The One Thing

You can usually tell what’s going on in a pastor’s ministry by what’s on their bedside table. Not the books they recommend, but the ones they are actually reading, half-reading, or quietly avoiding.

Rory Shiner opens up his own reading habits and presses the question most of us avoid: are we still being shaped, or just repeating what we learned years ago?

Are we still the kind of people who are learning, so that when we open the Bible we are not simply repeating ourselves, but speaking with fresh clarity shaped by a life still being formed by God’s word?

In this episode:
What your current reading habits reveal about your ministry
Why finishing books is often the wrong goal
The kind of reading that actually feeds preaching over time
Why reading ahead matters more than scrambling each week
What poetry, fiction, and biography give you that ministry books cannot
How shallow reading shapes shallow instincts in people work
Why curiosity fades in ministry and why it is worth protecting

Toolbox:
Biblical Critical Theory by Christopher Watkin
Collected Poems by Les Murray
Poems Chosen by Paul Kelly
The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis
One Forever by Rory Shiner
Forgiven Forever by Rory Shiner
Raised Forever by Rory Shiner
The World Next Door by Rory Shiner

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Lending Hands Mortgage Brokers 
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library

Church planting is often treated as something only large churches can do. The latest Growth and Change report suggests otherwise. Across the Reach Australia network, smaller churches and unlikely partnerships are launching new congregations and reaching people who were never going to walk into an existing church.
This episode explores what last year’s church plants are teaching the rest of us. If most Australians still don’t know Jesus, the question isn’t whether churches feel ready to plant, but whether we are organising our ministry to reach the 95% who aren’t in church.
In this episode:
Why new churches continue to reach new people
The rise of partnerships between churches to plant together
How smaller churches are multiplying through intentional leadership pipelines
The tension between filling staff roles and sending church planters
Practical first steps for churches wanting to move toward church planting

Toolbox:
Reach Australia’s Full Online Resources Library
Growth and Change Report 2025
Church Planting Podcast
Multiplication
Partner financially with Reach Australia

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Exdia 
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library

When was the last time we preached on generosity — and it wasn’t because the budget was tight?
Money is one of the clearest windows into our trust, our fears, and our worship. Yet many of us only speak about it at the AGM or when pressure rises. In this episode, we reflect on generosity not as fundraising, but as discipleship.
We talk about:
Why giving flows from the grace of the gospel, not guilt

How to build a culture where generosity is normal and joyful

The risk of only addressing money in crisis moments

How leaders can model generosity with integrity

Practical steps to start shaping generous hearts this month

Toolbox:
Jehovah Jireh My Provider Song 
Giving Generously by Rod Irvine
Neither Poverty Nor Riches (New Studies in Biblical Theology Series) by Craig L Blomberg
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Gospel Patrons website
The Journey of Generosity stories
Partner financially with Reach Australia

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Safe Ministry Check
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library

What do you do when ministry starts to feel heavy and you cannot quite name why?
Burnout is not always dramatic. Often it is a slow disconnect between your gospel convictions and your emotional capacity. In this episode, we explore why that drift happens and how coaching can provide a space to work through it.
We talk about:
What burnout actually looks like in ministry

Why leaders often isolate themselves when they most need support

The difference between coaching, mentoring, supervision, and counselling

How good questions can uncover what is really going on beneath the surface

Why leading yourself well is part of faithful gospel ministry

Toolbox: 
Zeal without Burnout by Christopher Ash
Reach Australia’s Coaching

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Lending Hands Mortgage Brokers
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library

Morning tea after church can feel like a simple roster: bring a slice, pour the coffee, pack up and head home. But that space after the service is where newcomers decide if they’ll come back, where spiritual conversations begin, and where people take real steps toward Jesus. When we treat it as part of disciple-making, not just hospitality, it changes how we plan it, place it, and lead it.
In this episode, we talk about how to move morning tea from obligation to opportunity, so that more people are known, prayed for, and helped to follow Christ.

Toolbox: 
People are the Mission by Danny Franks

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Reach Australia National Conference
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library