Australian Women Preach

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 10: 2-16

Penny Jones

Penny is an Anglican priest and spiritual companion, who has been offering spiritual guidance and inspiration for more than thirty five years.  As a dancer, labyrinth and InterPlay facilitator, and yoga practitioner, she is especially drawn to the interface of spirituality and the body, and to the ways in which physical movement can effect spiritual shifts. She has served on the staff of four theological colleges and courses, specialising in the New Testament, practical theology and homiletics

website: http://www.soulworkerpennyjones.com    

 Josephine Inkpin

Josephine is an Anglican priest serving as Minister of Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney.  The first out licensed ordained transgender Minister in Australia, she has been very actively involved in many recent struggles for LGBTIQ+ advance in faith spaces and wider society and is currently co-chair of Equal Voices and a member of the Trans Council of Equality Australia. Formerly a staff member of the National Council of Churches in Australia and General Secretary of the NSW Ecumenical Council, she has worked in many capacities, not least with inter-faith relationships and First Nations people of faith, and as a theologian and church historian. websites:https://www.blessedimp.org/ and https://www.transspirit.org/

Together, Jo and Penny helped create the Queer Theology unit for Pilgrim College, the first such university initiative in Australia.   Some of Penny and Jo's reflections and spiritual addresses can also be found at https://www.penandinkreflections.org/

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Dr Mayrah Yarraga Dreise says... I am a proud Yuwalaraay and Gamilaraay Woman from Southwest Queensland Northwest New South Wales. I speak and teach our languages in our community and lead local dance (yulagi) ceremonies. I am also a visual artist considering Australian History, stolen generations, intergenerational trauma and the impact of colonisation on First Nations peoples in the forms of both painting and public art installation.

I have been in Education for over 40 years with much of my work focused on Indigenous Education. I was a classroom teacher for 25 years as a history, Visual and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies secondary subjects, and a principal in two schools for 10 years. I have also been the Indigenous education project officer for the then Queensland Studies Authority, Senior Lecturer in Indigenous education at the Queensland University of Technology and at Charles Sturt University.  Prior to my current role I was the Associate Professor for Indigenous Education at the Australian Catholic University.

In my current role I work across Brisbane Catholic Education offices and 146 schools to improve outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education. Some key focuses of this work include: Professional Development of Teachers, School Leaders and officer staff in cultural safety and First Nations Curriculum and Education, implementing ACARA Version 9 with First Nations content for all BCE students, engaging with First Nations communities and parents, offering a variety of cultural workshops to students across different sectors at the Ngutana-Lui BCE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural studies centre at Inala and contributing to the development of BCE policies, strategies and programs.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 9:30-37 - Exploring His Gentleness

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 8:27-35 - Sacred Spaces – Where Human and Divine Meet

The Reverend Melissa Conway (BTh, Grad Cert Public Sector Leadership, Cert Financial Markets (Financial Planning), JP (Qual)) is the Associate Priest in the Anglican Parish of Toowoomba – St James’ in the Diocese of Southern Queensland, with primary responsibility for the Church of St Anne in Highfields. 

Prior to entering ministry, Melissa served in the Australian Public Service for over 36 years, with extensive experience in leadership and managing projects, programs and change.  Melissa brings experience, expertise, attention to detail, discernment and ompassion to the work she undertakes.  Melissa takes a keen interest in community building and partnerships, discipleship, pastoral care, social justice, earth care, liturgy, liturgical music, and small group leadership.  As a guiding

Melissa currently serves on the Anglican Diocese’s

Melissa is the child of a post-war refugee to Australia. She was born in Sydney and grew up in Toowoomba.  Her adult children and young grand-children all live in Brisbane.

Dr Moira Byrne Garton is a native South Australian who now calls Canberra home. She works as a federal public servant, and is married to Matthew. Together they have four young adult children, including one with disabilities.

Moira holds a PhD in political science from ANU, and a Postgraduate Diploma of Theology from Newcastle Uni, completed as part of the Catholic Women’s Fellowship. Moira enjoys exploring the histories, literature and practices of her spiritual heritage.

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Special Reading - Matthew 15: 2- 28

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time -

I was born and raised in Seoul within a Christian family. I devoted myself to the kingdom of God through 9 years of study in the practice of Theology and Christian Education at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary.

My faith grew during 30 years of ministerial experience in local churches. My theological perspectives have been extended during 10 years of work at the Education and Resources Department of the General Assembly of PCK, and 4 years of teaching at PUTS as a visiting lecturer. I have learned many things from UnitingChurches for 17 years in terms of ministry, worship, education, fellowship, social justice, and culture.

Regarding professional experience, I was deeply involved in planning and editing of textbooks, and I was in charge of producing and planning short educational films. I taught as a visiting lecturer at PUTS and contributed to several magazines.

For ministerial goals and pastoral vision, I would like to focus on connecting to Jesus and others so that all the church members can be whole-hearted people and spirit-filled Christians living from a deep sense of worthiness and strong sense of love and belonging in Jesus and Faith Communities.

I would like to take responsibility for serving, helping, and developing all the generation to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. I also want to contribute to life-long discipleship, faith growth, and a culture of inter-generational and inter-cultural in our congregation and wider communities.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 6: 51-58

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 6: 41-51

Anne Surtees is an Ursuline sister and is currently living in Arrernte Country in Central Australia.

Anne is a Spiritual director and runs a small retreat centre called "Thirsty Heart” in Alice Springs. She travels twice a week to the Ltyentye Apurte ( Santa Teresa) community 80 kms out of Alice Springs to assist the women in the running of the Spirituality Centre. Anne’s background is in education. Previously she worked in the Brisbane Archdiocese in lay ministry formation, multicultural pastoral care and Centrecare pastoral ministries.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 6: 24-35

Teresa Pirola is a Sydney-based writer with many years involvement in Catholic faith formation for parishioners, families, teachers and parish personnel. She is the author of several books and numerous other publications used in pastoral renewal and spirituality programs. She has a Doctorate in Theology (Sydney College of Divinity) and a special interest in the importance of Jewish-Christian relations for the Church’s self-understanding and for societal cohesion. Teresa is a firm believer in the capacity of grassroots lay leadership to effect change and renewal, owing much of her own formation to the impact of ecclesial movements in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Her most recent book, published by Paulist Press (2023), is “Catholic-Jewish Relations: Twelve Key Themes for Teaching and Preaching” and her website LightofTorah.net explores similar themes.