Sharon Brewer
Chair of the CIAN
Sharon is the Mission Projects Manager for the National Centre for Evangelisation which includes the Catholic Enquiry Centre, located in Canberra. Both of these agencies are under the care of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Prior to this Sharon has worked at archdiocesan and parish levels focusing on sacrament preparation, parish team formation and RCIA. She is passionate about helping people come to know what it is like to have Christ in their life.
Sharon Brewer
Chair of the CIAN
Sharon is the Mission Projects Manager for the National Centre for Evangelisation which includes the Catholic Enquiry Centre, located in Canberra. Both of these agencies are under the care of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Prior to this Sharon has worked at archdiocesan and parish levels focusing on sacrament preparation, parish team formation and RCIA. She is passionate about helping people come to know what it is like to have Christ in their life.
Ross Privitelli
Secretary
Ross has been involved with the RCIA in the Archdiocese of Melbourne for the last 10 years, first as a parish team member and later as a RCIA co-ordinator. He is a member of the RCIA Forum with the Melbourne Office of Evangelisation, assisting with the Rite of Election and RCIA Regional Seminars. Ross has participated in various State Conferences and National Conferences. He has presented RCIA Workshops in Glenelg, Brisbane and Townsville on topics ranging from Catechumens and Candidates, Reconciliation, RCIA Symbols and Rituals and Marriage Impediments. He has also written a number of articles and papers for RCIA practitioners.
Max Norden
Media and Education
Max Norden is RCIA coordinator
for Lumen Christi pastoral region
in the diocese of Wollongong.
The pastoral region incorporates
the parishes of St Francis Xavier
Cathedral Wollongong, St John
Vianney parish Fairy meadow
(and co-cathedral), and St Brigid
parish Gwynneville. The
combined parishes of the
Pastoral Region now make it the 35th largest parish
in Australia. Each parish within the pastoral region
has its own RCIA.
Max’s involvement in RCIA is more than 15 years. He
started his parish ministry involvement at St Francis
Xavier cathedral as an acolyte in 1983. Apart from
his role as RCIA coordinator Max has served several
periods on the Pastoral Council. He is currently
chairperson of the Pastoral Council
Dr Christine Woods
Dr Christine Wood is the Director of the Office of Evangelisation & Catechesis in the Archdiocese of Hobart. She works to develop the RCIA and sacramental preparation processes in parishes, and forms parishioners to be missionary disciples for evangelisation and catechetical ministry. Christine is committed to helping Catholics to become biblically literate, with Christ-like hearts, and a sacramental worldview.
Kathy Horan
Kathy has recently joined the Office for worship in the Adelaide Archdiocese. The main focus of her work is the support and coordination of the RCIA across the Archdiocese, along with supporting Infant Baptism Teams in parishes and Adult Confirmation preparation and celebrations.
Prior to this role, Kathy worked extensively in Catholic schools in South Australia as Religious Education Consultant with the CEO, as teacher, REC, school leader and active member of a Parish Sacrament Team. A major focus for many years has been working with families across parish and school to prepare children for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Initiation. Kathy is a writer and author of the ‘Becoming Catholic’ Sacrament series and has served as a member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission, recently taking up the role of Chair of the Commission.
Michael Moore
Michael has been involved with the RCIA for 10 years. For the last 7 years, he has been the Parish Coordinator. As an RCIA Catechist he has been actively involved in the Diocesan RCIA coordinating committee and has assisted in the planning and running of State RCIA conferences. Michael is an Ordained Deacon of the Adelaide Diocese.easy.
Mandy Robinson
Treasurer
Mandy Robinson, from Melbourne, has over twenty years’ experience with the RCIA in parishes in both Australia and New Zealand. As a mother of four children, and now also a grandmother of nine, her passion is the development of faith in children. Married to globe- trotting David (who has just
retired), she has lived in India and New Zealand, where she worked as volunteer setting up sewing programs for underprivileged teenagers. A contributor to various diocesan resources, she has developed a process of adapting the RCIA, for families with unbaptised children, emphasising the use of the Children’s Liturgy of the Word as a model. Mandy owns a small business, in partnership with her brother and works part-time keeping the accounts. Along with writing and sewing, her favourite activity is singing and is currently a member of a local community choir.
Anne SmithB.Ed RE
Albany Western Australia
Anne Smith is now living in Albany, Western Australia, having been a teacher for many years. The past 25 years have been spent as either Co-ordinator of Liturgy or Head of Religious Education at Catholic Secondary Schools in the Goldfields and the South West of Western Australia. During this time she was fortunate to have belonged to the Diocesan Liturgy Commission and to be a sponsor for and assist with the facilitation of, RCIA. Since moving to Albany three years ago she has been a member of the Parish Catechist team, Secretary of the Parish Pastoral Council, President of the Albany Conference of St Vincent de Paul and facilitator of RCIA, all of which she finds stimulating and life-giving.
Claire Schwantes
Brisbane Queensland
Clare has a Masters of Theological Studies (Liturgy), Bachelors of Education and Arts (Psychology), diplomas in Editing and Publishing, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of Queensland. She is the chief editor for Liturgy Brisbane and prepares their annual publications: Ordo, Daily Mass Book, Break Open the Word and We Pray As One. She manages the development and content of Liturgy Brisbane’s electronic liturgy preparation program, Liturgia, and continues to work towards the ongoing evolution of this resource. Clare is a member of the editorial board for the quarterly journal Liturgy News as well as a contributing author. She co-authored Liturgy Brisbane’s sacramental preparation resources for children, Our Family Prepares, and was a member of the editorial group for Crossroads, the recently released resource on Christian Initiation for Young People. Clare is a member of the Archdiocesan Catechumenate Committee, the Archdiocesan Commission on the Liturgy and a member of the National Liturgical Council.