Tell us a little about you I live in colourful and diverse Surry Hills in Sydney’s inner city with my wife, Karina Kreminski. I was born and raised in Sydney by wonderful, caring parents who taught me how to love God, love others and pray. In 1986 I made a conscious decision to follow Jesus. My decision was inspired by high school classmates whose vibrant faith challenged me to dig deeper into the bible and find out more about God's character and what it means to be a Christian. I had come to a point of desperation, keenly aware of my shortcomings and my need for the Holy Spirit to help me become the person God wanted me to be. I’ve been walking with God for 33 years and have never looked ba
Tell us a little about yourself Blessed by my grandmother's faith, my mum's love, my wife's patience, my sister's empathy, my daughter's laughter, my friends' wisdom: God has shown me what it is to follow Jesus through so many creative, credible and courageous women. The shape that takes for me at the moment is pastoral ministry in a local Anglican church, along with working as an ecological ethicist to help Christians join the dots between faith, discipleship and caring for our common home in an age of ecological crises. This involves reading, listening, writing, speaking, some activism and more recently a podcast, The Good Dirt. What's your favourite bible passage & why? Romans 8.18-27 bec
Tell us a little about you Married to Natalie, who is one of the ministers where I go to church. Four children, one son-in-law, two grandchildren. Brought up in western Sydney. Studied and worked overseas for sixteen years. Principal at Ridley College in Melbourne since 2012. What's your favourite bible passage & why? The one I read this morning. Just kidding. Maybe Colossians 3. Deeply profound – my life is hidden with Christ in God – and also down-to-earth practical. I’m stunned by the startling comparison of greed with idolatry. How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus? Always a struggle. The pure in heart will see God (Matt 5:8). So, dealing with my pride, greed and lust is essenti
Favourite Bible passage Psalm 139:1-6 NIV [1] … You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. [2] You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. [3] You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. [4] Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. [5] You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. [6] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. … Actually,Psalm 139 in total. It’s very beautiful and lyrical and speaks truth over what I’m most fearful of - that I won’t be truly known. How do I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus? With difficulty. I struggle and scrape and pray at 2am and I
Tell us a little about yourself I am married to my lovely Jill and we live in the Blue Mountains in NSW. We have two adult daughters living in Sydney with whom we share deep bonds of friendship and my awful dad jokes. After a long career as an architect in Sydney I have entered a second career as an artist, having completed my Master of Art in 2013. My artistic practice of drawing and painting focuses mainly on stories about people and our human condition. Jill and I are thankful members of a Presbyterian church at Springwood. We have been active in encouraging Christians in the role of creativity and engagement with culture. In the wider Blue Mountains community I am involved in a Talking A
Tell us a little about you Well, I’m an Enneagram 5 with a wing 4. On the Myers Briggs inventory I’m an INTP. In StrengthsFinder my top three are Strategic, Maximiser, and Command. And if none of that helps, my day job is as a lecturer in missiology at Morling College. I also blog and write books and get to speak at events around the world. I’m married to Caz, a therapist/counselor by background, who has recently done amazing things in community development work and is currently working with convicted offenders. We have three adult daughters. What's your favourite bible passage & why? That’s hard to say. I love the story of Ruth. And Jesus’ healing of the bleeding woman. And the passages in
What's your favourite bible passage & why? I admit this is going to sound a little humorous, but currently, one of my favourite verses is John 11:35. "Jesus wept." I can recall a classmate in high-school leading a 'bible study' on this verse as a bit of a joke. But, I can't help but think about how deeply profound it actually is! And, how deeply profound it would've been for those in the first century. In that day, the Roman gods were admired for their strength and ability to 'stand over' human affairs. Yet here, we see Jesus—the One whom Christians affirm is God in the flesh—in all his vulnerability. Weeping. Theologians use fancy language like 'transcendence' and 'imminence' to speak about
Tell us a little about you I am the husband of Jenny and the father of Pippa (8) and a son of God. All three of them give me regular astonishment and delight. I began ordained ministry on my thirtieth birthday (cf. Luke 3:23. Joke.) I turned forty this year without a crisis. (Not a joke.) I am vicar of St James’ Old Cathedral, Melbourne West; Chair of Finance for the Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, and host the Year of Discernment Program for those considering ordination here. I love getting alongside people and helping them discover the good works that God has prepared for them to do. What’s your favourite bible passage & why? 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. I never felt called to ministr
