Our Trainers

Beth OBrien
Company Director - Senior Trainer and Assessor
Queensland

Celebrant experience

Beth has been an Authorised Marriage Celebrant since 1995. Her own celebrant practice has been the catalyst for her to encourage celebrants, new and experienced, to enhance their skills and knowledge to design and perform heart-felt ceremonies for clients.

Beth specialises in ceremonies that are individually crafted for each client and has found the rewards of celebrancy far greater than she had originally imagined.

Along with ceremonies for families, Beth has also been commissioned to design corporate ceremonies. Beth’s passion for meaningful ceremony design is seen in the curriculum material and she often says to students, “you only get one chance at making someone’s lifetime memory, you have to design and perform beautiful ceremonies for your clients.”

Beth is a regular contributor to industry panels on the training of celebrants nationally. She also has many established international networks with colleagues in the celebrant community.

Her background has been primarily in business and marketing, always in educational institutions. It is her passion to see the profession of celebrancy highly regarded by the community.

Her career ambition is to be a holistic provider of training for new celebrants, offering marriage, funeral and general celebrancy courses, and to continue to offer ongoing professional development to existing celebrants.

Beth’s Masters Degree in Business focused on business development and this knowledge has been a foundation in designing the curriculum for the Certificate IV in Celebrancy and the Cert IV in Small Business Management.

Beth has also received a Smart State Queensland Award and been recognised by Business Review Weekly for her entrepreneurial business acumen.

Beth is currently researching the rise of secular humanism in contemporary Australia.

Educational qualifications

· Masters of Business (Marketing) QUT 2008
· Postgraduate Certificate In Educational Marketing 2002
University of Southhampton – England
· Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing)Griffith University 1998

Professional Awards

· Award Winner – Rotary Group Study Exchange 2001

Professional Training

· Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy 2009
· Certified International Funeral Celebrant USA 2009
· Certificate in Web Content 2009
· General Funeral Celebrancy Unit of Competency 2009
· Certificate IV in Small Business Management 2008
· Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment 2003
· Certificate in Office Education 1980

Professional Associations

· Copyright officer, Australian Marriage Celebrants (Inc)
· Member, Australian Federation of Civil Celebrants
· Member, Alliance of Celebrants Qld Inc
· Member, Humanist Celebrant Network
· Member, Civil Celebrations Network
· Member, Funeral Celebrants Association of Australia
· Member, Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement
· Member, Australian Institute of Training and Development
· Member, Queensland Writers Centre
· Member, Marriage and Relationship Educators’ Association of Australia Inc.
· Member, American Humanist Association

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Keith Lammond
Trainer and Assessor
New South Wales

Experience as a Celebrant

Keith has worked since 1994 as a marriage and funeral celebrant. This became his full time profession in 2000. Keith came to be a Marriage Celebrant as a result of encouragement by a Magistrate who was a friend of Keith’s. Although he had applied in 1984 it was to be ten years down the track before being appointed due to the restriction in appointments at that time.

Previously Keith had work in the sales and marketing arena and has had many years of experience in that field. He feels his work as a Marriage Celebrant is the best fit for him because it gives him great satisfaction and a role that seems to have fitted his personality and energy well.

Keith says that all of his work as a celebrant has been special to me he admits that joining the ranks of celebrant trainers with Australian Celebrations Training has given him great satisfaction with being able to train of prospective Marriage Celebrants and the mentoring/on-going training of new celebrants to ensure they achieve the high level of standard expected of them.

Formal Qualifications

· Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training 2005
· Certificate IV in Training and Assessment 2009
· Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy (3 units)
· Perform General Funeral Celebrancy
· Justice of the Peace NSW 1981

Professional Associations

· President of Australian Marriage Celebrants Inc for the past ten years.

Work Experience

· Training of prospective Marriage Celebrants on behalf of Australian Celebrations Training (ACT) since 2005
· On-going Professional Development training of Marriage Celebrants on behalf of Australian Celebrations Training.
· In-house training of members of the Australian Marriage Celebrants Inc. (AMC) on OPD and other refresher training courses in relation to legal aspects of marriage and responsibilities of Marriage Celebrants.
· Refresher Training for new appointees other than AMC members.
· Funeral Celebrancy Training courses.
· Directing Life Celebrations training courses.

