Our People
Colin Simpkin – pastor
I am Pastor Col Simpkin, the sole pastor at St Paul’s Grovedale. If I was a dog I would be called a ‘Bitsa’ – bits of this and bits of something else.
I grew up in country Victoria and joined the army upon leaving high school. I did 12 1/2 years with the army as an electronics tech, during which time I served in most states of Australia and included 12 months of peacekeeping in Cambodia.
After leaving the army in 2000, I did a number of roles and 10 years of sales positions with a variety of companies. This included car sales, traineeship companies, ‘shopper dockets’, manual handling equipment and five years as a representative for a ceiling manufacturer in Altona – dealing with architects, builders and contractors all over Victoria.
After 20 years I eventually stopped running away from my call to ministry, which had begun in Cambodia. After five years of study at Australian Lutheran College in Adelaide, I was ordained and lucky enough to be placed in St Paul’s Grovedale.
My passion in ministry is to share the good news of the forgiveness we have in Jesus’ name, then to encourage people to live their faith in the community, wherever they are and whatever they do.
Michael Dillon – parish chairman
I recently retired after a long career as an environmental and chemical engineer and senior site manager. I now balance my life around faith, family and fun. Fun generally refers to surfing both around the local breaks at Bell's Beach and an annual sojourn to the warm waters of Indonesia. I came to the church through marriage and inspiration by the gospels, particularly John 1:1–5.
