Our Staff & Leaders
Find out a little more about the staff and leaders here at Canterbury Baptist Church. We are blessed to have such a talented Senior Pastor, complemented by a diverse congregation with a broad range of professional skills and experience.
Stephen Field
Senior Pastor
Stephen joined Canterbury Baptist as Senior Pastor in December 2019. He provides pastoral and strategic leadership to the Church, the Ministries, and the Staff, and he speaks most Sundays. His passion is to help people discover the ways Jesus is active in their lives and help them to participate in the good work God is already doing. He enjoys reading, movies, sports, and board games, and can often be found on Maling Road trying out all the different cafes. Stephen is married to Ruth and together they have eight children.
Brett van Lieshout
Diaconate Chair
Brett has been attending Canterbury Baptist since 2002. During those years he has been a part of various ministries including being a current member of the leadership team since 2012. Brett has always viewed CBC as his extended family and enjoys the regular mix of old and young attendees. He's passionate about seeing the love and acceptance of Christ extended to people from all walks of life. Brett has built a career as a designer in the advertising industry, is a keen golfer and also loves to cook up a storm for friends and family. Brett is married to Kate and together they have two daughters.
Harvey Wood
Secretary
Safe Church Concerns Person
Harvey and Janine transferred their church membership to CBC in 2015 attracted by its family ethos, its clear Biblical basis in teaching and practice, the warmth of fellowship and the opportunities and encouragement to serve in a variety of ministries. Harvey recently accepted an invitation to join the Diaconate and to fulfil the role of church secretary. After 20 years as a high school principal, he is now continuing his enthusiasm for education as a part-time teacher at a school specialising in students who are ‘school refusers’. In the rest of the week, he enjoys gardening, learning French, spending time with grandchildren, meeting new people, enjoying French movies, walking/talking regularly with one daughter and each year, travelling to spend time with the other UK-based daughter and exploring the UK and Europe with her.
Please contact Harvey if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns about Safe Church matters.
Deacon
Philipp started attending CBC in 2002. He is currently a member of the missions committee, the leadership team and can often be seen making the tea and coffee. Philipp is a doctor and has worked in Australia and in several countries overseas. He is married to Jane. Philipp is passionate about nature and loves trying to find and photograph animals in the wild.
Rowena Day
Deacon
Rowena started attending CBC with her husband Tim and 2 daughters when they moved back to Melbourne in 1997. She has been a member of the Diaconate for over 10 years. She particularly values the way that the intergenerational worship at Canterbury develops a sense of community. Together we want to deepen our relationship with God and more actively show love to each other and our neighbours. She enjoys reading, classical music and travel.
Ella Thompson
Deacon
Ella has been attending CBC since her Sunday school days more than 30 years ago. Ella is currently involved in CBC’s music team, diaconate and enjoys attending her small group. Away from church, Ella works as a medical scientist and enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
Ben Dyer
Deacon
Ben Dyer has been part of CBC since 2011, including being the ‘young leader’ representative on church council previously. (Ben has been attending a Baptist church since before he was born). He has been involved in many aspects of CBC church life including children’s ministry, youth leading, Audio visual team… anything except singing! (Although he does enjoy watching Eurovision!) Ben is highly regarded in his professional field of email and web marketing and is skilled in all things technical and analytical. Ben is married with three children.
Pete Horbury
Treasurer
Pete Horbury is the Treasurer at CBC. He’s been attending for 35 years. His faith in Jesus has been particularly inspired by the Sermon on the Mount and Larry Norman song "the Outlaw.” He loves to collect different editions of Trivial Pursuit and has an extensive Oz rock collection.
Keith Chessell
Elder, Connect Groups Leader
Keith Chessell has been involved at Canterbury since 2003 and involved in small group ministry and leadership for over 30 years. He is passionate about the importance of small groups and helping people to feel connected with God and a Christian community. Keith is married to Helen, they have three grown-up children and 8 grandchildren. He enjoys spending his spare time educating people and companies on packaging their products so they don’t negatively impact the environment.
Helen Chessell
Elder
Helen holds the position of Elder at CBC. She is a grandmother with 8 grandchildren and has been trained in childcare.
Pauline Proctor
Worship Music Team Leader
Paulie has been at Canterbury Baptist since 2015 and is the Music Coordinator. She started singing and playing violin in the music team and then took on the role of Music Coordinator in 2016 to assist with leading and coordinating two teams of very talented musicians, sound and media people. Her role includes rostering and song selection for each service, sourcing and introducing new songs and supporting new people to join the teams and helping them find their fit. She enjoys encouraging and assisting these teams to contribute to the best of their abilities and tries to make song choices appropriate to the team dynamics, abilities and sermon themes. She also loves to explore new and varied worship music for the Canterbury Baptist Church services and is keen to encourage more young people to become involved in the music teams. Music has always been a passion in Paulie’s life, whether it be through playing in orchestras, singing in choirs, leading worship or encouraging her children to play instruments. She finds music integral to connecting with God. Paulie also leads a Ladies Connect Group that meets once a month for connection and sharing and also works part time as a Grants and Accountability Coordinator at International Aid and Development organisation Tearfund Australia. She loves how welcoming and encouraging people are at Canterbury Baptist Church, as well as its focus on trying to be present within the wider community. Paulie is married to Rob and has three wonderful boys, Benjamin, William and Oliver. She enjoys listening to music, baking sourdough, sewing and drinking good coffee!
Laurie Barton
Servants Ministry Leader
(Retired Baptist Minister)
Team Leader, ‘CBC Servants’.
Attending CBC with my family since 1998. Canterbury Baptist Church is where I seek to express my Christian faith and gifts, especially since my retirement from full time Ministry (as a School Chaplain) at the end of 2017. Sharing with the Servants community is a wonderful opportunity to offer and receive support, and to experience the love of Christ in action.
I enjoy sharing with family, reading, watching sport (especially ‘the Dees’), playing golf and tennis, and travel. I’m married to Wendy, and we have three children and three grandchildren.