Diocesan Assembly 2017 Delegates
Alexander (Sandy) Abbey - Dubbo Participation on Young Catholics Sandy is a teacher at St Johns College in Dubbo where he teaches Mathematics and Religious Education. He has a strong desire to serve the rural church and has a particular passion for youth ministry and adult faith education. Sandy has a Masters of Divinity and has a particular interest in systematic theology and Church history. Jenny Allen - Ex Officio - Catholic Education, Diocese of Bathurst Jenny is Executive Director of Schools in the Diocese of Bathurst and has over 30 years experience in Catholic education. In 2008, the Australian College of Educators and Wollongong University presented Jenny with an award for Outstanding Achievement in Education for development of innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Rev Charles Applin - Ex Officio - Deacon Charles is a Deacon of the Diocese of Bathurst. After migrating from England, he settled in Wallerawang, attending the Sacred Heart Church, and has been an active member of the Finance Committee and the Pastoral Parish Council. Charles has a specific interest in liturgy and, particularly, Sunday celebration of the Word with Holy Communion. Carmen Beard - Ex Officio - Chancery Office Carmen has worked in the Chancery Office as Administration Assistant for six years and is actively involved with Sacred Heart Parish, Blackheath. Carmen has worked for various Catholic organisations either as an employee or volunteer in the hope of supporting the building of stronger communities. She provided clerical assistance to the previous Diocesan Liturgy Commission. Glen Brown - Wellington Parish Representative Glen began his teaching career began at St Michael s, Dunedoo in 1999 and, in 2000, he commenced at St Columba s, Yeoval. He has been Principal at St Columba s School, Yeoval since 2004 and has been a member of the Wellington Parish Pastoral Council since 2001. Pip Brown - Coonamble Parish Representative Pip has been a Coonamble parishioner for four years. She manages the canteen at St Brigid s Primary School and was instrumental in initiating a Youth Mass to bring together the boarding school students each holidays. Participants take on all the roles in the Mass with drinks, nibbles and pizza on the church lawn afterwards. Rev Joshua Clayton - Ex-Officio - Deacon and Josh is Deacon of the Diocese of Bathurst and a member of the Cathedral Parish. He has completed his Masters in Theological Studies and is employed as the Ministries Coordinator for the Diocese. He is also the Administrator s Delegate at St James Parish in Blayney, where he works closely with that community.
Chris Derwin - Orange Parish Representative Chris has been a member of the Parish of St Mary and St Joseph, Orange for the past 30 years. Throughout this time, he has facilitated Baptism, First Eucharist and Confirmation classes in the Parish and has been a Eucharistic Minister and reader. Before his retirement last year, Chris was involved in Catholic education in the Diocese from 1987 as teacher, REC, principal and schools consultant. Fr Paul Devitt - Ex Officio - Vicar General Father Paul is the Diocese s Vicar General and Dean of the Cathedral. Born in Eugowra, he was educated by the Sisters of St Joseph, completing his secondary education at St Stanislaus College. He has tertiary degrees in education, philosophy, theology and social science and has been parish priest in Dubbo, Orange and Blayney. He was a member of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council for nine years. Tony Eviston - Ex Officio - Chancellor Tony has worked for the Diocese since 1989, has been Manager of the CDF and is currently the Chancellor of the Diocese. He is an Acolyte in the Cathedral Parish and has been involved in the wider community through his role with the Josephite Foundation, Lifeline and the Bathurst Neighbourhood Centre for many years. Melissa Feltham - Cathedral Parish Representative Melissa is a teacher at Cathedral Primary School, Bathurst. Following her involvement in the Young Adults Group workshop at the Diocesan Assembly in 2013, she became a member of the Cathedral Parish Pastoral Council in 2014 and has been involved in various forms of leadership and initiatives since. Melissa is currently the Chair of the Cathedral Parish Pastoral Council. Monica Foran - Dunedoo-Coolah Parish Representative Monica has been a teacher in the Diocese of Bathurst for more than 30 years, with most of that time spent at St Michael s, Dunedoo Monica is involved in many parish ministries and is committed to the future of St Michael s Parish as well as other small parishes in the Diocese. She is also involved with faith formation and the ongoing development of families and their faith. Robert George - Ex Officio - Centacare Bathurst Robert is a parishioner of Cathedral Parish, Bathurst. He has been a member of the Centacare Bathurst team for the past 16 years where he has worked to ensure people are given every opportunity to live life to the full. He has been the Director of Centacare Bathurst since 2009. Eddie Gibbons - Oberon Parish Representative Eddie is a member of the Oberon Parish Council. He is a Eucharistic Minister and has been involved in home prayer groups and music ministry for over 30 years. Eddie participated in diaconate formation for five years and was instituted by the Bishop as a Lector and Acolyte.
