Elders
Calvary is guided by Elders, who provide spiritual guidance and support to the Church and its leadership in matters relating to theology, spiritual practices, and pastoral matters.
Leadership
Calvary Australia Board
Pastor Dustan Bell
Board Chairperson
Dustan has served as Senior Pastor of Calvary Christian Church since 2019. Prior to this Dustan served on Calvary's ministry team from 2006, in key roles in Calvary's Sunshine Coast, Townsville and East London campuses. As Senior Pastor, Dustan gives oversight to Calvary's mission expressed through multiple vehicles, including Calvary Church, Calvary Education Group, Calvary Leadership College and Calvary Care. In addition to his role within Calvary, Dustan serves on the State Executive of the Australian Christian Church Queensland/Northern Territory. Dustan has recently completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors. Dustan resides on the Sunshine Coast with his wife Sarah and their four children.
Fay Barker
Director, Chair Constitution Working Group
Fay has served as a professional Director for over 20 years in business, civic and non-profit contexts, including RACQ Limited, The RACQ Foundation, The CEO Circle, The Townsville Hospital Foundation, Breakwater Island Trust Limited, The Townsville Chamber of Commerce, Lifeline North Queensland, Townsville Port Authority and Townsville Enterprise Limited. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a 2006 recipient of the Order of Australia Medal for service to business, the arts and local government. Fay has been a part of Calvary for more than 20 years, attending the Townsville campus.
Peter Honeycombe
Director
For more than 30 years, with his wife Vanessa, Peter has continued to operate their family business Honeycombes Property Group, across Queensland. He is both a Graduate and a Fellow of the Institute of Company Directors having served in more than a dozen Board roles for industry bodies, not-for-profit charities and commercial enterprises. These include a member of the Qld Board of Trustees of the Centre of Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), Director of Townsville Enterprise Limited, Director of Mackay Permanent Building Society Limited, Director of Real Estate Institute of Qld, Director of College of the Nations a wholly owned subsidiary of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) and currently for the last 3 years Chairman of Good Shepherd Nursing Home. In 2005 Peter was the recipient of the Australian Institute of Management’s Qld Businessperson of the Year. Peter, Vanessa and their four children have been an active part of Calvary Townsville and Cairns over the last 30 years.
Paul Hutchinson
Director and Board Treasurer
Currently working as a Business Manager for a Christian School in Cairns, Paul has developed a deep working knowledge of church and school finances. Previously as Executive Manager Business Services within a large government organisation, Paul oversaw a multi-million-dollar budget and corporate portfolios of health and safety, human resources, finance, fleet and equipment and capital works including maintenance.
In another previous role, Paul was Executive Manager Capital Works for an emergency services agency where his focus was strategic service delivery planning for the future. Paul has qualifications in project management, business management and disaster management. From 2003, Paul and his family were part of the Sunshine Coast campus, before moving to Cairns in 2014 and joining the Calvary campus there.
Ben Paine
Director
Ben has over 18 years' experience in Banking and Finance, with his current role being Emerging Corporate Director at Commonwealth Bank. Ben has a particular interest in financial education, aiming to improve the financial wellbeing of businesses and families in his local community. Ben coordinates Calvary's Business ministry at the Sunshine Coast campus and has served on the Calvary and Eaton College boards since 2022 providing valuable commercial experience. Ben has been in fellowship at the Sunshine Coast campus since 2008 alongside his wife Alice and their three children.
Pastor Matthew Pappas
Secretary, non-voting
As General Manager for Calvary Christian Church, Matthew has been on staff at Calvary since 2010 serving in various ministry and leadership roles. In addition to being an ACC credentialed minister, Matthew also has extensive experience in the construction industry and in project management.
Prior to working for Calvary, Matthew held a senior management position in a large construction company, overseeing training and developing staff along with managing large commercial, industrial and residential projects with multi-million dollar budgets. Matthew also serves as a Director for Calvary Christian College, Eaton College and has qualifications through Effective Governance Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Pastor Neil Smith
Director
Neil Smith is the Founding Director of Global Reach Ministries, with a mission to amplify the impact of the local church throughout the world. Having been in ministry for almost 30 years, Neil is passionate about building the local church but believes that ministry must extend beyond the four walls of the church. He has a vision for cultural transformation across communities, cities and nations. Neil’s background in building, high-rise development and project management has equipped him to oversee many local church building projects all around the world.
Over the last decade, Neil has also worked on community development projects, focusing on building government relationships and corporate partnerships. This has included his work as the as the CEO of Empower Australia which expanded the charity's food relief efforts in the pandemic of 2020 - giving out over 1 million meals that year. In Papua New Guinea and Fiji, Neil has spearheaded church based initiatives in partnership with governments and local bodies to bring sustainable development in the spheres of business, education, and health. Neil Smith and his family are in fellowship at Planetshakers Melbourne.
Nathan Spicer
Director
Nathan is Director of Mission at Christian Vision (CV), leading evangelism initiatives globally and overseeing a team of more than 270 staff working across multiple countries and cultures. He collaborates with diverse teams and ministry leaders worldwide to explore innovative ways technology and media can help people encounter Jesus and explore faith. With a background in the technology industry and experience living on the mission field in Africa, Nathan combines digital innovation with a deep love for the Church and global mission. He is passionate about helping ministries navigate and leverage emerging technology in ways that create meaningful Gospel impact. Nathan and his wife Beck have two adult children and have been part of Calvary Sunshine Coast since 2009.
Pastor Karyn Wright
Director
Karyn and her family have been part of Calvary since 2015. She has served in various ministry and leadership roles and now serves as the Team Development and Wellbeing Manager in Calvary's Business Office. With a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) and as a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Karyn brings experience in community development, government systems, social policy and organisational development, with a focus on building strong teams and organisations. Her areas of interest include governance, community development, child protection and creating systems that prioritise people care, wellbeing and community.