Everyone has been stretched over the past few weeks by the Commonwealth Governments intervention into the affairs of remote Northern Territory (NT) indigenous communities... So many complex issues have emerged that this briefing will have the limited aim of summarising the details, listing some opinions for and against the Governments action, and offering some provisional suggestions. As always, these suggestions invite further thoughtful reflection together, along with indigenous people, in light of the Scriptures.

Developing better teams is on the top of the job list at this year's Spring Convention, with organisers inviting a master team builder to offer tips to local ministries.

Ever been to a Christian conference with a seminar given by a secular phonecard company? 40 chaplains did at the Mission to Seafarers national conference in August.

Sydney Anglicans are right behind a booming youth ministry which was created five years ago by non-Anglican churches.

The Prime Minister's defence force gap-year proposal may seem cynical to some, but Howard has rightly identified the benefits of taking a 'year off to help school-leavers make wise decisions about their future.

Church planters are breaking ground all over Australia. Stuart Robinson considers what we can learn from the efforts being made to raise a 'tropical' plant.

I dont know if you noticed, but there is a long-standing practice of critiquing penal substitution and justification by faith as overly "legal" or "forensic." From the Council of Trent to the New Perspective and the Emergent church, writers have dismissed both the doctrine that God would forensically declare sinners as "righteous" as a legal fiction, and the proposition that Jesus had to pay our penalty on the cross as beholden to Western legal categories.

Motivated by a desire to 'prove the Christian vote and inform the Christian electorate, the Australian Christian Lobby invited Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd to address the Christian constituency for the first time in the lead-up to a federal election. 36 Anglican churches registered to screen the address on August 9 through a live webcast. But what are Sydney Anglicans thinking in the aftermath?