About

About Us

Who we are

We are a diverse group with three main things that hold us together:

  • We believe that God made the world through Jesus and for Jesus. And yet, Jesus came into His world as a human, to die a sacrificial death. Jesus was then raised bodily on the third day, and ascended to heaven, where He now reigns at God's right hand. Jesus will return one day soon to judge the living and the dead - salvation and life are only found in Jesus! (Acts 2:22-39, Acts 17:30-31, Colossians 1:15-20)
  • We believe the Bible is God’s Word to us, the ultimate word of authority in our lives and teaching, with its central message God's plan of salvation in Jesus. As we read, speak, hear and obey God's Word, His Holy Spirit gives eternal life and changes us to be like Jesus and pleasing to God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-13, 2 Timothy 3:14-17)
  • Though less grand, the third thing that holds us together is UNSW. In general, we study, live, or work at UNSW, and our desire is to reach everyone who does the same with the good news of the Bible that offers salvation to all through Jesus Christ!

Campus Bible Study is a ministry of the Anglican Chaplaincy of UNSW, affiliated with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES)

Our Mission

Prayerfully proclaiming the crucified Christ as Lord of all,
we evangelise, teach, train and send each other
as God’s servants into all the world.

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Our Team

Rev. Carl Matthei

Senior Minister
Campus Director / Anglican Chaplain

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Rev. Charles Gajus

FOCUS Church Pastor
Indonesian Bible Fellowship

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Rev. Joshua Ng

FOCUS Church Pastor
International & Cantonese Bible Fellowships

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Talar Khatchoyan

Campus Women’s Pastor
(starting 2025)

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Ross Ireland

Evangelism and Communications
(starting 2025)

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Simon Sheely

Unichurch Pastor
(starting 2025)

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Rev. Kevin Chien

FOCUS Church Pastor
Mandarin Bible Fellowship

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Tash Leong

FOCUS Women’s Pastor

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Rev. Tim Rowe

Campus Pastor

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Kitty Chan

Campus Women’s Pastor

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Sandra King

Campus Associate Pastor

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Alison Napier

Women’s Pastor

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Rev. David Brackenbury

Unichurch Pastor

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Tracey Gowing

Staff Training

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Dr. Lewis Jones

Staff & Post Graduates Pastor

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Dr. Jerome Jayasekera

Staff & Post Graduates Pastor

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Our Beliefs

  1. The divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
  2. The unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead.
  3. The universal sinfulness and guilt of humanity since the fall, rendering men and women subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
  4. The conception of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and his birth by the Virgin Mary.
  5. Redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only though the sacrificial death, as our representative and substitute, of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.
  6. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
  7. The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit to make the death of Christ effective in the individual sinner, granting him or her repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ.
  8. The indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
  9. The expectation of the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What's On

Simply Jesus

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Rev. Carl Matthei

Carl serves CBS as senior pastor, teaching the Bible and overseeing the entire staff team. His greatest passions are proclaiming Jesus as Lord of all and caring for his wife Jenny and his four children (Caitlin, Laura, Rebecca and Joel). When he’s not working, he is spending time with his family or farming in his garden.

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Rev. Charles Gajus

Charles loves his wife Stefani, and his kids – Zoe, Zac, Hannah and Beth. He is the Pastor of FOCUS Indonesia and oversees the training of students and trainees on campus. He describes himself as being smarter than he looks, but dumber than he sounds. Thankfully, he knows God accepts him only because of Jesus.

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Rev. Joshua Ng

Josh is married to Karen and has three grown up children, Laura, Stephanie and Jordan. He is the senior pastor of FOCUS, which serves the International Students at UNSW. He built his own pulpit (literally – and is onto version 3). Josh tries to fix things around the house and loves spending time with family including the sons-in-law, Ben and Jono.

Joshua N

Talar Khatchoyan

Talar graduated Moore College in 2018 and has served at Yagoona Anglican and Naremburn/Cammeray Anglican Church.

