Are evangelicals losing confidence in low-church evangelicalism?

This week at The Pastor’s Heart –

“What’s going on? Is this a reaction against thin, seeker-friendly evangelicalism? Spiritual nostalgia?

Across the Western church, some younger Christians seem to be searching for deeper roots: tradition, transcendence, beauty, liturgy, sacraments and a stronger sense of connection with the historic church.

Some evangelicals have become Roman Catholic or even Orthodox. Even a church formerly affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) in the UK has become Orthodox.

Orlando Saer, senior pastor of Christ Church Southampton, describes himself as something of a “spiritual mongrel”, shaped by Roman Catholic, high Anglican, low Anglican, independent Baptist and FIEC influences.

On sabbatical in Australia, Orlando has been thinking deeply about why Christians are longing for rootedness, transcendence and tradition, and how evangelical leaders should respond.”

– Watch at The Pastor’s Heart.

Knowledge — The knowledge that puffs up

From Phillip Jensen –

“Dear friends,

This week, we come to a new section in the writing of Paul to the Corinthians. In chapters 8–11 he is dealing with an issue that the Corinthians have raised with him: namely, food offered to idols.

I confess that when I first preached on this passage, I wondered about its relevance to our congregation. How wrong I was! God’s word is always relevant, and this passage turned out to be one of the most foundational passages for our congregation. For apart from the many overseas students who grew up with food offered to idols, the treatment of this issue by Paul raises the great questions of freedom, knowledge, and love.

This week, we look at knowledge.

Yours,
Phillip.”

– Hear Peter and Phillip Jensen discuss at Two Ways News.

Screen-Free George Whitefield College?

From George Whitefield College in Cape Town, published in their April 2026 newsletter:

“At the beginning of the year, Vice-Principal Academic & Academic Dean Dr Jonathan More announced the banning of screens in lectures and chapel services.

Here he explains how the significant gains to learning and attention far outweigh the momentary inconveniences…

Unfortunately, in classroom-based lectures, it is usually the case that cell phones and laptops detract from the quality of students’ learning. There are two main ways in which this happens. …”

– Read it here. What might happen is churches went ‘screen free’?

A Biblical guide to giving your Testimony

“When the apostle Paul tells his own story, he doesn’t focus on how bad he was before Christ. He emphasises Jesus.

That instinct runs counter to much of what passes for testimony-giving today, where the drama of a former life tends to take centre stage and the gospel itself gets relegated to a supporting role. The personal story matters, but it is the garnish, not the main course.

The focus of any testimony ought to be the person and work of Jesus: who he is and what he came to do. …”

– Very helpful reminder from Jordan Thyer at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

The Biggest Tell that something was written by AI

From an essay by Eve Fairbanks in The Atlantic,

“We tend to believe that efficiency is the highest virtue, the four-hour workweek the ultimate goal. Why sweat over the introductory paragraph of an essay if an AI program can sail over whatever argumentative obstacle you have in the space of 15 seconds? But the effort and the hang-ups are, as they say, a feature of the human thought process, not a bug. …”

– Read it all (link thanks to Tim Challies). How might it apply to sermons?

A related topic:

Before You Use AI, Read Ecclesiastes – Darin White at The Gospel Coalition.

“Young people will need to know how to use AI at a high level. But even more, they’ll need to be able to use it without being mastered by it. As Christian leaders, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring this moment. The generation sitting in our pews, at our dinner tables, and in our classrooms right now is learning to trust machines with the decisions that require the wisdom only God can give. …”

The ‘senior pastor loneliness problem’ – with Sheridan Voysey

An important topic from The Pastor’s Heart –

“The loneliest person in church may be the one standing at the pulpit.

Pastors spend their lives surrounded by people, but ministry can make real friendship strangely difficult.

Confidentiality, responsibility, expectations, perceived favouritism and the pressure to “have answers but not needs” can leave church leaders profoundly alone.

Sheridan Voysey says pastors don’t just need supervision, systems or resilience strategies. They need real friends: people they can talk to, depend on, grow with and enjoy. People who know the weight they are carrying. People they can call at 2am when everything has gone wrong.

Sheridan helps us think pastorally and practically about the lonely pastor, the friendship Jesus modelled and how churches can give leaders permission to be human.”

– Watch here.

Contentment in Practice — Avoiding marriolatry

From Phillip Jensen –

“For many years, Christians have been teaching on marriage and family life. But recently, the focus has moved somewhat towards singleness. This is in part because of our society’s movement away from marriage towards singleness, which is itself somewhat due to an attempt to correct an overemphasis on marriage.

This week in Two Ways News, we are discussing the issue of singleness not for either of those reasons, but because of Paul’s dealing with the subject in 1 Corinthians 7:25-40. So, following on from Paul’s discussion of contentment, we address the issues around whether we should marry and the consequences that flow from it.”

