Winston D'Arcy O'Reilly was a
Methodist and then
Uniting Church in Australia (UCA)
minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
and the second President of the UCA Assembly.
Education
O'Reilly went to
North Sydney Boys High School,
[''Who's Who in Australia 1980'' p. 651] leaving at 14 years of age. Returning to Sydney after a trip to Europe, he studied for the
Leaving Certificate
A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination.
For each leaving certifica ...
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).
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.
[
] 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;
Secretary, 1964–1974; Secretary of Conference, 1968; President of Conference, 1969; Secretary General, 1972–1974;
President-General, 1975–1977.
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).
Internationally he was a Member of Presidium,
World Methodist Council, 1975–1980.
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.
He was founding member of the NSW Council of Social Service and one of the founders of the
Australian Council of Social Service
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is an Australian organisation that advocates for action to reduce poverty and inequality, and is the peak body for the community services sector in Australia. It was formed in 1956.
ACOSS is act ...
(ACOSS, he later became ACOSS's chairman).
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).
O'Reilly's parents were Henry D'Arcy O’Reilly (merchant, he was a
haberdasher
In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing, ...
near
Chatswood Station} and Lillian Edith O’Reilly (née Brasnett). His father was the brother-in-law of
A. Harold Wood
Alfred Harold Wood OBE (4 May 1896 – 27 August 1989) was a 20th-century Australian Christian minister, educator, writer, hymnologist and advocate of church union.
Early life
A. Harold Wood was born in Geelong, Victoria, the son of Alfred Wo ...
, 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.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Winston DArcy
Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Methodist ministers
Uniting Church in Australia ministers
Uniting Church in Australia presidents
1913 births
2000 deaths
People educated at North Sydney Boys High School