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Ross Ireland

Ross did his traineeship at CBS before studying at Moore College.  He will return to be the dedicated evangelist on the team and will also serve the wider ministry enabling communication between students, grads, and supporters.  He is married to Lilian and has two children.

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Simon Sheely

Simon did his traineeship at CBS before studying at Moore College.  He will return to pastor the Unichurch congregation.  Having lived in one of the colleges while studying, he is well equipped to minister to the residents at the university.  He is married to Ange.

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Kevin Chien

Kevin was born in Taiwan, and came to Sydney at age 11. He is married to Kathlen and has two daughters, Phoebe and Shiphrah. While Kevin’s role is focused on evangelism towards Mandarin speaking students, he is keen to encourage students from all backgrounds to be involved with this work.

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Tash Leong

Tash is thankful to be a part of the CBS staff team and loves reading the Bible with people on campus. Some of her favourite topics of conversation include – the gospel, KFC (the Korean kind!) and playing drums – in no particular order! 

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Rev. Tim Rowe

Tim grew up in the country, studied engineering at UNSW, and thanks God for the faith he was brought up in and firmly grasped through CBS. Tim is married to Sarah and has three children (William, Daniel and Alison). He loves teaching the Bible, encouraging everyone to follow Jesus, leading his family in serving Jesus and spending time with his family (especially when bikes are involved!).

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Kitty Chan

Kitty came to Sydney when she was 5 years old and is sometimes confused about whether she is more Asian or Aussie. She first trusted in Jesus through faithful Sunday School teachers and delights in being God’s child. She finds it a privilege teaching and training women on campus and enjoys reading fantasy books and fishing.

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Sandra King

Sandra meets with women at UNSW to read the Bible and speak about Jesus. Other days, she supports Christian ministry elsewhere in Sydney. Days off are spent with her husband, Paul, walking along the coastline or at an occasional AFL game. They have 3 adult children. Ask her about overseas mission – it’s a favourite topic.

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Alison Napier

Alison is serving the various FOCUS churches. She loves to teach the Bible to women of all ages, cultures and life situations. Being with FOCUS has also given her a love for steamboat meals, kueh and durian, as well an ever-expanding vocabulary.

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Rev. David Brackenbury

Dave – or Bracks as he is generally known – studied at UNSW, did a ministry traineeship with CBS and missed it so much he’s decided to come back as the pastor of Unichurch. Bracks is married to Michelle and has four children, Samuel, Catherine, Lucy and Anna.

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Tracey Gowing

Tracey grew up near Kempsey and enjoys hanging out with her family, her god-kids and their families and anyone who wants to play squash or cricket. She loves talking about Jesus, pondering everything ethical and learning from others.

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Dr. Lewis Jones

Originally from the US, Lewis began life in Australia as a postdoc at UNSW researching the effect of galaxy clustering on stellar populations and is now working with CBS to take the gospel of Jesus to the UNSW Staff and Post-Grads. Married to an Australian lass named Jenny, who has provided him three half-breed children, Lewis continues to be thankful to his Saviour Jesus Christ, who forgives him his many failures and empowers him to serve God’s people.

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Dr. Jerome Jayasekera

Jerome was born in Malaysia, grew up in the US and spent time in Egypt. Having come to faith as a postgraduate student at uni, he loves the opportunities that uni life opens up to encountering Jesus. He is super keen to help everyone at uni, particularly postgrads and academics, find true meaning and life in Jesus. He loves spending time with his family, outdoor activities, and engaging in thought provoking conversations.

CORE
TRAINING

Because the Christian life is about service, CORE Training is a series of practical small group training courses. They will equip you to know and share what you believe, to read the Bible on your own and with others, to lead a Bible Study group, and help you transition from Uni to the rest of your life!

Make the most of your university years to be equipped to serve now and well into the future!

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CORE
THEOLOGY

If God has made the world and the Bible tells us how we are to live in the world, theology is all about knowing God truly and learning to view the world with His eyes.

CORE Theology is a fun and engaging weekly seminar that won’t let you sit back with indifference. Wherever you are, we want to stretch your thinking and firm-up your foundation to live rightly in service of God and others!

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