Fr Kevin Lenehan

You wouldn’t find a much more typical Western district name than Lenehan, and, according to Kevin Lenehan, you wouldn’t find a more typical Western District family than his.

Kevin and his six siblings grew up on a small farm in Killarney. His parents, Jack and Mary, grew onions and milked cows and the children went to primary school at St Brigid’s in Crossley. The family had a love of greyhound racing and through the enthusiasm of their Mum, the Collingwood Football Club.

Kevin loved farm life and being close to the beach, but life wasn’t easy for a large family with a small farm so, in 1973, the farm was sold and the family moved north to the Murray River. After four years, Kevin’s Dad, became sick and the family moved to Port Fairy. Jack passed away in 1978.

In the same year, Kevin began Year 8 at CBC. He enjoyed study and in his final year was appointed College Captain. By then, Kevin’s Mum was supporting the family on a widow's pension, and continuing their education was only possible because the family was supported by the Brothers.

Kevin had heard through Principal, Brother Tom Kearney* that the Ballarat Diocese was looking to employ school leavers in a youth ministry support group. In those days, every parish had an active group. Kevin and the other youth leaders were given an old car that they used to drive all around the Diocese, from Mildura to Portland.

In 1985 Kevin became one of seventeen young people from around Victoria entering the Corpus Christi seminary in Melbourne, beginning nine years of study. After an internship year in Ballarat, Kevin returned to the seminary in Clayton for two more years of further study and was ordained in Port Fairy in 1993.

Kevin’s first appointments as Priest were in rural areas in places like Ararat and Hopetoun, where the number of clergy were reducing and amalgamations of parishes were starting to happen.

An opportunity arose for Kevin to complete further studies overseas at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. There Kevin completed two Masters degrees, in Religious Education and Theology.

On his return, Kevin worked full time in the Diocese as Parish Priest in Ballarat, then taking up an executive position within the Catholic Education Office, Kevin led a team that was working with religious education around the schools and colleges of the diocese. Kevin oversaw student curriculum, and teacher accreditation and was involved in the selection and appraisals of Principals.

During that time Kevin led a major renewal of the sacramental and reconciliation programs for children, but his most significant task job came because of changes to the religious education curriculum guidelines. Kevin led a multi-diocese team in developing a new Religious Education curriculum named Awakenings.

Still in use today, Awakenings represented a significant change in the way that religious education was taught. It was driven by demographics about religious faith, practice and identification.

It recognised that not every child comes from a religious background, not every student has a religious faith and not every student understands religious faith. Awakenings acknowledged that not every student will be on board, and it endeavoured to take them on a journey of understanding.

Kevin’s philosophy was that Religious Education should be underpinned by as strong an educational experience as Maths or Literacy or any other subject area. The aim was to enhance the Catholic school identity of a school while acknowledging the cultural mix of a school…to take Catholic schools from being tribal schools run by Catholics for Catholics, to schools that allow everybody to enhance their life vision.

For Kevin these were great days, undertaking ground-breaking work with teachers who were very engaged and energised by the discussion and by the changes.

After five years as the Director of Religious Education, Kevin returned to Belgium and completed a PhD in Theology. During university breaks, Kevin continued to participate in Parish life as much as possible.

Kevin returned to Australia and became the Master of the Catholic Theological College in Melbourne. Kevin was also a member of the first Plenary Council of the Church and the drafting of the documents in the lead up to the Council. This was the most significant national gathering of the Catholic Church in Australia in more than eighty years - an occasion for decisions on the future direction of the Church and to make significant reforms.

Kevin believes that the Church should not be afraid of talking about issues that its grassroots members wish to talk about.

Kevin is also a member of the Ballarat College of Consultants – a consulting body to Bishop Paul Bird, along with serving on the associated personnel board.

Father Kevin Lenehan’s academic achievements have been extraordinary. He has contributed enormously to Catholic education but he has also remained connected to the grassroots level of the Church. “Community,” says Kevin, “is where faith can make a difference.”