– Hear Phillip and Peter Jensen discuss at Two Ways News.

Also see –

Is prophecy dead? Where have all the prophets gone?

Amos said he was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, and yet he was one of God’s prophets in Israel. Do we have prophets and prophecy today? Should we all prophesy or is it the task of some of us?

The issues around prophecy are many and varied; this King’s Birthday Conference will look particularly at a Biblical view of prophecy today.

– Less than a week away. Register at this link.

Sexual Contentment — As called, so remain

From Phillip Jensen –

“As we work through 1 Corinthians 7, we come to a paragraph that seems to have nothing to do with glorifying God with your body in love, sex, or marriage. Suddenly, there is a paragraph about slavery and circumcision. But this is the most important passage in the chapter, for it is simply using these topics to discuss contentment, which is the key to love, sex, and marriage.

I hope you enjoy this discussion. Please remember that Two Ways News is provided free of charge by the generosity of friends. If you would like to become one of our generous friends, at the end of the transcript are details regarding how you could contribute.”

– Listen to Phillip and Peter discuss, at Two Ways News.

Also mentioned and good to check out:

Book Recommendations on Corporate Worship from Pastors

From 9Marks:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).

Is there a singer or musician in your church who is hungry to glorify God as they lead in corporate worship? Or do your members need to be taught that they’re all “part of the choir”?

9Marks asked a couple of pastors who have thought a lot about corporate worship for book recommendations on the subject.”

– See the recommendations here.

Among the comments –

“A collection of and commentary on liturgies from the 16th century, but the three introductory essays are worth the price of the book.”

“Of all the books on a biblical theology of worship, Peterson’s work is one of the most focused, thoughtful, and helpful. This will provoke your thinking on the ultimate reason the church gathers.”

Freedom Matters — latest conversation

From Freedom for Faith –

“Freedom Matters is a conversation with Bishop Michael Stead and Monica Doumit about religious freedom issues across Australia.”

– The latest episode was published last month. Well worth watching to give an idea of current and future challenges.

Michael Stead is the Bishop of South Sydney and Chair of Freedom for Faith.
Monica Doumit is the Chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and FFF board member.

Related:

In this three minute video, Freedom for Faith’s Executive Director Mike Southon explains Freedom for Faith’s mission.

King’s Birthday Conference 2026 — early bird prices ending soon

The King’s Birthday Conference 2026 is coming up on Monday 8th June at Moore College.

We’ve been reminded that the standard rates below will apply until the end of this week:

Regular $25, Concession $10

and that they increase from Monday 25th May.

“Is prophecy dead? Where have all the prophets gone?

Amos said he was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, and yet he was one of God’s prophets in Israel. Do we have prophets and prophecy today? Should we all prophesy or is it the task of some of us?

The issues around prophecy are many and varied; this King’s Birthday Conference will look particularly at a Biblical view of prophecy today.”

See the website for full details and registration.

The Remarkable Story of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

A recommendation from AP, the Australian Presbyterian journal –

“If you’ve never heard the story of how Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim from Somalia and subsequently outspoken atheist who then became a Christian, then you’re in for a treat. Focus on the Family has recently published a short fourteen minute summary of her conversion. …”

– Read here.

The Most Neglected Element of Church?

From Tim Challies –

“There are some elements of public worship that receive a great deal of attention. These elements are taught, practiced, rehearsed, and perfected until they are as good as they can be. In most churches, this includes the music, of course, and often the preaching. … But either way, some elements receive the lion’s share of attention.

What elements often do not receive nearly as much attention? What elements are often not taught, practiced, rehearsed, and perfected until they are as good as they can be? …”

– Read it all here.

Related:

Wonderful help for reading the Bible in public.

Marriages in Mission

From Phillip Jensen –

“A mission church has many basic Christian morality issues to resolve.

The old culture, not built on the gospel, will have practices inconsistent with the gospel. But as with most cultures, these practices are assumed rather than thought out. The gospel revolutionises all cultures, and Paul the Apostle is dealing with the marriage cultures of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 7.

This episode of Two Ways News is a difficult unravelling of Paul’s advice on several complex issues.”

– Listen to Peter and Phillip Jensen discuss – at Two Ways News.

Faithfulness When Freedoms Diminish

“How should Christians live wisely and remain faithful to Christ in a society where religious freedom is on the wane? This is the question driving Patrick Parkinson’s new book, Unshaken Allegiance: Living wisely as Christians with diminishing religious freedoms.

Parkinson writes not as a theologian or a pastor but as a Christian legal academic, and as someone who has experienced intense religious restriction first-hand through his time in communist Czechoslovakia in the early 1980s.…”

– At TGC Australia, Marty Robinson reviews Patrick Parkinson’s new book.

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