Australian Women Preach

Second Sunday of Easter - John 20: 19-31 Australian Women Preach has always celebrated diversity.  Our women preachers come from different generations, backgrounds, cultures, geographical locations, and Christian denominations. They also come to preaching with different mindsets and priorities, theological emphases and preaching styles.  To spotlight this kind of diversity, we are offering two ser...

Easter Sunday - Matt. 28: 1-10 Elizabeth was brought up on a farm in the south of South Australia. Her father was a lay preacher in the Uniting Church, and their ministers were both men and women. However, she attended St Mary MacKillop’s very first school in Penola, and was received into the Catholic Church along with family members. Elizabeth valued the sacramental worldview that she encountered...

Palm Sunday - Matthew 26:14-27:66 For this Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, we were privileged to record on country in the Kimberley. Brigid Drummond is a Proud Nyul Nyul woman from Beagle Bay, a mother, wife and educator in Catholic Education for over 40 years. Shirley Quaresemin, is a proud Nyikina woman from Derby, a wife, mother, over 40 years in Catholic Education and the current chair...

Fifth Sunday of Lent - John 11: 1-45 Rev Rachel Kronberger lives on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations in inner suburban Melbourne. She was ordained as a Minister of the Word in the Uniting Church in Australia in 2002 and since then has served in congregational ministry. She is currently the Minister in Placement at Wesley Church Melbourne, where she preaches twice most Sunday...

Fourth Sunday of Lent - John 9: 1-41 Danielle Anne Lynch is a theologian, musician, and teacher, working in Brisbane.  Her work in systematic theology encompasses Theology, Music, and Songwriting, with particular interest in feminist and queer approaches. She also works in Mission, Liturgy, Religious Identity and Culture, and Religious Education. Danielle's book on music and theology God in S...

Third Sunday of Lent - John 4: 5-42 Dr. Mary Coloe PBVM is a Presentation sister and has recently retired as  professor of New Testament at Yarra Theological Union, which is a college within the University of Divinity, Melbourne.  She will continue to research and write on the Gospel of John.  In 20221 her two-volume commentary on John in the Wisdom Commentary Series was published a...

Second Sunday of Lent - Matthew 17: 1-9 - “The Transfiguration: for a purpose and a promise” Trish McCarthy grew up on the coast of NSW which has inspired her love for the gift of Creation, learning and adventure. She has completed studies in Exercise Science, Education, Theology and Spiritual Direction. 

First Sunday of Lent - Matthew 4:1-11 Teash is co-pastor of St Kilda/Elsternwick Baptist Church. She is currently the only out Baptist pastor serving a church in Victoria, and likely Australia. She also runs Queers Be With You with her friend AJ, where they offer education and consultation to Churches and Christian Organisations regarding LGBTQIA+ inclusion and pastoral care. Teash has a particula...

Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 5: 38-48 Dr Sally Longley is a Spiritual Director, Supervisor and Retreat Leader based in Sydney; she has studied at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in the USA and has a D Min. Sally leads silent and themed retreats and is a Giver of the Ignatian Exercises. She is a pastor of Avalon Peace church, and a team member on Listen into Life, which is a...

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 5: 17-37 Marilyn says: I am a Catholic lay woman whose faith is as central to my identity as my gender. I am a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother committed to working for an inclusive practice of Catholic faith that is respected and active in the public square, a faith that can sustain future generations as my faith has sustained me. My professi...

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 5: 13-16 Liz Little is a retired teacher and a member of the St Mary’s in Exile Community in Brisbane. She taught Religion in several Catholic secondary schools over her forty years of teaching and retains her interest in theology and the study of scripture. During her career she was Deputy Principal in several Catholic secondary schools and also lectured tr...

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 5: 1-12a Tania worked as a solicitor for over twenty years, primarily for medical defence organisations, assisting doctors and other health professionals with complaints and claims against them. Tania has three lovely children, one of whom has ADHD and Autism and has faced incredible challenges in his schooling and social  life. To better support her f...