Lois Gibbons - Oberon Parish Representative Lois is involved in the local church as a proclaimer of the Word, Minister of Communion, Sacristan, Music Ministry and been facilitator of the Lenten program for many years. She is a past member of the Oberon Parish Council and currently participates in the Pastoral Ministry Formation Program. Fran Hansen - Blayney Parish Representative Fran was born and raised in Orange. Along with her husband and other community members, she has been a steward of Shalom House of Prayer for the past six years. She describes her work at Shalom as pretty full on but rich and very rewarding. Fran finds that her involvement with the working group keeps her thinking about how Shalom can better serve Aboriginal people in our Catholic communities. Anne Hayman - Portland Parish Representative Anne is retired history teacher, and now a part-time support teacher at St Joseph's, Portland. She is currently the secretary on the Portland Parish Council, the residents' advocate at Tabulam Cottages and a community volunteer. Louise Hennessy - Dunedoo-Coolah Parish Representative Louise lives in Elong Elong and works with Centacare Bathurst, located in the Dubbo office. She coordinates the community education program. Louise says her role changes as local community needs evolve and includes working with farmers under a drought support program, with local primary schools and the pre-marriage relationship program. Fr Reynold Jaboneta - Parish Priest of Coonabarabran and Coonamble Fr Reynold is from the Province of Iloilo, Panay Island, Philippines. Since his ordination for the Diocese of Bathurst in 2012, Fr Reynold has served the parishes of Mudgee and Dubbo. He is currently Parish Priest Coonabarabran and Coonamble. He is the Assistant Director of vocations for the Diocese of Bathurst Denis Kelly - Portland Parish Representative Denis is a Portland parishioner. He is a strong supporter of the great spirit of Vatican II and the reform that Pope Francis promotes. He is happy to work on the Participation of Indigenous Catholics working group, working towards becoming the fully inclusive church that we aspire to be. Kerrie Lovegrove - Lithgow Parish Representative Kerry is an early childhood teacher and has worked in childcare and schools for the past 30 years and represents the Parish of Lithgow on the Council. Kerry has always enjoyed being a part of the Church community and feels advantaged by the benefits and security that comes with it.
Fr Carl Mackander - Parish Priest, Wellington Fr Carl was born and raised in Mudgee, before completing his studies at Holy Name Seminary, Christchurch, NZ and Holy Cross College, Mosgiel, NZ. He was ordained on 19 th November 1977, at St. Mary s Church, Mudgee. Since his ordination, Fr Carl has served in many parishes in the Diocese and has been the Parish Priest at Dunedoo, Dubbo, Canowindra-Eugowra, Orange and Dunedoo/Coolah. Rev Terry Mahony - Ex Officio - Deacon Terry is a Deacon of the Diocese of Bathurst, having been a parishioner in Bathurst for 30 years. Now retired, Terry was a teacher is his working life. Terry has always placed a very high value on family and married life and is involved in the Marriage Encounter movement. Geoff Mann - Dubbo Parish Representative Geoff was born in Coonamble. Now retired, he was a teacher and also worked for four years as a Youth Minister in the Diocese of Bathurst. Geoff has been active in many areas of parish ministry for the past 40 years and is a currently a member of St Brigid s Pastoral Council. Leonie Mann - Gilgandra Parish Representative Paul Mann - Gilgandra Parish Representative Leonie retired from a career in aged care some six years ago having served in positions as supervisor and then care. She works part time as a parish secretary and serves on the Parish Pastoral Committee as secretary. Paul was General Manager of Gilgandra Shire before his retirement. He has previously served on the Parish Pastoral Committee and assists with parish finance matters. He has also served on the former Regional Parish Council Anne McLean - Mudgee Parish Representative Anne has been a Mudgee parishioner since 1973. Throughout the years she has worked with parent organisations at a parish, diocesan, state and national level, including the NCEC Religious Education Committee. She has been instrumental in the programme Conversations about Catholics and very involved in fine tuning sacramental programs Sr Mary Murphy rsj - Sisters of St Joseph Representative Sr Mary is a Josephite Sister, currently managing the St Joseph s Heritage and Conference Centre, Perthville. Her other ministries have included teaching, youth work, vocations development, pastoral care, spiritual direction and retreat days and parish life, mostly in the Archdiocese of Canberra/Goulburn and the Diocese of Wagga Wagga. Sr Mary was Parish Leader of Ardlethan/Ariah Park in the west of the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese, for seven years. David Nelson - Cathedral Parish Representative David has been a Bathurst parishioner since 1991. He works as a building surveyor at Bathurst Regional Council. In 2010, David completed a Master s degree in Theology (Liturgical Studies) which helped him to understand the important part the liturgy plays in the pastoral life of the Church. David was a member of the former Diocesan Liturgy Council for many years.
