I am a Baptist minister, teacher and writer. I serve at the Collins Street Baptist Church in the heart of Melbourne, one of Australia’s most beautiful cities. With a history dating back to 1838, Collins Street is among the nation’s oldest continuing Baptist congregations. More than that, it’s an engaging and courageous community deeply committed to the city and its people.
After a decade of service in church planting and youth ministry, I did postgraduate studies in practical theology at Fuller Seminary in Los Angeles, California. I then spent 15 years teaching in spirituality, ethics and pastoral theology, first at Macquarie Christian Studies Institute in Sydney and then at Melbourne’s Whitley College. My research and writing interests include the ethics of everyday life, the theology of food and hospitality, and the nature of Christian mission in suburbia. My books include God Next Door: Spirituality and Mission in the Neighbourhood (Acorn, 2007), Eating Heaven: Spirituality at the Table (Acorn, 2013) and Heaven All Around Us: Discovering God in Everyday Life (Cascade, 2018).
I live with my partner in the city and am inspired every day by the neighbourhood of which I’m a part.
I have two blogs, Eating Heaven where I write about all things food, and this one where I wonder about everything else.
Simon Carey Holt
SIMPLY SIMON 
Bless you Peter. Connections indeed. Thank you for your encouraging words. Blessings for today.
Simon,
Thank you so much for your courage in supporting the marginalized by your article in yesterday’s Age. I am a 79 year old granny – a gal of the Uniting Church, and I long for my minister to do what you have done. Even if you only change the fixed traditional views of a small number of Christian people regarding the use of that word “marriage”, you have rendered a life-reviving act for those who have always, and continue to be, threatened by ignorance, fear and lack of empathy. Social justice is the way of our Lord.
Sincerely…Lorraine
Thank you, Lorraine. Oh for more grannies just like you!
Hi Simon, looking to get in touch – please call me on 0400 820 704?
Hi Brianna, thanks for your persistence. I really don’t think I can add anything more to what I have written, so adding my voice to 3AW’s conversation on this is not something I feel able to do. But thank you. Simon
Thank you Carolyn for a wonderful message. We greatly appreciate being able to get the messages as we are locked in these days. Many thanks.
Thank you Ian. I will pass that on to Carolyn. So glad we can still be ‘together’ in worship. Peace to you and Barbara today.