by David Tensen | 29 Sep, 2022 | All, Church -
On the other side of the global disruption known by many names, many social gatherings – including CHURCH ATTENDANCE – are DOWN. I have no empirical statistics to give you, but I know plenty of Christian church workers in Australia who have told me weekend... 
by David Tensen | 20 Aug, 2022 | Australia, business, Church -
I’ve been actively applying jobs since early June. I’ve applied for over 40 jobs, adjusted my resume 19 times, and learnt a whole new recruitment dance. It has left me scratching my head, wondering why the hell, in an age where soft-skills ARE the hard... 
by David Tensen | 24 Apr, 2022 | All, Church -, leadership, masculinity, parenting, Resource, Transformation
This was the alarming start of a recent conversation.”Is it just me, or are older guys willing to be mentors really hard to find?””Yep.” I replied, “At this age and stage of life, they are harder to find.” Let’s call this... 
by David Tensen | 9 Apr, 2022 | All, Church -, leadership, Shame, Transformation
It is almost a decade since I went into voluntary bankruptcy. In 2006 Natalie and I had sold up and sold out to do missions work in Japan. We returned in 2008 with our second child due . As it happened, we landed back in Australia on the doorstep of the Global... 
by David Tensen | 4 Apr, 2022 | All, Church -, Poetry
I don’t recall sharing this perspective on my thoughts around Ephesians 4:9-16 publicly. Partly because, when I developed it in 2017 I was travelling among several church circles which held a more exclusive view of who might be called an apostle, prophet,... 
by David Tensen | 28 Mar, 2022 | All, Church -, Poetry
It was a simple workshop exercise; write down one word or more that describes how a Church Pastor should behave. The 100+ counsellors and pastors attending the webinar hit their keyboards and the chat stream filled up faster than you could say ecclesiastical theology.... 
by David Tensen | 9 Mar, 2022 | All, business, Church -, leadership, parenting
There is an emerging area of leadership practice and theory called Authentic Leadership. If you’ve studied leadership principles for a while you’ll know they are often relabelled (and repriced) social science theories. After all, leadership is grounded in... 
by David Tensen | 15 Oct, 2021 | All, Church -
A few years back I heard a story of a family who were serving in a regional church community as Pastors. The husband was doing much of the work but, as we know, expectations always extend to the Pastor’s family, so his wife and two teenage children were... 
by David Tensen | 5 Oct, 2021 | All, Church -
In 2011, researcher Marlene Winell coined the phrase Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) in an effort to define the set of symptoms found in those who ‘participated in or left behind authoritarian, dogmatic, and controlling religious groups and belief... 
by David Tensen | 2 Oct, 2021 | All, Church -
A few months ago, Natalie and I came home from a day at our respective workplaces and we’d each been asked the same question, “Where do you guys go to church?” I’ve asked it of others many times. Depending on their answer, you make assumptions.... 
by David Tensen | 4 Feb, 2021 | All, Church -
I thought it was normal. But it wasn’t. That afternoon, when the organiser called to thank me for speaking at a breakfast for the 20 local pastors, he confirmed that robust rebuttal and tearful confession after a guest speaks doesn’t usually happen. When the... 
by David Tensen | 16 Dec, 2020 | All, Church -
“Confess your sins one to another, pray that no one discloses your concern, and you will keep your title.” James 5:16 MDCV (Modern Dysfunctional Church Version) OK, that is a bit of a stretch from the original scripture in James which encourages us to ‘confess... 
by David Tensen | 11 Dec, 2020 | All, Church -
Did you know that a majority of licensed counsellors and psychologists must have regular, mandatory supervision to remain in active practice? In other words, your psych must regularly see a specially trained and experienced psych for their troubles and concerns. More... 
by David Tensen | 29 Jul, 2020 | All, Church -, leadership, SHIPS, Transformation
It’s hard to know where to start on a topic like this because it is so complicated and multifaceted. When people move away from prominent positions in a church community and do something outside ‘church ministry’, there is often a storm of emotions and responses that... 
by David Tensen | 12 May, 2020 | All, Church -, Resource, Social Media
So, if you’re reading this, there is a chance you’re a Christian. There is also a high probability you are of the Evangelical Christian variety (BTW, that does include most Pentecostals and Charismatics, Baptists and non-denominational). It’s a... 
by David Tensen | 13 Mar, 2020 | All, Church -, leadership, Resource
In light of the recent the COVID19 pandemic, a number of pastors, teachers and trainers have been considering streaming online services/training/classes in place of meeting in-person. My wife and I ran gatherings and teachings for Christians for about three years. We... 
by David Tensen | 30 Oct, 2019 | All, Church -, leadership
Just before recording this, the Christian world had been watching the fall out generated by American Pastor John Macarthur’s comments on Pastor Beth Moore. There were some choice statements made about women in ministry. Annie Layton and myself thought... 
by David Tensen | 7 Mar, 2019 | All, Church -, General News, Resource, Social Media, Spiritual Dynamics in the Workplace, Transformation
Artificial Intelligence (also abbreviated as AI), and automation are no longer a pipe-dream or something held in the imagination of SCI FI writers – this is real! It’s happening now and through sheer disruption, future-tech will have our attention. The... 
by David Tensen | 2 Nov, 2018 | All, Church -, General News, health, leadership, original thoughts, Shame, Transformation
Person A: “I’m in pain. I need help.” Person B: “OK… I see,” Person A: “OK??! Well, I’m telling you because I need you to be here for me. I need someone to care… and possibly help me too!” Right here, at this point, any number... 
by David Tensen | 12 Sep, 2018 | All, Church -
Over the years, I’ve received several phone calls from distressed Pastor’s partners. “They’re not doing good, Dave.” has been a line I’ve heard quite a few times. And ‘not doing good’ has ranged from low motivation for the ministry, all the way to... 