity. With discuss the great opportunities and the risks involved in doing these things. We also discuss the funding cutback in the Sydney Diocese, how to get involved in internet-related Gospel opportunities, great websites to check out, and Craigs top 5 blogs!

Great episode, great bloke, and of course, good banter.

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Pilgrim’s Podcast Season 2 is here!

Mark — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:42:13 +0000

Well folks, it’s the time you’ve all been waiting for (or perhaps for some, the time you’ve most dreaded!) …. We’re back in business for 2010.

We’ve already recorded a bunch of episodes ready to go, and this year’s gonna be rocking.

In this action-packed start to 2010, Steve and I recount the highs and lows of 2009’s poddy, send a whole bunch of schnouncements out, and detail just a few of the upcoming exciting new features for the poddy in 2010. This intro episode gets the ball rolling in true, Pilgrim’s Podcast rambling fashion. Enjoy!

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Pilgrim’s Podcast #22: Ryan Smartt, Chaplaincy at Scots College, and Leadership in Life

Mark — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:20:56 +0000

Well, we’re back on the Poddy after a short hiatus sitting exams. Oh, and a well-deserved holiday of course! But we’ve been scheming the next year’s Pilgrim’s Podcast plan of action! Exciting.

This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Smartt, who is the head of Christian studies at Scots College in Sydney. He’s a great guy and we had a cracker of a time chatting about important things!

We talked about his journey of faith in the Lord Jesus, which was surprisingly similar to both Steve and mine. And we chatted about all the ins and outs of high school ministry as a chaplain – lots of gold there! Especially, the comforting words about God’s sovereignty over our life and choices. Finally, we also touched what leadership looks like, and the importance of being a servant (Mark 10:45).

All in all, a great podcast! Enjoy! (Especially for those who are set to receive their HSC marks tomorrow!)

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Pilgrim’s Podcast #21: Counselling Series Wrap-Up, A Multitude of Shoutouts, and Speeches

Mark — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:50:06 +0000

Well, this episode of the Pilgrim’s Podcast goes back to our roots. The way things are supposed to be. Good banter, great rambling, many shoutouts, and a bit of normal conversation. After all, this is the 21st episode (we prefer “birthday”) of the podcast!

Inside this riveting episode of the Pilgrim’s Podcast you’ll find Steve and Mark:

Concluding the series on Pastoral Care and Counselling
Sharing what we personally learnt and got out of the series
Giving an unprecedented 10+ shoutouts!
Coming up with all sorts of random things.
Giving some speeches on account of the 21st birthday of the Podcast!

Check it out, and email/sms/tweet/reply/post/blog about the Poddy for your own personalised shoutout!

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Pilgrim’s Podcast #20: Helen Blake, Vulnerability & Self-Awareness, and How to Change!

Mark — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:53:21 +0000

Well, here’s the second half of a cracking couplet of interviews with our guest counselor, Helen Blake.

In this interview we continue our discussion of bullying to focus in on what reasons people might develop bullying tendencies. One of the ways that Helen suggests for ironing out bullying tendencies in us is to develop both vulnerability and self-awareness. These are both excellent insights, and I’d really encourage you to mine the gems from this discussion. Lastly, Helen gives us some tips and pointers on how to change. What a really great discussion – Steve and I’ve learnt so much! Can I seriously encourage you – whether you’ve thought about bullying or not – to listen to this interview. It might save you a lot of heartache down the line!

Thanks also to the many people who’ve emailed or spoken to me about this series. I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of appreciation many people have had to get this sort of conversation happening. The series isn’t over yet – but I’d even now be encouraging others around you (and theological college faculty!) to work out how to integrate this into your life!

Enjoy!

Pilgrim’s Podcast #19: Helen Blake, Feeling & Thinking, Shame and Bullying

Mark — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:15:57 +0000

Well, this is our third week in the series on Pastoral Care, Counselling and Psychology. It was so great that we split it into two halves!

Steve and I headed out to visit the lovely Helen Blake, a counselor who teaches at St. Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra. I’ve had the privilege of being a St. Anne’s Church, Strathfield with Helen and Garth and have found them to be keen, sharp, and warm friends in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Helen has recently done some work on the topic of shame, so we took off from that point and delved into a number of issues with respect to bullying within the church and interpersonal contexts. This was an absolutely fascinating discussion on the symptoms of bullying, and how we might be helped in dealing with it. Steve and I found that our eyes were opened to some really important things to consider in our lives and ministry, and hope you’ll be blessed similarly also!

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Pilgrim’s Podcast #18: Jenny Brown, Family Systems Counselling, Anxiety and Emotional Maturity

Mark — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:09:02 +0000

As part 2 of our series of Pastoral Care, Counselling and Psychology we had a fantastic interview with Jenny Brown of the Family Systems Institute. Not only did we discover that Jenny has great taste in coffee (she drinks Campos!) but we discovered that Family Systems Theory sheds a whole lot of light on our own actions and reactions to things.