Tell us a little about you I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I attended Sunday School with my wife Michelle, so we have been part of one another’s lives for a long time. We now have three married children and six grandchildren. All of whom keep us thinking, learning and praying. They bring amazing joy. With Michelle I have been in vocational ministry for over 40 years. We have had a ball. There have been difficult and testing times, but as we both look back we recognise God has blessed us way beyond what we deserved or expected. What's your favourite bible passage & why? In Ruth chapter 2 Boaz says to Ruth 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewar
My name is Graham Joseph Hill and I’m the Research Coordinator at Stirling Theological College (University of Divinity) in Melbourne. I’ve planted and pastored churches, and been in theological education for twenty years. I’m also involved in preaching and teaching at my home church, Thornleigh Community Baptist Church, which is a healthy, missional, and Christ-centred church in the northern suburbs of Sydney. I love serving at Stirling College and Thornleigh Community Baptist Church, because my greatest joy is seeing women and men being shaped as disciples and leaders, and seeing them grow more in love with Jesus every day. I married Felicity in 1996, and we have 3 daughters, Madison, Grace
Tell us a little about you I grew up as a missionary kid in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, became a primary school teacher, had a brief and unremarkable career as a classical singer, am now loving my role working for the Baptist church in Crows Nest where Jen and I have been for the past seven years. Jen is amazing (you'll know that if you've met her), she works in foster care, and we are continually pinching ourselves that we get to be the parents for our three young children. I have written a book called Follow : Experiencing Life With Jesus (follow.org.au) that aims to help people live as disciples to Jesus throughout the moment-by-moment, day-by-dayness of life. What's your favourite
What's your favourite bible passage & why? One of my favourite bible passages is John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Firstly, there is something absolutely awe inspiring and revealing about the character of God and his love for creation. This love saw him take it upon himself to enter into the brokenness and mess of the world to restore, renew and reconcile all things to himself Secondly, it tells us something of how we should go about participating in God’s mission. Simon Carey Holt in his book God Next Door: Spirituality and Mission in the Neighbourhood, puts it this way, “The story of the incarnation is the story of God en-fleshed in a particular place at a
I am an Anglican minister in Sydney. I do interim and consultancy ministry. I write daily devotions for Hope 103.2fm, and present spots on that station and also 2CH. Before becoming a pastor I worked in customer services for Qantas, and continue to work as a volunteer Airport Ambassador at the International Airport. I am married with two daughters and two granddaughters. A Bible verse I constantly keep in mind is 2 Chronicles 20:12…” For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” I like this verse as it reflects my own and struggles and my own often fragile faith. Circumstances may seem troubling and all I can do is to g
A few months ago, I was at a retreat with a group of colleagues and a guest speaker spoke about the need to raise up more leaders for various areas of ministry. As I complained about the need to start again and raise up new leaders for vacant staff roles the speaker looked me in the eye and said, ‘That’s just what you do, isn’t it?’ Everyone else around the room nodded and the conversation continued. I was quietened by that comment and took some time to process it, ‘is raising up new leaders really what I do?’ Two weeks later in a coaching conversation, the same comment was repeated. I sensed that God might have been trying to get my attention on this one! I never set out intentionally to ra
This #WorldMentalHealthDay I thought I’d share some musings from my therapy room. 1. Panic attacks are treatable. You don't have to put up wth them. 2. Parenting young kids can be more than any person can handle. You’re not deficient. Call in every bit of support you can. Drop the guilt. No-one’s got it all together (whatever that means). Just love your kids and feed them and play with them and do the best you can. ‘Good enough’ parenting is actually better for them than 'perfect' parenting. 3. Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication usually work pretty well. Drop the stigma. If you had diabetes, you’d take your insulin. If you have depression, or anxiety, or any other mental health con
Ever felt like everything in your world was shaking? Like it was all about to come crashing down? The struggles seem never ending and the challenges are fierce. Nothing looks like you thought it would, life has knocked the wind out of you and you’re not sure if you will ever catch your breath. We can find ourselves in a whirlwind of doubts, insecurity and pain. Surrounded by people who love us yet convinced that we are all alone, abandoned and forgotten. Our world shakes and God seems silent. David, in the Bible, felt this shaking shortly after he was anointed as king of Israel. He knew his destiny was greatness, but he was struggling with the challenges that came before his kingship. It’s b
