As community who experience connection in and through the life of Edmund Rice, we are also in union with Jesus as Edmund’s inspiration and motivation. Our reluctance to explicitly name this connection is in some ways understandable particularly when traditional institutions, organisations, groups or individuals try to use Christian faith to justify their own ends. But who was the Jesus that Edmund came to recognize as such a transformational part of his life? How is he recognizable today? Would the real Jesus be proud to stand up and claim a presence in our Network community today?

The workshop explores the concepts of guest, hospitality, passion and love as the Jesus that Edmund invited into his life.

I live in Adelaide, land of the Kaurna people, with my wife Krina. Our immediate family heritage is quite geographically diverse with Krina coming from Holland as a 7yr old and our son Luke coming to us from Vietnamese birth parents.  While my roots stretch back to Irish and Scotish connections, my place of “being home” is the Adelaide metropolitan beach area of Brighton, where crystal clear waters of a natural gulf meet our shores.

I have a long history of service to the Christian Brothers and the legacy of Edmund Rice. As an old scholar of the oldest originally sited Christian Brothers school in Australia , I have held a number of key leadership roles at Brothers owned schools. Since 2004 I have worked  within both Holy Spirit Province (SA/WA) and Oceania Province with a focus on formation   Currently I am the Oceania Province Assistant Director of Mission- Identity.  

I look forward to being welcomed to your conference space in Oamaru.