Contributors
Dr. Michelle Eastwood is a Hebrew Bible scholar based within the University of Divinity. Her research interests include gender and sexuality, public theology and intertextual readings of the Bible, and worship and liturgy. Michelle was raised in a Lutheran household where music flowed, and discussions of liturgy were a regular occurrence. She has experience in Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican and Uniting Church contexts and brings all these influences into her writing.
________________________________________________________________________
John Howell is a Presbyterian minister in Wellington. In his retirement he wrote a book of poems entitled “Homeless”. From 2004-2013 he ministered at St Paul’s Union Church in Taupo and published two books of prayers.
For 11 years, he lived in Tauranga managing social service agencies. From 1974-93 he ministered in three parishes.
He has a long interest in environmental matters since his time on the Environmental Council, an advisory committee to government from 1975-85, during which he edited a book on Environmental Ethics.
His formative degrees were in science, philosophy and theology, and in mid-life did a diploma in Business studies.
________________________________________________________________________
Rev. Cathie Lambert is a Uniting Church minister currently serving as the Formation and Learning Culture Coordinator with the Uniting Church in Western Australia. She is also the Dean of Studies with the Dayspring Community, which trains spiritual directors. Cathie completed her PhD in 2022, exploring how contemporary women respond to the beguine mystics of the thirteenth century. Cathie is passionate about encouraging people to creatively express their faith through various art forms and the use of ritual.
________________________________________________________________________
Rev. Dr. Bec Lindsay is a Minister of the Word in the Uniting Church in Australia. She is a sessional lecturer at United Theological College (CSU) and worships at Hope Uniting Church. Her research focuses on reading the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the colonial context of these lands now called Australia. She is interested in the messy intersections of Scriptures, worship, and everyday life. Bec lives with her family on Gadigal and Bidjigal Country in Sydney’s South East. While living near the beach, she’s learning how to surf, which mostly involves falling into the ocean.
________________________________________________________________________
Rev. David MacGregor is a Uniting Church minister from Springfield, Queensland, with great passion and love for music, creative, inclusive, and intergenerational worship, Christian Education, and working with children, young people, and families.David is a published worship songwriter. He has served the Church in many different capacities: local congregational ministry, school chaplaincy, serving on the National Working Group on Worship, chairing the Queensland Synod Schools Commission, and teaching as a Faculty Associate with Trinity College Queensland. David is a current member of the Assembly Transforming Worship panel and frequently offers worship song resources on social media. In addition, he regularly makes available lectionary-linked Christian worship resources through Together to Celebrate.
__________________________________________________________________________
Rev. Amanda Nicholas from Geelong, Victoria, identifies as a neurodiverse adult and has a number of years’ experience as an active practitioner creating online and hands-on activities to engage people of all ages in Christian learning.
Coming from her own lived experiences and passion for creating a genuinely educated and meaningful faith encounter, Amanda is passionate about educating and resourcing individuals and communities of faith in accessible and inclusive liturgies and practices within the dynamics of the Body of Christ, seeking to be known as inclusive communities across the expanse of culture, gender, sexuality, neurodiversity and more.”
________________________________________________________________________
Rev Jesse Size is a Deacon in the Uniting Church, which, among other things, is a call to sit with people in the ashes. Jesse is currently serving as a spiritual care chaplain in a hospital with a mental health focus. He has worked in a variety of ministry and wellbeing related roles in both urban and regional settings. Jesse is married to Chelsea (also a Deacon in the Uniting Church), and they have two children. They especially love being part of communities that make space for the wild and winded ones.
________________________________________________________________________
Rev. Paul Turley is a minister with the Uniting Church in Australia, currently serving in Scots Church Adelaide and with the Wimala Presbytery of South Australia. Paul has lived and worked in different parts of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has written for religious publications and curriculums, has a particular interest in poetry, and blogs at sundaybible.substack.com.
________________________________________________________________________
Viv Whimster Kia ora, my name is Viv Whimster and I welcome the opportunity to be involved in preparing worship resources for congregations in Aotearoa-New Zealand and Australia.
I have been a member of Wesley Methodist Church, Tauranga since 1974 and accredited since 1998 as a Lay Preacher in the Methodist Church of New Zealand, Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa. I have also held positions at Synod and national level.
Although I trained as a pharmacist, I took Distance Learning papers through the University of Otago which broadened my understanding of the Christian faith, and since then completed a post-graduate diploma in Pastoral Studies.
I co-ordinated the children’s, young people and family ministry in our congregation for 20 years and a highlight was involving children and young people in worship services. I am currently working with a colleague on revising and teaching a basic 2-year course for training Lay Preachers, alongside taking an Open Polytech paper on Adult Teaching.
I have always enjoyed writing, music and creative worship and value being in a congregation where we can create our own liturgy. I enjoyed being on the Seasons of the Spirit writing team for Lent-Easter 2014.
I hope that bringing a perspective from Aotearoa will add value to the L3 resource.
__________________________________________________________________________