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Governance

Governance at City on a Hill

City on a Hill is committed to planting and leading healthy churches. Our governance structures play an important role in in providing the appropriate accountability, wisdom and support to our leaders, as we pursue our mission together.

As one movement of many churches, the governance framework of City on a Hill includes governance teams across the movement as a whole, as well as locally within each of our established churches.

Our governance model aligns with the principles of Anglican governance, with lay men and women from within the local congregations appointed to serve the local church and wider movement.

City on a Hill Movement Council

The City on a Hill Movement Ltd. Council provides peak governance and operational oversight to the City on a Hill churches and ministries. Council directors play a key role in overall governance and supporting the strategic direction of the movement. Council members are to have a vibrant faith, Christ-like character, commitment to the vision and mission of City on a Hill, and competency in areas important to governance of the movement including finance, risk, planning & strategy, people & leadership, experience with a growth organisation, theology and pastoral leadership. The Council is made up of a mix of City on a Hill lay members and pastors. Appointments and terms of council directors are in accordance with the City on a Hill Movement constitution.

City on a Hill Movement Ltd. Constitution

Capability requirements for council directors

City on a Hill Movement Council charter

Richard Jackson

Chair/Director

Richard Jackson

Richard and his wife Celine have attended City On A Hill Melbourne since 2014. Richard has served in a governance capacity, principally on the Movement Finance Committee and previous iterations of that committee, for much of this time. Richard has served as a Warden for the Victorian churches for several years and has attended the Movement Council meetings in an ex-officio capacity since the middle of 2020. He and Celine also served in Many Rooms and as GC leaders for a number of years. They currently serve as members of Melbourne’s prayer team and have a heart to see growth in the prayer culture in the Melbourne church to help people draw closer to the Lord and walk unhindered by spiritual oppression. Career wise, Richard has worked in wholesale banking for around 30 years in several large international corporations, both in London and in Melbourne and brings a broad perspective on risk to the council. He holds an honours degree in French and English language, literature and linguistics.

Guy Mason

Senior Pastor/Director

Guy Mason

Guy is the founding and Senior Pastor of City on a Hill, a church that began in 2007 with a small team and a big vision. Today City on a Hill is a movement of many churches that gathers across multiple locations, in different cities and is united around the central mission of knowing Jesus and making Jesus known. Guy is a passionate communicator of the gospel who is committed to engaging culture with the beauty, truth, and relevance of Jesus. Guy graduated with a BA in Public Relations from RMIT University, has a Masters of Divinity from Ridley College and is currently completing a Doctorate of Ministry with Wheaton College. He is the husband to Vanessa and the father to four children. He is an ordained Anglican Minister and serves as an Archdeacon in the Diocese of Melbourne.

Luke Nelson

Director

Luke Nelson

Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity from Ridley College, and is close to completing a Masters of Ministry. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.

Nick Coombs

Director

Nick Coombs

Nick is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne East. He loves Jesus, is passionate about connecting deep theology with everyday life, and eager to make a difference in the time he has by helping plant as many churches as possible. After Jesus, Nick loves his wife Jules, and his two kids, Axel and Aria. He holds an MDiv from Ridley College, is an ordained Anglican minister and gives too much of his time to fantasy sports.

Lyn Ryman

Director

Lyn Ryman

Lyn has been attending City on a Hill Melbourne East since 2018. She was born and raised in South Africa, and is blessed to have always known the love of Jesus, having been raised in a family with a strong Christian faith. Lyn went to university in the US and was based there for over 20 years, working around the world in her role in international sports management. She has extensive experience in strategy development and implementation, operations management, and business optimisation. Lyn is now General Manager of Operations at Positive Media, home of 89.9 TheLight, and has the joy of helping to lead an organisation with a vision to see every life alight with the love of Jesus.

Rachel
Saravanamuthu

Director

Rachel Saravanamuthu

Rachel has attended City on a Hill Melbourne since 2017. Her life has been shaped by her faith as she continues to explore the freedom and joy in following Jesus. Rachel has served in various ministries at City on a Hill and leads a gospel community. She is inspired by God’s heart for people on the fringes of society and the unique role that the Church can play in dismantling injustice and being a safe space for healing and restoration. Rachel is a lawyer and has spent most of her career working with refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia and abroad. She is also a Board Director of Common Grace, a movement of people pursuing Jesus and justice.

Matthew Leung

Director

Matthew Leung

Matthew has been involved with the City on A Hill family since 2012. He is a senior regulatory lawyer and chartered secretary with over 20 years experience across the energy and telecommunications sectors, including with AGL Energy, Telstra, King and Wood Mallesons, and Ashurst. A lifelong learner, Matthew has qualifications in law and science from the University of Melbourne and in corporate governance from the Governance Institute of Australia. He is a qualified teacher of English to speakers of other languages. Matthew has also been active in teaching, training and leadership roles with Bible Study Fellowship in Australia, the US, India and other countries. He is a director on both its global and Australian boards.

City on a Hill Movement Committees

The City on a Hill Movement Council is supported by various sub-committees that provide specialised governance in key areas across the movement, including finance, risk, and people & culture. Council committee members are appointed by the Movement Council. The scope, duties and responsibilities of each committee is outlined in the respective committee charters.

City on a Hill Finance committee charter

City on a Hill Risk committee charter

City on a Hill People & Culture committee charter

City on a Hill Local Church Councils

Our local church councils exist to provide local wisdom, governance, support and accountability to the local lead pastor and leadership team of an established local City on a Hill church. Each local church council functions as a sub-committee of the City on a Hill Movement Council and has delegated authority to assist the council to discharge their governance responsibilities and to provide a local governance function. The local church council complements the oversight provided by the Senior Pastor of the City on a Hill Movement, and other supports and supervision.

The scope, duties and responsibilities of the local church council is outlined in the local church council charter, and role of council members in the role description.

City on a Hill local church council charter

City on a Hill local church council member role description

Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

Currently five of our churches are Anglican and are licensed as Authorised Anglican Congregations (AACs)
in the Melbourne Diocese (Melbourne, Melbourne West, Melbourne East, Geelong, Surf Coast). These
churches operate under the Parish Governance Act as one church through a combined cooperative
agreement, with shared leadership and governance. Under this arrangement, the Senior Pastor is licensed
as the Priest-in-charge, and ministry staff across the churches licensed by the Archbishop as either assistant
clergy or authorised lay ministers.

Lay volunteer members from across the AACs are appointed annually to hold office as warden or church
council member, and provide accountability and governance within the Anglican framework. As priest-in-
charge, the Senior Pastor is additionally accountable to the Archbishop and assistant bishops, who provide
Episcopal oversight across the diocese.

Other Governance References

Safe ministry policies

Making a complaint

Code of conduct

Financial report 2021

Privacy policy

Melbourne Anglican governance

Each of the City on a Hill entities are registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as not-for-profit charities.