Eleanor Roosevelt, apart from having a cool name and being a rocking and independent first lady, came up with the concept to: “learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.’’

I like that idea not just because I’m rather prone to mistakes but because it infers that you should always keep learning and that other people are the best teachers.

I’ve learned a tremendous amount from others including many people at FNCC and I’m sure that will continue because people here tend to be pretty honest and straightforward about their interesting lives.

You won’t find an air of unrelenting false positivity which is quite a relief if you get tired of wearing a church mask.

I’m not saying FNCC runs like a Swiss watch – more like an accidental, just in time manufacturer – but we have a lot of fun on the journey.

Hello, I’m Karen and I’ve been coming to Fitzroy North Community Church since about 2013. When I first arrived, I was impressed with this little community that was willing to tackle difficult topics with an attitude of grace, openness, and inclusiveness. Of course, I decided to stick around and 9+ years later I’m still here! When I’m not crunching numbers in an Excel spreadsheet (I love a good Excel spreadsheet) either for the church or in my day job, I like to spend time exploring different parts of Victoria, by bike or on foot and most importantly with friends. I also love music, photography, and a well-made sourdough.  

I've been involved in FNCC since 2016, and was very honoured to join the Board in June of 2022. I consider it a great privilege to be one of the people who get to think deeply about the life of this community while being part of its richness. Fitzroy North is a uniquely welcoming place, filled with intention and consideration, and I'm very glad that it exists. On the Board, I hold the enviable policy portfolio, which I like thinking about as the legal liturgy for our church. 

In my work life, I am a grants administrator for a climate NFP, and I'm studying towards my Masters in Theology. In the rest of my life, I enjoy music, reading, and the making and enjoyment of unnecessarily fancy coffees.

Hi! I'm Josh and when I was on the search for a more inclusive and doubt-welcoming church in 2015 I stumbled upon this lil place. It's been a bit of a bedrock for me over the last 7 years as I've studied, moved overseas, ridden the high and lows of different relationships and career moves. Currently, I work as a facilitator for the preventative mental health and emotional intelligence organisation, The Man Cave. We help teenage boys take off the mask and connect with what's really going on for them emotionally - it's literally the best job ever. I also find myself living at the Indigenous Hospitality House, an intentional community engaged in healing and justice around First Nations issues. I love rock climbing, talking about feelings and, most importantly, almond croissants. 

I'm a newbie to FNCC and came into the role as a life-long administrator (I genuinely love lists and making appointments for people). I manage the day-to-day goings on for the venue hire, coworking space and anything admin related for the Church. It's such an honour to be a part of the FNCC team and that I am able to work with such a genuinely loving community.

When I'm not at our beautiful building I'm either eating, cuddling my dog Remus or photographing musicians.

For some reason I am always tempted to start bios highlighting my tap dancing skills. Given it's been many (many) years since I even took my shoes out this is bound to backfire at some stage. I’m Tamsin. I wandered into FNCC over nine years ago and liked the people so I never left. It's been a safe space to admit my theology is an evolving beast and where folks have seen me and my stuff and have loved me anyway. 

Since that first awkward visit,  I've met and married George and we had our daughter, Annika. A happy day is usually in active wear, drinking coffee in the back corner of a cafe, pondering how the universe unfolds. Alongside working at church, I teach adult ballet which also makes me very happy. 

At this point in my life, my primary role is being a father to Tilly and Kate, an overwhelming but compelling task which (as a friend of mine once said) 'pulls your heart in all directions'. The time and energy I have left over, I divide between trying to be a half decent husband to Susie, trying to be a half decent friend to the many people I love, and trying to do enough creative stuff to justify continuing to think of myself as an artist of sorts. Several lives ago, I was (what I used to describe as) 'the coordinator' of a church in Sydney called 'Plunge'. It proved to be a bit of a shooting star of a church - fleeting, but quite beautiful. I really liked that life. In fact, I've had a lot of good ones. But my current life is, without a doubt, my favourite so far. Oh yeah, and I also work for Fitzroy North Community Church.

I'm a Kiwi living in exile ever since the great jandal debacle of 2011 (don't ask, suffice to say there was a thong mixup). I've successfully managed to live the immigrant's dream by taking one of your jobs (two in fact!) and marry one of your sheila's (just the one). Although churchy stuff can make me a little anxious I feel very lucky to serve a community that engages faith with such honesty, openness and kindness. My role involves a fair bit of reading and writing which make me pretty happy, a bit of plotting and planning, and spending plenty of time with top-shelf humans.

To stay sane I also work with coffee, study when we can afford it, and along with my wife Meg have begun "Project Raise Children Without Messing It Up Too Badly" (PRCWMIUTB). So far so good!