People
We have two dedicated teams: one in Sydney, Australia, and one in Youngstown, USA. We love talking about our resources with disciple-makers, so feel free to give us a call or email us.
Team Australia
Tony Payne, Writer and Chairman
Since founding Matthias Media in 1988, Tony Payne has written more than 30 books, ministry courses and Bible studies, including The Trellis and the Vine, The Course of Your Life and The Tony Payne Collection (an anthology of articles and essays). He is currently a ministry trainer and writer-in-residence at Campus Bible Study (UNSW), and a visiting lecturer at Moore College. His weekly newsletter and podcast with Phillip Jensen is Two Ways News. With his wife, Ali, he has five adult children and nine grandchildren.
Gavin Shume, CEO
Gavin has worked in Christian bookselling and ministry since 1998. Before joining Matthias Media he was the National Marketing & Buying Manager of Koorong Books, the COO of Open Doors Australia & New Zealand and ran his own consultancy company helping gospel-centred Christian ministries be more effective in their mission. He is married to Claire and they have three daughters and three grandsons.
Geoff Robson, Commissioning Editor
Geoff has served at churches in Australia and New Zealand, and for nearly nine years was a campus staff worker with TSCF. At Matthias Media, he gets to write, commission and shape new resources. Raised in Sydney, Geoff now lives with his wife, Liz, and their four children in Christchurch, where they are part of Latimer Church. He is the author of Thank God for Bedtime and The Book of Books, the co-author of The Generosity Project and the contributing author to Growth and Change.
Ian Carmichael, Publishing Consultant (Honourary)
Ian has been with Matthias Media from its beginning (1988). In late 2020 he stepped down from the CEO role, and now works as an honourary consultant and editor for Matthias Media and Vinegrowers. Ian and his wife, Stephanie, have two adult children, two (gorgeous) grandchildren, and are part of Chatswood Presbyterian church in Sydney. Ian is one of the Vinegrowers team providing free consultations for church leaders who want to more effectively grow the disciple-making culture in their church.
Guy Betbeder-Matibet, Warehouse Manager
Order a resource, and there’s every chance it will be packed and dispatched by Guy. Guy’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.
Carol Lam, Graphic Designer and Marketing Assistant
Carol has over twelve years of experience designing for the print and digital space. She’s stoked that she can get behind the work of Matthias Media while doing what she loves. When she’s not designing, she’s tending to her two girls, ubering them to various places. She attends St Mark’s Malabar and enjoys playing Wordle and the piano.
Queenie Lau, Operations Manager
In just 4 days a week, Queenie makes sure the Matthias Media machine keeps humming along with peak efficiency. She leads our Customer Service team and tries to keep all our resources in stock. Queenie and her family are involved in the ministry at St Mark’s, Malabar in Sydney.
Rachel Macdonald, Editor
Rachel is the editor of the Matthias Media blog plus the occasional book, and also does much of our copywriting. Rachel loves having a job where she reads about Jesus and cares about commas. She is married to Seumas, a professional church history and Koine Greek nerd, and they have a daughter.
Emma Thornett, Managing Editor
Emma is the organizational hub of the Publishing Department. She coordinates all aspects of the production process and edits a number of our resources. She has an unusually high attention to detail, and is very happy to be in a job where she’s paid to be pedantic and to exercise her appreciation for good sentence structure.
Kirsten McKinlay, Production Editor
Kirsten cares about the micro-level detail of our books and finds few things more satisfying than catching a rogue apostrophe or a comma splice. Once upon a time she worked in our Sydney office, but now she catches commas from afar while working remotely from beautiful Oxfordshire in the UK, where she lives with her husband and little girl.
Sam Wallace, Customer Service
Sam is the friendly voice you hear when you call our Sydney office. He’ll help you make an order, pay an invoice or assist with any enquiry you may have. He attends and serves at Grace City Church, Waterloo, and when he’s not helping get your order to your doorstep, he can be found making films, drinking tea and writing about himself in the third person.
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.) She is one of Australia’s top designers, and spends much of her time on Christian projects. For more evidence of her skill, visit her website.
Team USA
Marty Sweeney, Executive Director
Marty started Matthias Media in North America in 2006. Previously he was a full-time pastor and since then he has returned to pastoral ministry (part-time). He oversees an apprenticeship program and small groups at Old North Church. He lives in Poland, Ohio with his wife Abby and their four children (and a standard poodle named Theophilus). He is the co-author of The Small Group and the Vine (with Tony Payne).
Melissa Bomberger, Customer Service
Melissa lives in Salem, Ohio with her husband Dave and their 3 sons. She attends Old North Church where she enjoys serving in various women's ministries. At Matthias Media you can find her packing your boxes or talking with customers about how they are using our resources which she loves to do!
Amy Cardiero, Operations Manager
Amy has lived in the Youngstown area for her entire life. She spent a few years away studying Civil Engineering at the University of Dayton. She and her husband John have three children, and together they spend most of their time at a sporting event of some sort. Amy has been on staff with Matthias Media since 2016.
Laura Denny, Blog, Content
Laura is an avid reader who loves to share books, conversation and coffee. She homeschools her three children and often finds herself learning through teaching. Laura enjoys serving with her church family in a variety of ways, but especially with children and fellow moms. She and her husband Philip enjoy taking the family on road trips, especially to visit historic sites.
Lindsey Yeagley, Marketing Director
Originally from the Cleveland area, Lindsey now lives in the Youngstown area with her husband Scott and their three children. She and her family are members at Old North Church. Her children as well as her wedding photography business fill up her time most days. She's a fan of strong coffee especially if it's enjoyed in the mornings on her front porch.
Samantha Pitzer, Marketing Assistant
Samantha is a recent graduate of Youngstown State University, where she studied Business. She now lives in Canfield with her husband Jake. They attend Old North Church and love to volunteer with the college students and other ministries. Samantha enjoys traveling, hosting friends, and cozying up with a new book and a cup of coffee.
Founder
Matthias Media began in 1988 through the initiative of our founder, Phillip D. Jensen. These days Phillip continues to serve as a Bible teacher and evangelist through Two Ways Ministries. You can find out more about Phillip and benefit from his extensive teaching resources through his website: phillipjensen.com.
The Boards
Matthias Media (Australia) is a not-for-profit company (incorporated in Australia and limited by guarantee), with a board of directors that oversees all that we do, and keeps us on the straight and narrow as an organization. Currently the directors are: Dr Tony Payne (Chair), Rev Sandy Grant, Mr Jonathan Marquet, Mrs Cathy Grimmond, Mr Greg Bridge and Ms Monique New.
The directors of the US company are: Chris Drombetta, Andrew Smith, Colleen McFadden, Grady Summers and Ian Carmichael. Marty Sweeney is an executive director.