John Simpson, Senior Pastor

John is an ordained Baptist Minister.  He and wife, Judith, have had long experience in serving Jesus.  They spent two years (1972-3) working with Wycliffe Bible Translators at their base at Ukarumpa in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.  John taught the children of missionaries at the High School there while Judith typed translations of the Bible in the print shop.

In 1974 John commenced as the Youth Pastor of the Blackburn North Baptist Church before commencing more than two decades of service with the Baptist Union of Victoria.  He was Co-ordinator of Christian Development (1978-83), Mission at Home Superintendent (1983-1990), then General Superintendent of the Union (1990-2000).  He and Judith exercised an interim ministry at Croydon Hills (2000-01).  They commenced their ministry at Portland in January 2002.

John and Judith have had four decades of contact with Portland being regular visitors for all of this time.  They have been members of the annual SUFM Beach Mission program in Portland each year since 1978.  This participation enabled them to build a wide circle of friends within the churches and community of Portland over the years.  They enjoy working with Portland’s families with John conducting the daily parent workshops during the program.

John is currently the Convenor of the Portland Ministers’ Association and a member of the Board of Bayview College.

John can be reached on 5523 2257 or 0428 780 421 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Michael Drennan, Associate Pastor

Bio coming soon

Jim Blake, Secretary

Bio coming soon