Winston O'Reilly

Last updated

The Reverend
Winston D'Arcy O'Reilly
Born24 April 1913
Roseville, New South Wales, Australia
Died16 January 2000(2000-01-16) (aged 86)
Belrose, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation UCA minister
Spouses
  • Doreen (Dorn) Doyle (married 1939–1974)
  • Nancye Haines (married 1976)
ChildrenElizabeth Walker, Robert O'Reilly, Geoffrey O'Reilly
Parent(s)Henry D'Arcy O’Reilly (merchant) and Lillian Edith O’Reilly (nee Brasnett)
Relatives A. Harold Wood (uncle), H. D'Arcy Wood (cousin)

Winston D'Arcy O'Reilly OBE was a Methodist and then Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) minister and the second President of the UCA Assembly.

Contents

Education

O'Reilly went to North Sydney Boys High School, [1] leaving at 14 years of age. Returning to Sydney after a trip to Europe, he studied for the Leaving Certificate at night school. He attended Wesley College, University of Sydney, and received a BA (1935) and MA (1937), before training for the Methodist ministry at Leigh College. He later completed a Master of Arts in Christian Education (1962) and MEd (1963). [2]

Career

At 14, O'Reilly started training as carpenter and at 16 travelled to England as companion and carer to a man with a disability. [2] [3] After his ordination he was the minister at a number of Methodist churches throughout New South Wales, later taking positions with the Methodist Conference and Methodist schools and higher education (including Vice Principal of Leigh College, 1949–1959; Principal of Methodist Ladies' College, Burwood, 1960–1965; [3] Connexional Secretary, 1964–1974; Secretary of Conference, 1968; President of Conference, 1969; Secretary General, 1972–1974; President-General, 1975–1977. [2]

O'Reilly played a key role in planning for the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia as Planning Officer for Union of Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches (1974-1977), then became the first General Secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia (1977-1979) and second President of the Assembly (1979-1982). [2] [3]

Internationally he was a Member of Presidium, World Methodist Council, 1975–1980. [2]

Through discussions with Labor's attorney-general, Lionel Murphy, about reform of the divorce laws he had considerable influence on the Family Law Act 1975. [3]

He was founding member of the NSW Council of Social Service and one of the founders of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS, he later became ACOSS's chairman). [3]

Family

He was married twice, on 23 March 1939 at Roseville, New South Wales to Doreen 'Dorn' Doyle (died 2 December 1974) with three children and in 1976 to Nancye Ruth Haines (died 23 November 2011). [2]

O'Reilly's parents were Henry D'Arcy O’Reilly (merchant, he was a haberdasher near Chatswood Station [3] } and Lillian Edith O’Reilly (née Brasnett). His father was the brother-in-law of A. Harold Wood, whose son, D'Arcy Wood, was the sixth President of the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly.

A daughter and a grandson are Uniting Church ministers. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniting Church in Australia</span> Australian Christian denomination

The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union of Australia united under the Basis of Union. According to the church, it had 243,000 members in 2018. In the 2016 census, about 870,200 Australians identified with the church; in the 2011 census, the figure was 1,065,796. The UCA is Australia's third-largest Christian denomination, behind the Catholic and the Anglican Churches. There are around 2,000 UCA congregations, and 2001 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research indicated that average weekly attendance was about 10 per cent of census figures.

Rodney Dean Drayton is a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) and was President of the UCA Assembly from July 2003 to July 2006. He lectures on a part-time basis in missiology at Sydney's United Theological College (UTC).

The Basis of Union is the document which formed the basis on which most congregations of the Congregational Union of Australia, Methodist Church of Australasia and Presbyterian Church of Australia united to form the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) in 1977. It was issued in nearly its final form in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniting College for Leadership and Theology</span>

The Uniting College for Leadership and Theology located at Brooklyn Park South Australia is a Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) theological college for the education and training of both lay people and those for specified ministries including the diaconate and youth workers. It is a member college of the University of Divinity.

Alfred Harold Wood OBE was a 20th-century Australian Christian minister, educator, writer, hymnologist and advocate of church union.

Harold D'Arcy Wood is a semi-retired minister of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) and was President of the UCA Assembly from 1991 to 1994. He has been active in ecumenism in Australia and globally.

The Methodist Church of Australasia was a Methodist denomination based in Australia.

The National Christian Youth Convention (NCYC) is a national conference for people aged 16–30 years held by the Uniting Church in Australia every second January. It is held in a different Australian city each time in the long summer school and university holidays. It has attracted over 3,000 delegates from around Australia plus visiting delegations from overseas countries. It is one of the biggest events for youth on the Uniting Church's calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregor Henderson</span>

Rev. Gregor Sutherland Henderson is an ordained Christian minister of the Uniting Church in Australia. For 12 years he was the General Secretary of the UCA's National Assembly and was the President of the National Assembly for three years 2006-2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair Macrae</span> 21st-century Australian Christian minister

Alistair Macrae is an ordained Christian minister of the Uniting Church in Australia and was formerly a moderator of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, and President of the National Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Wood-Ellem</span> Australian historian

Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem was a Tongan-born Australian historian actively engaged in the life of Tonga and author of the definitive biography of Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga.

Rolland Busch,, also known as Rollie Busch, was an Australian theologian and Presbyterian and Uniting Church minister. He was the foundation principal of the Trinity Theological College in Brisbane from when it was formed in 1977 until 1985. He was president of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia from 1982 to 1985. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1978 Queens Birthday Honours and appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1984.

Stuart McMillan was the national President of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) from July 2015 to July 2018. He was installed for a three-year term on 12 July 2015 at a service at Perth's Scotch College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Ramsay (politician)</span> Australian politician

Gordon Ramsay is an Australian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), representing the Ginninderra electorate from 2016 to 2020. He was elected to be a Minister in the Barr government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Gribble</span>

Cecil Frank Gribble was an Australian Christian minister who was President General of the General Conference of the Methodist Church of Australasia 1964–1966.

Rupert Howard Grove was an Australian solicitor and a prominent Methodist and Uniting Church layman. The Australian Dictionary of Biography states that, "in the progression towards the union of the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Australia, Grove made a decisive impact."

The United Theological College (UTC) is an Australian theological college and a founding member of Charles Sturt University's School of Theology. As well as providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in all areas of theology, the UTC trains ministry candidates for the Uniting Church in Australia Synod of New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Skuse</span> Australian church worker


Jean Enid Skuse is an Australian Christian leader and ecumenist who served as the general secretary of the Australian Council of Churches and the Vice-Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Lilian Wells (1911–2001) was an Australian church leader who served as president of the Congregational Union of Australia, and the first moderator of the New South Wales Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia. She was the only woman to serve in the role of president for the Congregational Union. She served on the joint committee that planned the merger of the Congregationalist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches that formed the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977. She was appointed an Officer of Order of the British Empire in 1977, for her service to the church.

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who in Australia 1980 p. 651
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eric G. Clancy (September 2002). "Methodist Leaders: The Presidents General Of The General Conference Of The Methodist Church Of Australasia, 1902-1977" (PDF). Church Heritage, 12, 4. pp. 224–242. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wood, D'Arcy (3 February 2000). "Winston O'Reilly: Church leader 1913 - 2000". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: Fairfax. p. 29. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
Religious titles
Preceded by President of the Assembly, Uniting Church in Australia
1979–1982		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.