I live in Adelaide and go to Pilgrim Uniting Church in the city.

What was the first book of the Bible you ever read?
I’ve been a Bible reader since I could read. So I don’t remember which book was my first (it was so long ago!). But my earliest memory of reading the Bible is of reading Psalm 23, and being encouraged to try to memorise it by my mother. I was probably 5 or 6.

Name a Bible character you resonate with and why.
Thomas! It’s so odd that he is remembered as “doubting”, when he was so courageous in his faith. “Let us go up to Jerusalem that we might die with him”. In fact, when the fourth gospel was being written – including the story of him wrestling with the news of Jesus’ resurrection – he was already remembered and honoured as the Apostle to India and a martyr.

What are you reading in the Bible at the moment?
Ephesians; with new eyes for the way it addresses the challenges of being a multicultural, multi-lingual community in Christ.

Where do you read the Bible?
Just about everywhere now that I’ve got a Bible app on my phone!

What’s one thing from the Bible that’s stuck in your brain at the moment?
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” (Romans 13:8)

Name one part of the Bible you keep coming back to again and again and why.
As a church leader, I keep going back to 1 Corinthians 12-14 and its vision of the life of the body of Christ.

Describe one of your Bible reading failures and what you learnt.
I’ve never been very good at Bible journaling. I start well, but peter out after a few days. But I don’t really think of it as “failure”. Reading the Bible isn’t a task to complete or a challenge to overcome, so much as it is a gift to accept and enjoy – as often as I can.

What advice would you give someone struggling to read the Bible each day?
Maybe try memorising a short passage rather than ploughing through several chapters or a whole book. Psalm 23, or 1 Corinthians 13, or the Beatitudes, or a parable … It’s a different way of engaging with the Bible, and a very powerful one.

And just for fun, if you were a monster what would be your defining feature?
Procrastination – of monstrous proportions!