Preacher: Simon Holt

Simon Holt

The Rev Dr Simon Carey Holt is an prominent Australian Baptist minister, academic, theologian, and author. He is best known for his 16-year tenure as the pastor of the historic Collins Street Baptist Church in the heart of Melbourne, a role he concluded in late 2025 before relocating to Canberra. Simon has been a very public figure, publicly advocating for same-sex marriage within the Australian Christian community during the 2017 national plebiscite, and for urban public health initiatives, famously petitioning the Victorian government for a permanent safe injecting room in the Melbourne CBD to combat overdose fatalities. Simon spent 15 years teaching spirituality, ethics, and pastoral theology, first at the Macquarie Christian Studies Institute in Sydney and then at Whitley College (the Baptist theological college of Victoria) in Melbourne. His research specialises in everyday ethics, local neighbourhood missiology, and "table spirituality" (the theology of food and hospitality). He has authored several widely read books exploring practical theology and urban spirituality.