Yarra Institute for Religion & Social Policy > About Us

Board of Directors

	Stephen Ames (President) is an Anglican priest and Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral. He lectures in the School of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.
	John Bottomley John Bottomley is a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia. He has had parish ministries in Knox and East St. Kilda, and is a founding member of the Creative Ministries Network, where he is currently the Director. The Network integrates faith with the arts to address issues of justice at work in a social, political and environmental context.
	Therese D'Orsa is head of the Missiology Department at the Broken Bay Institute Sydney. She recently completed eleven years as Director of Catholic Education in the Diocese of Sale and also her term as Executive Director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria. She has had extensive professional involvement in curriculum development and religious education in Catholic schools, including a special focus on justice education and mission. She is currently a professorial fellow of Australian Catholic University working across the faculties of Education and Arts at the interface of missiology and education.
	Jim D'Orsa is deeply involved in pastoral planning in the Diocese of Sale and chairs its Diocesan Strategy Team. He is also involved with Broken Bay Institute in the areas of leadership and missiology. He has contributed strongly in the fields of educational leadership and curriculum development, as well as to institutional planning and governance. His current research concentrates on the Theology of Mission as it applies to education; analyses of secularisation/secularity and their implications for education; and issues around 'Catholic identity' in Catholic institutions.
	Rowan Ireland is an Honorary Associate in the School of Sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne. He has had extensive field work in Latin America, and is investigating urban social movements in three Brazilian cities. He is also involved in studying the processes of secularisation and new forms of religious life and civil society in Australia. See some of Dr Ireland's recent publications HERE and also on the website at La Trobe University at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/socsci/staff/ireland/ireland-pub.html.
	John D'Arcy May has returned to Australia after leaving his position as Associate Professor of Interfaith Dialogue at the Irish School of Ecumenics. He has written extensively in may areas: Buddhist-Christian dialogue, religious pluralism, ethics in multicultural societies, Christian dialogue with Asian religions; religion in Australasia and the Pacfic Islands, tribal religions, and religion and ecology. The Yarra Institute is delighted that he has accepted the role of Associate Director of the Institute.
	Peter Price lectures at Yarra Theological Union in the Theology and Practice of Pastoral Planning. He also provides Pastoral Planning and Lay Leadership Development programmes at parish and diocesan levels, and is a member of the National Working Group sponsored by the Australian Bishops' Conference for the Development of Parish Pastoral Councils. Peter's Ph.D. at Monash University researched English Catholicism in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
	Robyn Reynolds olsh. Robyn has had many years working in remote communities in Australia's Northern Territory. Her PhD thesis was entitled "Catholic Sacrament engaging with Wadeye Ritual". Robyn also worked in Darwin for 10 years as Dean of the Ecumenical Aboriginal College, Nungalinya. Presently she teaches in Missiology at Yarra Theological Union, including the unit "Social Teaching and Indigenous Peoples'.
	Paul Rule taught Religious Studies and History at La Trobe University where he remains an associate, and is now engaged in major research projects on Christianity in China for the Ricci Institute, University of San Francisco and Macao Ricci Institute. He is a former member of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council and the Melbourne Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission and has been involved for many years in justice and peace activities and publications. Click for a list of some of his writings.