OUR BOARD of Trustees
David McLay | Chair
David McLay is a barrister specialising in tax, trusts and charities with almost 40 years of legal experience. He has governance experience in local and regional church bodies, as well as in a number of charities.
David lives in Taitā, Lower Hutt, with his wife Robyn who is an Anglican priest. They have three adult sons and three grandchildren.
David has been involved with the Bible Society, originally through the former Bible Society Development Fund, since 2010.
Amanda Fookes
Passionate about the Bible and the transforming power of God’s Word, Amanda Fookes is honoured to serve as a board member of the New Zealand Bible Society.
Trained as a specialist in the creative and marketing industries, Amanda has worked with a range of local and national organisations. She led the design team at NZ Post and contributed to the gold award–winning NZ Post rebrand. At Wellington City Council, Amanda headed the Creative and Brand team that focused on community engagement, and more recently, with Oranga Tamariki, she explored the cultural complexities of our society in partnership with Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki.
Amanda and her husband, Greg, live in Wellington and have filled their recently empty nest with the much-adored burmese cat, Nacho. They serve on the eldership at Northern Hills Church in Tawa, where Amanda also leads the Children’s Ministry.
Samuel Brebner
Samuel Brebner serves as the Manager of Ministries to Young People for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand. He has over 15 years of experience in youth ministry and is passionate about equipping young people to encounter God through the Bible. Sam holds a Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Law from the University of Auckland.
Bishop Kito (Te Kitohi Pikaahu)
Te Kitohi Pikaahu “Bishop Kito” began ministry in 1986 in the Auckland Anglican Māori Mission. He has been the Bishop of Tai Tokerau since 2002. At the heart of his ministry is the proclamation of the gospel message in the Bible, which is at the centre of God’s mission in the world. The liturgy and worship of the church, evangelism, pastoral care, catechesis, apologetics are all an important part of his role.
Bishop Kito lives in the Bay of Islands. With his grandson now living with them, it means he and his wife have new priorities to adjust to, bringing much joy and gladness.
Robert Hagan-Pratt
Robert Hagan-Pratt resides in Wellington and he is the Chairperson of Trinity Union Parish Newtown. He and his wife, Valerie, enjoy Chamber Music.
Robert started his Electronics career with NZ Post Office, progressing on to the Satellite Earth Station infrastructure design for NZ and overseas, and then to Interspersed with submarine cable design for 1984 ANZCAN Cable. Robert spent 5 years on the sale of Telecom NZ to Alcatel-Lucent moving on to contracting design of Trunk Microwave linking for Transpower using Alcatel systems, before starting contracting for Satellite and other Radio infrastructure design.
As the Chair of the Property Committee, Robert has overseen the sale of Wellington, Tory St property, and assisted with establishing the Group Office and warehouse at Wiri, Auckland.
Dr Penelope “Nep” Roberts
Penelope “Nep” Roberts is a trained Dental Surgeon, and Secondary Teacher, currently studying Te Reo Māori at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, wife to Nick, mother of 2 sons and 2 daughters, farmer, and friend.
Nep has a heart for evangelism, education and mission who finds being a Trustee on The Bible Society Board exciting because the Scriptures are at the heart of all. She also has a passion for the Scriptures being read by people in their own languages which is part of the reason she is studying Te Reo Māori.
Dr Eddie Tupa’i
Dr Eddie Tupa’i currently serves as the Lead Pastor - President of the NZPUC (New Zealand Pacific Union Conference). Eddie spent six years as a computer geek for Mobil New Zealand before becoming a church geek (pastor!). He is passionate about effective leadership in healthy Adventist churches. His D.Min. examines the ‘Healthy Adventist Churches’ initiative he led as president of the NNZ Conference.
He has served as a pastor in various contexts including local church, youth, family and church development. While in administration, Eddie has remained involved in pastoral ministry and local church leadership. He currently pastors a local church in addition to his role as Union president. He is married to Tessa (PhD in Education) along with being dad to four young adult men - and a cheeky cavoodle - ‘Chiko’.
CEO
Neels Janse van Rensburg
Neels firmly believes that the Bible is for everyone and that every life that encounters God through His Word will be transformed for the better and for good. He has been with Bible Society New Zealand for 13 years and feels that leading as CEO for the past 7 years is both a privilege and an honour. He holds a BMin, Lth degrees in theology, and an EMBA in business. His work life has been BI vocational for the last 34 years, leading businesses and pastoring churches.
Neels is married to Jeanine, and they have 2 daughters. Outside of Bible Society, as a family, they attend Doxa Deo Church, where he also serves as one of the ministry leaders. He serves on the Kingsway Board of Trustees as a proprietor rep and assists in mentoring as part of Mentoring NZ.