Susan Parnell - Gulgong Parish Representative Sue is a member of the Gulgong Parish Pastoral Council. She has been a teacher for 50 years and currently works as a casual teacher at Wellington High School. Sue recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Religious Education (ACU). Sr Patricia Powell rsm - Sisters of Mercy Representative Sr Patricia is a Sister of Mercy who has been carrying out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy in the Diocese of Bathurst for over 50 years. Her formal ministries include secondary school education in Orange, adult faith education in the Diocese, as well as Mercy Congregation administration at local and national levels. She was also involved with Aboriginal communities in Dubbo and further west during the 1980s. Trish is a founding member of Rahamim Ecology Centre in Bathurst. Anne Rewhorn - Blayney Parish Representative Anne lives at Carcoar and is a member of the Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils She worked in a bank for a number of years, was a nurse for 25 years, and involved in the Schoenstatt movement and Mulgoa Retreat Centre. Anne is now retired, but continues to work in the Parish on a voluntary basis, teaching Scripture at two of the local state primary schools. Peter Sheppard - Oberon Parish Representative Peter has lived in Oberon his entire life. He worked at Oberon Council for 28 years as an overseer of the outdoor staff. He then had a delivery business for five years before retiring as a transport officer at The Department of Corrective Services after 15 years. Peter is now semi-retired and assists with the maintenance of the Parish church. Sr Alice Sullivan rsj - Executive Secretary, Diocesan Pastoral Council Sr Alice is a Josephite who grew up near Coonabarabran. She was a teacher in the Diocese, and for 15 years, was Pastoral Associate at Mudgee. Currently, Sister Alice works as the Diocesan Faith Education Worker and as Pastoral Associate in the Cathedral Parish, Bathurst, with a special interest in young families. Amy Sullivan - Orange Parish Representative Amy was born and raised in Orange and has also lived in Canberra and London. After almost 10 years away, Amy returned to Orange in 2012. She works as an accountant for the NSW Department of Industry. Amy was a member of the previous Diocesan Assembly Council and has a keen interest in youth ministry in the Diocese. Jacinta Thatcher - Gulgong Parish Representative Jacinta is a teacher at All Hallows Primary School in Gulgong and is also currently assisting with the co-ordination of CCD SRE across the Diocese. She was a member of the Diocesan Assembly Council and currently assists with Diocesan youth events such as RISE Youth Festival and irise. Jacinta was also part of the leadership team for the Diocesan World Youth Day 2016 pilgrimage to Poland.
Margaret Wallington - Cowra Parish Representative Margaret has lived in Canowindra since 1989. A former nurse, she now produces organically made wine and breeds sheep and cattle. Margaret is a member of St Raphael s Parish Council and attends St Edward s Church, Canowindra, where she has been active in many ministries and a Conference member of the local St Vincent de Paul Society. Rev Mike Williams - Ex-Officio - Deacon Mike was a teacher at St Mary s Catholic School, Wellington for 25 years and at St John s College, Dubbo for one year. He is a Wellington parishioner and has served several terms as a member of St Patrick s Parish Pastoral Council. Mike is currently the Chaplain at Wellington Correctional Centre.