Peter has been involved in the formation of spiritual companions for over twenty years, with a particular interest in contributing to the wider spiritual direction community throughout Australia and in the international sphere.
Peter is a graduate of the University of Divinity having completed a Graduate Diploma in Spiritual Direction and Master of Arts. He also holds a Diploma of Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology, a Graduate Diploma in Education from State College of Victoria, and a Bachelor of Theology from Ridley College. Peter completed a PhD_ _through Australian Catholic University.
Peter started his career in the engineering industry, during which time he became involved in local church leadership and ministry in Darwin and Ashburton. In 2001, he joined the WellSpring Centre Spiritual Direction formation team as a retreat leader and in 2003, he was appointed Director of the Centre, a role he held for 10 years.
In 2013, Peter was awarded an APA scholarship an APA scholarship to research the unique approaches to formation in forming spiritual directors. As part of the PhD research project, Peter examined the WellSpring Spiritual Direction formation program to understand what contributes to the effective shaping of participants as spiritual directors. Based on interviews with participants, his research resulted in a PhD thesis entitled An Investigation of Learning Processes and Contexts of a Curriculum Program for the Formation of Spiritual Directors.
Peter continues to engage in ongoing research looking at frameworks that assist in locating significant processes related to spiritual formation based on an updated version of the traditional Lectio Divina model and a current business model identified as Theory U.
Peter lectures in postgraduate units related to Spiritual Direction Formation and Spirituality through the University of Divinity. He has also developed and taught units in the Art of Contemplative Practice, Personality and Spirituality, Approaches to Spiritual Formation, Personal Awareness and Human Development and professional standards for Spiritual Directors associated with the Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction (AECSD) code of ethics.
He spent six years on the board of the Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction (AECSD). During this time, he chaired the Council for three years and headed up a working group reviewing the Australian Formation Guidelines for the formation of Spiritual Directors. More recently Peter worked with Spiritual Directors International (SDI) as the Asian Pacific representative initiating the first SDI Australian Research Forum.
University Appointments
- Lecturer in Spirituality and Spiritual Direction
Whitley College