Our people

Phillip is well-known in Australia and the UK as a gifted Bible teacher and ministry visionary. After many years as the Pastor of St Matthias Church, Sydney, and the Chaplain to the University of New South Wales, Phillip became the Anglican Dean of Sydney, and the Director of Ministry Training for the Sydney Anglican Diocese. Under God, Phillip has recruited and trained many young men and women for full-time gospel ministry, and initiated a number of very significant ministry organizations, including the Ministry Training Strategy and Matthias Media. Phillip and his wife, Helen, live in Sydney and have three adult children (and a growing number of grandchildren)

Tony Payne, Publishing Director

Tony Payne trained for ministry through the Ministry Training Strategy, and in 1988 began work as Matthias Media's first editor. Since then, Tony has accomplished a great deal: with his wife, Alison, he has grown a family of five children; he has completed a degree in theology at Moore Theological College; and he has overseen the development of Matthias Media, writing or otherwise.

Ian Carmichael, Operations & Finance Director

In 1988, Ian took over from Tony Payne as the St Matthias Church Administrator, also lending assistance from time to time with some of the business aspects of the fledgling publishing house. Gradually, the publishing business took over more and more of Ian's time, until a new Church Administrator was found and Ian became the full-time business manager for Matthias Media. Ian and his wife, Stephanie, have two children.

Karen Beilharz, Staff Editor (The Briefing), Resources Editor and Webmaster

Karen joined Matthias Media at the beginning of 2005. She edits pretty much anything that's put in front of her, and looks after all Matthias Media-related websites and blogs. She is one of the few in our office who does not like coffee. She does, however, have a great fondness for hot chocolate, green tea and Chinese peanuts. She completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong in 1999, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English at the University of New South Wales in 2000 and a Diploma in Bible and Missions at Moore Theological College in 2005. Karen is married to Ben who never ceases to amuse her.

Guy Betbeder-Matibet

Order a resource, and there's every chance it will be packed and dispatched by Guy. He's been sending out your orders since November 2002. He is married to Samantha, and enjoys fishing, playing board games and watching all sorts of sports on TV. He has even started playing netball!

Gordon Cheng, Resources Editor

Gordon is married to Fiona and father of three girls. He worked for 10 years as a senior staffworker with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students at Melbourne University, and then at a number of churches in Sydney as an Anglican minister. Gordon moved to Matthias Media in February 2004 to put his years of ministry experience to use in generating new resources for gospel work. Personal motto (from Rocky and Bullwinkle): “This time for sure!”

Anna Cole, Customer Service

Anna joined the Matthias Media team in June 2002. Her role includes answering customer calls and processing orders, and ensuring that Briefing subscriptions are kept up-to-date. As part of the female contingent of the office, she tries to ensure that conversations about footy are kept to a minimum, and that chocolate and fine music are regularly on hand.

Warren Doyle, Customer Service

Warren is responsible for the smooth and efficient running of our Customer Service Department. This involves answering customer calls, processing and dispatching orders and regulating the stock in our warehouse.

Jessica Green, Graphic Designer

Jessica joined the Matthias Media team in early 2007 to help make things pretty. She actually has proper qualifications in ‘making things pretty’ (B. Design) and she gets to do it for a living. She would probably not last the day without morning tea, lunch, an afternoon snack, 2-3 bottles of water, constant iTunes, and regular doses of AustenBlog.

Joy Lankshear, Graphic Designer

Whilst not strictly an employee of Matthias Media, Joy does so much of our design work she might as well be. (In fact she once was!) Together with her husband Dave, she is one of Australia's top designers, yet spends much of her time on Christian projects. For more evidence of her skill, check out her web site.

John Sammut, Sales Representative

John is responsible for sales opportunities in churches and other Christian ministries, while also establishing and meeting customer needs. The role includes the management and development of sales systems and strategies. John has face-to-face contact with our customers and explores new opportunities to sell our resources. John is enthusiastic and excited about helping any Christian ministry to grow and share the gospel.

Marty Sweeney, Director of Ministry, Matthias Media USA

Marty started Matthias Media USA in September 2006. Prior to that, he worked as a pastor and youth pastor at various churches. Marty studied finance at college and theology at seminary. Marty and his wife, Abby live in a rural town in western Pennsylvania along with their daughter Claire and two dogs, Kiko and Nellie. As the lone American, Marty's job is to represent the voice of reason in an otherwise strange environment.

Liza Tan, Operations manager

Liza joined Matthias Media in 2008 to relieve Ian Carmichael, the Operations and Finance Director, of a range of direct operational responsibilities. She manages the operational segments of the business: stock management, logistics, customer service, administration and finance.

Emma Thornett, Production coordinator

Emma exists to facilitate the work of the Publishing Department (at least during work hours). This especially involves assisting Tony Payne in his day-to-day administration, as well as ensuring everyone else in the Editorial department does their jobs. Emma loves cats and is, according to previous work mates, ‘frighteningly efficient’.

The Board of Directors

The ‘faceless men and women’ that oversee all that we do, and keep us on the straight and narrow as an organization.