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About Me

My name is Garry Deverell.  I am Palawa, an indigenous person from Tasmania.  I am also a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, ordained by the Presbytery of Yarra Valley at Wesley Church, Melbourne, on December 7, 1997.  My partner's name is Lil, and we have two daughters: Erin (14) and Gretel (12). Although we have our origins in Tasmania, we currently live at Oakleigh East in the metropolitan region of Melbourne.  I work as a minister, researcher, and teacher.

Lil and I are members of Monash Uniting Church in Clayton.  At the beginning of 2009 I started a new job as Professor of Worship and Preaching in the Uniting Church Theological College at Melbourne University.  In 2008 I enjoyed working as a supply minister at St. Columba's Uniting Church in Balwyn.  Between 2004 and 2007, I was pastor to the community at St. Luke's Uniting Church in Mount Waverley.  I went to St. Luke’s after completing a PhD in theology at Monash University.  While studying, I also shared in the pastoral leadership of the South Yarra Community Baptist Church.

Before the PhD I worked for three years as a parish minister in Devonport, Tasmania. The time of preparation for the pastoral ministry included a degree in theology with Whitley College and the Melbourne College of Divinity, as well as participation in a number of faith communities.  These included  St. David's Church in Collingwood and the House of the Gentle Bunyip  in Clifton Hill.  There we worked and prayed with others as the Community sought to care for people who suffer from schizophrenia.  The people of the Bunyip continue to hold a special place in our hearts.

crazy_kidsBefore that, I was a teacher at St. Michael's Collegiate School in Hobart,Tasmania.  I also tutored at the University of Tasmania, teaching education students about Tasmanian Social History and Medieval Romance.
To qualify as a teacher, I studied at the University for a degree in literature and a diploma in education.  While on campus, I was involved with student politics, and worshipped at Taroona Baptist Church.  It was during these University days that I fell in love with Lil.  We were married on December 23, 1989, and nested in a yellow house in the foothills of Mt. Wellington.

I grew up in Sheffield, Tasmania, with my Mum, Dad, brother and two sisters.  And thought about God quite a lot of the time.

I like to swim, read, walk, and watch art-house and foreign-language films. Occasionally I toy around with the web.  Feel free to drop me a line sometime.  Click on the dove to do so!


 

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