Seeking to be a community of Hope centred on Jesus is a lifelong process. To help us grow, we have staff that provide guidance and care along the way. Each member of our staff uniquely contributes to learning and living this Hope. Feel free to connect with them about faith and life.
Kelly Capps
lead pastor
Email: kelly.c@baybaptist.org.nz
Kelly Capps joined Blockhouse Bay Baptist in August of 2017 as the Lead Pastor. Kelly is married to Erin and they have four children.
Kelly grew up in small-town Iowa before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota for undergraduate work in Youth Ministry. Due to course requirements, he landed in Cairo, Egypt as a youth intern at an international, English language church. This catapulted Kelly into ministry abroad. After 4 years in Cairo, he pursued a Master of Divinity degree in the USA before moving to Bonn, Germany. In Bonn, he served as Associate Pastor to an international, English language church for 9 years.
Kelly and his family are excited to be in NZ, to explore life and ministry in a multicultural city, and to see what God will do in the years to come. Kelly enjoys reading, making pizza, drinking coffee, exploring the great outdoors, and interacting with people from all walks of life.
He invites you to drop in for a conversation over a cup of something hot.
Ash Brice
associate pastor for youth
email: Ash.B@baybaptist.org.nz
If you count the seasons of your life by the places you’ve lived, Ash Brice is on number three. Ash is pleased to call Auckland home, having moved here at the start of 2020. Place really matters to Ash; she believes that God’s people have particular responsibility to care for the particular piece of land on which they are grounded and for the people who live there with them. She also thinks that the place you live and play and worship is formative for who you are and who you are becoming.
To this point, Ash has been formed in two places: Sydney, Australia (please don’t hold this against her!) and Vancouver, Canada. In Sydney, Ash studied environmental science at university and after graduating went to work studying soil, sampling soil, digging in soil, and looking at soil. Ash also spent time leading youth group at her local church and counts it a privilege to walk alongside young people as they investigate Jesus and discover what it means to follow him.
In Vancouver, Ash dove into theological studies. As the academic side of her faith deepened, she has been convinced of the importance of following Jesus in the everyday parts of life – in the ordinariness of Monday through Saturday, as well as on Sundays. Ash loves hospitality: gathering around a table, radical welcome, and making room to walk together in community.
Ash is excited to be part of the community of Blockhouse Bay and is looking forward to seeing the ways God is moving in this place and forming his people on this land. She’s excited to be journeying alongside the youth of our community – creating space for their questions, challenging them about the claims of Jesus, and helping them to be people who flourish in the world.
Feel free to send Ash an email – she’d be keen to grab a coffee (read: tea or some other warm beverage), eat brunch, watch some cricket, or explore a beautiful part of this country.
Michael Jack
Office Administrator
email: office@baybaptist.org.nz
Michael is the office administrator for the church, responsible for the daily running of the office and overseeing the church property.
Michael lives with his wife Lisa and their two cats in New Lynn. He worked at different universities before starting at Bay Baptist, and enjoys the challenges and opportunities afforded by working in a smaller, more people-focused team. The administrator role is designed to assist members with queries and to alleviate the pastoral team’s administrative workload, so that they have more time to focus on what they have been called to do.