Colleen O'Reilly

Colleen Anne O'Reilly AM (born 1949) is an Australian Anglican priest,[1] who was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2021, in recognition of her significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to religious education.[2] O’Reilly has been a strong advocate for women's leadership in the Anglican Church and women's ordination since the 1970s and described by Muriel Porter as "the ‘mother' of the movement that was a key factor in bringing about the ordination of women through many years of determined struggle".[3]

Colleen Anne O'Reilly
Born1949
ChurchAnglican Church of Australia
Ordained1995
Congregations served
St George's Anglican Church, Malvern
TitleThe Reverend Dr

Background and career

O'Reilly was born in 1949 and grew up in Sydney, Australia. During the 1970s she became a pioneer in the push for women's ordination and has been a leader in the movement ever since. She worked alongside other feminist advocates such as Patricia Brennan and co-founded the journal Women-Church[4] with former Catholic nun Erin White.

O’Reilly was actively involved in the ecumenical Commission on the Status of Women which was established by the Australian Council of Churches. Desiring something more distinctly Anglican in focus, she and Zandra Wilson became the key founding members of Anglican Women Concerned, which was established in Sydney in 1975.[5]

O'Reilly completed a Doctor of Ministry thesis from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1996 [6] Having graduated with a PhD in theology O'Reilly helped train men for the priesthood, teaching at the United Theological College in Parramatta in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Her own calling to the priesthood was thwarted by the continuing resistance to women's ordination in the traditionally conservative Sydney diocese.

She moved to Melbourne to take up the position of Associate Dean and Director of Ministry Studies at Melbourne College of Divinity, now University of Divinity, a role she held from 1994 to 1999. The move to Melbourne made ordination possible and O'Reilly was ordained deacon in 1995 and priested in the same year.[7]

During a sermon she preached in 2012, celebrating 20 years since Elizabeth Alfred became the first woman ordained in Victoria (Australia), O'Reilly recalled the first time she saw a woman priest. Margaret Marsh came 'from a place of almost mythical advancement - New Zealand. "Watching Ms Marsh, vested as a priest, join the procession to the altar", Dr O'Reilly said "it strongly came to me, it really is OK to be a woman"'[8]

As a member of the Melbourne Synod she played a leading role on the committee on women in the episcopate. O'Reilly was one of 25 signatories across Australia who petitioned the church's appellate court to consider women bishops. When the Appellate Tribunal decided in 2007, by a 4-3 majority, that there was no constitutional barrier to the women becoming bishops in the Australian church, O'Reilly stated that, "It means that in choosing bishops in the future the church has access to the complete pool of clergy available, and not to just some of them, that the gifts of women are now available at every level in the church, and that's good".[9]

O'Reilly was Vicar of St Faith's Burwood, Victoria from 1999 to 2007 and was the vicar at St Georges Anglican Church, Malvern, Victoria from 2007 until her retirement in 2019. She had also been the Canon of St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne from 2001 to 2017. O'Reilly has been a member of various church bodies in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne as well as nationally and internationally. She is currently Chaplain of Trinity College, Melbourne and an adjunct lecturer at Trinity College Theological School.[10]

Awards and honours

O'Reilly's leadership in the church was acknowledged in her invitation to preach at the service commemorating twenty years of women's ordination in Melbourne in 2012.

She was recognised as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) on 26 January 2021 for significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to religious education.[2][11][12]

See also

  • Stewart, Colleen O'Reilly and Parks, Suzanne (1985). Women and ordination in the Anglican Church of Australia: A discussion paper. Sydney, New South Wales: Movement for the Ordination of Women. ISBN 0731611780.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • "O'Reilly, Colleen". The Australian Women's Register. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 30 January 2021.

References

  1. Swain, Shurlee. "O'Reilly, Colleen - The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. "Order of Australia 2021 Honours List". Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  3. Brolly, Mark. "Retired vicar, former Melbourne Grammar leaders and barrister honoured". The Melbourne Anglican. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  4. Women-church, Women-Church, 1987, ISSN 1030-0139
  5. Scarfe, Janet. "With their Hearts in their Mouths The Movement for the Ordination of Women and its Role". Movement for the Ordination of Women. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  6. O'Reilly, Colleen Anne (1996), How liturgy cares for us in personal and communal settings, retrieved 30 January 2021
  7. Farouque, Farah (29 September 2007). "Pioneer vicar's joy as glass ceiling goes". The Age. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  8. Zwartz, Barney (10 December 2012). "Anglican women clergy now 'part of new normal'". The Age. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  9. Morris, Linda (29 September 2007). "Bishops ruling shatters stained glass ceiling". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  10. "Trinity College Theological School Faculty and Staff". Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  11. "Colleen O'Reilly recognised in Australia Day Honours". University of Divinity Vox. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  12. "The Reverend Dr Colleen Anne O'REILLY". It's An Honour. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
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