Without a shadow of doubt Seattle-based church planter Mark Driscoll was the most newsworthy person of the year for Sydney Anglicans. His evangelistic talk to 10,000 people at the Sydney Entertainment Centre was newsworthy in its own right, but it was his criticisms of local ministry that really shook up our news cycle. So what lessons can we learn from those stories that were popular, as well as those many worthy stories that failed to find an audience?

Just when I thought the National Church Life Survey team had gone quiet, along comes another outstanding report that raises two serious concerns for Sydney Anglicans seeking to connect to youth.

I laughed out loud when I first read Elizabeth Gilberts description of her and a friend eating a margherita pizza with double mozzarella in Naples, Italy. But there is a seriousness to this book.

Sydney churches have seen good attendance this Christmas season with St Andrew's Cathedral using a seating reservation system for Christmas Eve carols for the first time.

When popular surveys were conducted for the best book of the last millennium and of the last century The Lord of the Rings was at the top much to the dismay of many a literary critic. It was indicative of the popularity of the fantasy genre of which Tolkien is a founding father and perhaps also of the movies that had captured the popular imagination.

The theme of this book is the Christian and suffering. Six Christian writers are examined on various subjects: Lactantius on anger, Augustine on obsession, Luther on despair, Kierkegaard on anxiety, Bonhoeffer on disappointment and CS Lewis on pain.

Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen has delivered his Christmas message, stressing that commitment, compassion and 'generous care' will be needed in the year ahead.

As of this morning $40,000 has been raised to support Free Money for New Lives, but a lot more is needed to change a nations opinion on abortion, says the movements founder.