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 4: 12-17 Australian Women Preach models the church we want to be, inclusive, diverse and welcoming. This week we are delighted to share our first non-binary preacher, Steff Fenton. Steff (they/them/theirs) is Co-Founder and Co-Pastor of New City Church, an independent church in Sydney’s inner city exploring faith in diverse and inclusive ways. Steff is a wri...

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - John 1: 29-34 Dr Dianne Rayson is a public theologian and scholar of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Her main concerns are climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the church might ethically engage with these and other social problems, so her focus is on ecotheology. In her writing she has also addressed issues such as war, rape culture, and ecological degradation. She c...

Epiphany of the Lord Solemnity - Matthew 2: 1-12 Veronica Lawson RSM is a Sister of Mercy and a biblical scholar based in Ballarat. She is probably best known for her weekly gospel reflections which have a global circulation and for her 2015 publication The Blessing of Mercy: Bible Perspectives and Ecological Challenges which proved to be a valuable resource for the Year of Mercy. She was the firs...

Mary, Mother of God Solemnity - Luke 2: 16-21 Reverend Di Langham writes: I am Reverend Canon Auntie Di Langham. Director of Reconciliation for Anglican Diocese of Newcastle. I am also secretary of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Anglican Council. I am 72 years of age. I have been a priest in the Diocese of Newcastle for the past 21 years. I was the first Aboriginal woman in thi...

Christmas Day - The Nativity of the Lord The Right Reverend Kay Goldsworthy AO,  Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Perth and Metropolitan of Western Australia, was born and called to ministry in the Diocese of Melbourne. She was ordained Deaconess in 1984 and Deacon in 1986 and served in parishes in Melbourne. In 1988 she was appointed Chaplain to Perth College and was among the first wom...

Fourth Sunday of Advent - Matthew 1:18-24 Penny Jones says, I am an Anglican priest with permission to serve in the UCA. I am a spiritual director and supervisor with a background in dance. I recently co-taught Australia’s first unit in Queer theology for the University of Divinity.

Third Sunday of Advent - Matthew 11:2-11 Dr Margaret Scharf is a member of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Western Australia. She has a teaching and administrative background which was the springboard for other ministries, such as missionary work in the Solomon Islands, and the Dominican Sisters’ Motor Mission based in Morawa WA. After opportunities for study in the USA, Margaret Served f...

Second Sunday of Advent - Matthew 3:1-12 Frances Tilly is a lay woman, married with three adult children. Based in Sydney, she works nationally, as coordinator of mission formation with Jesuit Ignatian Spirituality Australia (JISA), a work of the Australian Jesuits. JISA is a national community of women and men including Jesuits, formed in Ignatian Spirituality working in a variety of geographic l...

First Sunday of Advent - Matthew 24: 37-44   Cecilia was born in Singapore and immigrated with her family to Australia in 1994. Her involvement with the Catholic Church and with Catholic education in Singapore and Australia has provided the ground for much of her theology and experiences of faith. She is an alum of the University of Divinity, Australia, where she received her PhD in systemati...

Christ the King - Luke 23: 35-43 - Friend in High Places Nimmi Candappa comes from a staunch Catholic family, which includes a Carmellite nun and a priest, and sees her Catholic faith as the most important aspect of her identity. Nonetheless, her faith journey includes continual discernment, as she navigates chicanes and obstacles of various types within the Church, that can stifle her experiencin...

Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time - Luke 21: 5-19 - Now is the Time Judith Norris is a senior lecturer in educational leadership at Australian Catholic University. Her research and teaching are based on the psychosocial processes of educational leaders. She is fortunate to work with leaders and aspirant leaders and enjoys their deep commitment to their moral and ethical pursuits in their minist...

Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time - Luke 20: 27-38 - I have come to set you free  Dr Julie Trinidad is a lecturer in Catholic Studies at the University of South Australia. She also works as part of the Catholic Identity and Mission Team at Catholic Education SA. Julie has been Ministry Formation Program Coordinator for the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and lecturer in ministry studies...

Thirty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time - Luke 19: 1-10 Trish Madigan is a member of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands who has ministered for many years in the Catholic Church in Australia in ecumenical and interfaith relations. Her publications include Women and Fundamentalism in Islam and Catholicism: Negotiating Modernity in a Globalised World (Oxfo...