Jenny speaks to us about what Family Systems thinking is, what things might cause our anxieties, how our family upbringing influences the way we handle tensions now, and we think about how this might impact Church and family life today. We also thought about what emotional maturity looks like.

Steve and I really enjoyed this interview with Jenny – and we trust you will too! Again, I feel very much like a beginner when it comes to pastoral care and counseling, but am very thankful for the wisdom of others such as Jenny.

In addition to this great interview, Jenny has kindly pointed us to a number of helpful resources on Family Systems:

One Family’s Story: An easy to understand overview of Family Systems theory.
Resources applied to Family and Church: click here.
An excellent book for Church leadership (I’ve used this myself – it’s good!): “The Leader’s Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation.“
Another good book: “Creating a Healthier Church (Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling)“
Systems in Ministry Resources – From Jenny and the Family Systems Institute. CDs and DVDs to purchase: Healthy Relating in Marriage, Family ties that Bind, Parenting and Systems ideas, Systems and Pastoral Care Dilemmas. Call the FSI: (02) 9904 5600, or you can find email details at: www.thefsi.com.au

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Pilgrim’s Podcast #17: Rev. Allen Cook, Jan Corbett-Jones, Pastoral Care, and How to Help

Mark — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:15:08 +0000

This week the Pilgrim’s Podcast began it’s first ever series: Christianity, Pastoral Care, Counselling and a touch of Psychology! This promises to be an exciting series where we delve a little into how to care for people.

This week we had the privilege of interviewing Rev. Allen Cook and Mrs. Jan Corbett-Jones. Allen worked in parish ministry for many years, then as a Chaplain at Westmead Hospital and currently serves with the Anglican Retirement Villages. Jan, a mother and grandmother, now works with Anglicare with pastoral care at the RPA. Both Allen and Jan teach pastoral care as part of the Diploma course at Moore Theological College.

In this great interview we look at the difference between Pastoral Care and Counselling, Why Pastoral Care is so important, what to say and what not to say to those who you are caring for, and how to think about Evangelism, Scripture and Prayer in the context of Pastoral Care. Also, both Jan and Allen share how we can educate those at our church (either large groups or small groups) in Pastoral Care.

As a sneak preview of the interview, these are the 6 functions of Pastoral Care which Jan explains:

Guiding
Healing
Nurturing
Reconciliation
Sustaining
Liberating

Allen and Jan may pass on some further information about Pastoral Care – if so, I’ll post up any PDFs or information they provide. Also, Jan and Allen would love to hear from you if you would like to know more about Pastoral Care. For Jan, please email me via the Contact Page and I’ll put you in touch with her and for Allen, please email Allen.Cook@arv.org.au. Once I’ve got their best contact details, I’ll post their contact information up soon!

PS – Apologies at the mobile phone signals! Allen and Jan are in demand!

Update:
Jan has given me some resources which are now available on Pastoral Care. Download them here.
Also, for those interested in studying Pastoral Care, the 400 hour course which Jan and Allen run is worth 9 credit points with the Australian College of Theology and 18 credit points with the Sydney College of Divinity.

Listen:

Pilgrim’s Podcast #16: Richard Glover, Christ on Campus, Church in the Graveyard and Inspiring Stories from Cambodia!

Mark — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:23:14 +0000

Well, after a short hiatus of being snowed in by doctrine essays (I think I might even split the essay up into a few short blog spots – God, risk and middle knowledge being the topic), we’re back on the bandwagon for the Pilgrim’s Podcast! (and there’s plenty of interesting interviews coming up!)

This podcast is a cracker! We sat down with Richard Glover (no, not from ABC’s drive program!) who is a wonderful and keen Christian fella from Sydney University’s Evangelical Union. He’s a passionate guy about Christianity and politics, and in fact – Christianity and all of life! Moreover, he puts his love for Jesus into practise in different ways at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Newtown. Richard’s a ‘kingdom-minded’ dude who is hoping and praying about the prospect of serving Jesus in Cambodia and we hear lots of really inspiring and encouraging stories about what God is doing there.

So, enjoy! Of course, there’s plenty of rambling too. *we know you’ve missed it*

Listen:

Pilgrim’s Podcast #15: Dr. Ashley Null, Humility, Don’t Re-Invent a Broken Wheel, and Learning from our Elders

Mark — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:47:18 +0000

Well folks, this is the second installment of Steve and my fantastic interview with Dr. Ashley Null. If you haven’t listened to the first part yet, then DO IT. You know you want to.

In this interview we have the privilege of hearing Ashley’s wisdom on Christian humility. What was an excellent section though, was hearing him speak about the importance of Church History for those who might be keen, young Christians (read: Young, Restless and Reformed!). It was a really great second half of the interview, and Steve and I greatly benefitted from sitting under this short time of teaching by Ashley. Much glory to our Lord!

Listen: