Two years into their marriage Emma and Andrew Crauford realized they were both working too hard. What was left at the end of each week was two very tired, grumpy people who had nothing left to give each other.

First year university student Kieran Drabsch, a self confessed ‘non-handyman’ says he jumped at the chance to serve the Mt Druitt Indigenous Church by donning a pair of gloves and picking up a shovel.

A dream holiday led one couple to think again about Australia’s remote North West, writes Joseph Smith

Hopes are fading for the entire lay leadership of St George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad, Iraq, missing and presumed dead after being attacked on a notorious stretch of road west of Baghdad while returning from a conference in Jordan.

Asians in the CBD, Bankstown and the North Shore are in the sights of churches starting up or relocating to reach them.

Linda Gu may be ‘Gooey’ to her friends, but to her Christian mates at uni she is a new member of the family. Linda, a first year pharmacy student, became a Christian in July this year after joining a new Bible study specifically for pharmacy students at the University of Sydney. It is run by the Evangelical Union.

Those who were in Synod 20 or 30 years ago speak of an intimidating place where only a small group spoke and controlled debate. Now, thanks to the encouragement and clear explanations provided by the Archbishop, it is an accessible forum where more and more people engage in debate.

On September 3, 300 men met at Tyndale Christian School, Blacktown for the inaugural ‘Men Meeting the Challenge’ conference. The organisers were Men for Christ Ministries, a group drawn mainly from Toongabbie Anglican Church.

It’s hard to believe it has happened again in Bali. Just when things were as close to back to normal as they could be. Just when the hotels were full and the flights booked out. And the streets were packed with tourists. But that is terrorism for you. This isn’t like the old war when you knew your enemy. This one doesn’t wear a black hat or serve ‘the Hun’. These soldiers know no boundaries, serve no government and respect no life.

Read letters from the November 2005 edition of Southern Cross

Synod is both imperfect and impressive. A French general once said “C’est magnifique. Mais ce n’est pas la guerre”. Roughly translated it means the parish is the real thing, folks.

In a special tribute to Southern Cross’s long-time editor GEORGE FISHER who died last month, we are publishing his last major piece prepared as he endured a long battle with cancer.

One in ten babies under the age of one year was reported to the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS) under suspicion of abuse or neglect in the last financial year.

It should be no surprise that the Sydney Morning Herald will take an overly Sydney-centric view when analysing news events. That’s why Julia Baird’s argument in her October 20 column ‘Numbers rule as Team Sydney muscles up’, likening recent decisions of Sydney Synod to George Bush’s foreign policy should be taken with a grain of salt.

Mission is the life-breath of St Matthew's, West Pymble. Gary O'Brien and his team, whilst committed to loving and serving the 'already convinced', are resolute in their desire to see the community at large introduced to God in Christ.

Last month I suggested that we should assume that every crowd contains a mixture of both Christians and non Christians, and that we should therefore address the audience accordingly. What this means is that instead of speaking ‘evangelistic’ talks to non Christians, and ‘edification’ talks to Christians, we should do talks that aim to achieve both nurture and mission, at the same time.

The Bible tells us the human heart is very resistant to the message of Jesus. Archbishop Peter Jensen gives some reasons why.

The plight of the impoverished is hardly the stuff of blockbusters. Being reminded that millions die each year through civil war, hunger and disease is a little too real for a medium addicted to escapism. The Constant Gardener probably won’t break any financial records but murmurs of Oscar nominations have already begun which can only broaden the appeal of this eloquent if didactic film.

Auschwitz (ABC) is a hard series to come to terms with. Understanding the extent of the Nazi’s ‘Final Solution’ is like trying to comprehend the drops of water that make up the sea. Each episode delivers a wave of numbers. Four thousand children crammed into rail cars; nine hundred thousand burned at Treblinka; one million gassed at Auschwitz. However the larger the numbers, the more incomprehensible they become.

Don’t be put off by the title. This is not just another book about evangelism. Promoting the Gospel is a significant ground-breaking treatment of the whole matter of mission. This book will set the agenda amongst us for years to come.