Governance
Meet the Board
Open Baptists is established as a company limited by guarantee and is registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission. Companies limited by guarantee have members rather than shareholders, and each member gets one vote at company meetings.
We are set up so that company members must have the support of an affiliated church, making them church representatives for all practical purposes. Open Baptists is a not for profit organisation and members receive no financial benefits.
Open Baptists is managed by a Board of Directors. While the Board has the power to manage the business of Open Baptists, its policy is that major decisions will be referred to a company meeting wherever practicable. Open Baptists seek to build consensus before decisions are taken. We emphasize openness, consultation, and seeking the mind of God together.
Current Board Members
Belinda Groves, Chair
Belinda Groves is the current Chair of the Open Baptists Board and Team Leader at Canberra Baptist Church in Ngunnawal Country, Canberra. Her role at Canberra Baptist includes leadership, preaching and worship, pastoral care and building community. She loves being part of a church with a rich tradition of thoughtful worship and theological reflection and a lived practice of discipleship, hospitality, mercy and justice.
Belinda has a BA (Hons), Dip. Ed., a BTh (Hons) and an Advanced Diploma in Christian Ministry. Previously she served at Seaforth Baptist Church, Northside Baptist Church and served as a lay staff member at Yokohama Union Church in Japan.
As well as having lived in Japan, she has lived in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Belinda has one husband, Aron Downey, two dogs, Mischief and Monty, and three children: Miriam (and partner, Dan), Grace and Zachary.
John Higgins, Secretary
Before retiring, John worked in the Australian public service on issues including environmental science, climate change, environmental regulation, and community development. He is a member of Canberra Baptist Church and does not own a dog.
Nathan Nettleton, Treasurer
Nathan Nettleton is pastor to the Open Icon Baptist Church in Melbourne, and writes and publishes worship materials at LaughingBird Liturgical Resources. He has studied and taught in the fields of liturgical studies and Baptist identity. He has served as a member of the Baptist World Alliance Study Commission on Worship and Prayer, and as one of the Australian representatives to the ecumenical English Language Liturgical Consultation. He has been a member of Baptist Union of Victoria task forces on church constitutions and on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in Baptist churches.
He is married with one adult daughter. In his leisure time, he enjoys telemark skiing, craft beers, and training dogs (pastors need someone to do what they say occasionally!).
Christine Redwood
Christine Redwood is the pastor of Seaforth Baptist church in Sydney. She previously served as Associate Pastor at Hornsby Baptist for six years. Christine loves studying and recently completed her PhD in preaching, the Old Testament, and feminist hermeneutics. She published her first book, ‘Hear Her Voice,’ in 2024.
Outside of work, she loves spending time with her nieces. Christine loves being creative and is passionate about films, theatre, writing, and most of all communicating God’s story with others.
Vivian Grice
Originally trained and working as a secondary teacher in the NSW State system. Following ministry training at Morling College, he served in local Baptist churches in NSW for 22 years before working in a denominational leadership role with NSW Baptists. Since concluding the denominational role in February 2019, he has been involved in the professional supervision and mentoring of ministers, chaplains, and those in denominational leadership from across Australia. He is a member of the Australasian Association of Supervisors (AAOS) and an accredited supervisor with Chaplaincy Australia (CA). He is married to Rhonda, father and grandfather.