What attracted you to Celebrancy

My initial contact with Celebrancy was really by accident when, in a casual conversation, my Magistrate friend commented that I would make a good Marriage Celebrant. That “accident” was probably the best thing that has happened to me. Not only did I learn what a Marriage Celebrant was and what they did I became involved, although I had to wait ten years for the privilege. My Marriage Celebrancy journey over the past fifteen years has been an incredible experience and the satisfaction I derive from being involved in the special day of so many couples is priceless. I can honestly say that being a celebrant has given me far more satisfaction that any other position I have held in my working life.

A great moment in your celebrant practice

All weddings are special to me but I do remember so well an “elopement” wedding for a couple in their eighties, yes elopement. The ceremony took place on the P&O Pacific Sky in Sydney Harbour and the ship’s captain and crew were their witnesses. The excitement on the bride and groom’s faces was a sight to behold and it was such a privilege to be a part of it.

On the other side, my involvement in marriages of people who are terminally ill, knowing that time was not going to be kind to the bride and groom, generates great emotion, not only for the occasion and the circumstances but for the incredible courage shown by the parties. These moments certainly make you realise just how special life can be. I have a great passion for my celebrancy work and having the privilege to pass on in the form of training my experience and expertise gives me equal satisfaction so all round I have the best job in the world.

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Spencer Flint
Trainer and Assessor
Victoria and Tasmania

Spencer has had a varied work life including Airline Captain, owning an olive orchard, and family dispute mediation. He has been registered as a marriage celebrant for 6 years and has been successful in creating a burgeoning celebrant practice.

His formal qualifications include:

· Certificate IV Marriage Celebrancy - Plan, Conduct Review a Marriage Ceremony
· Graduate Certificate in Management
· Certificate IV in Business (Small Business) Management
· Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAA)
· Certificate IV in Community Mediation
· Registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (Family Law)– Attorney General’s Department
· Nationally Accredited Mediator – General Practice
· Senior International Airline Captain – Airline Transport Pilots Licence – (Retired) Aircraft - Fokker F27, Boeing 727, Airbus A320 and Boeing 767
· Master Class V Coastal Maritime Operations
· Australian Approved supplier – Extra Virgin Olive Oil production
· Food safety Supervisor Certificate
· Liquor Licence holder
· Level 3 First Aid

His professional associations are:

· C A - Celebrants Australia
· ACMCV - The Association of Civil Marriage Celebrants of Victoria Inc.
· APA Pilots Association
· LEADR – Mediation
· Restaurant and Catering Association
· Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania
· Macedon Olive Growers Association

Other professional skills that enhance his training abilities are:

During my career as an Airline Captain, I trained Pilots, Flight Attendants and Ground staff in Crew Resource Management, from 1992 until retirement in 2001. In the later years of my career I held a Management position with Ansett Australia Airlines as the Initial Command Manager, being responsible and managing the upgrade training of all First Officers qualifying for their Initial Captaincy in Ansett Australia Airlines.

I have been training pilots since 1977 in initial pilot training for Private Pilots Licence, and Commercial Pilot’s Licence , in ground based classroom and Simulator Training. I have also conducted courses in Plan Conduct and Review and Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy.

Why was Spencer attracted to the profession of celebrancy?

During my Airline Career, I was the President (South Pacific Region) for a worldwide welfare organisation within the Aviation Industry. I served on the International Board of Directors, and was responsible for the Organisations operations in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific Islands, including Fiji, Tonga and the Cook Islands. I was often called upon to carry out Funeral services for families of Airline Employees and had many requests to conduct Civil Marriages for members of the organisation within the region. I undertook training as a Marriage Celebrant to fulfil this role within the welfare Organisation. I was responsible for training staff in welfare and organising annual Conferences within the Pacific Region and after registration, it gave me many opportunities to conduct Marriages for my Airline colleagues and their families.

Great moments in Celebrancy

There have been many great moments. One particularly is a wedding that I conducted for a couple who both had very violent backgrounds from their previous marriage. Scripting a ceremony that brought healing and strength to such people, brought an added sense of purpose, as a Marriage Celebrant. The couple both found great comfort, restored confidence and a new hope in their lives as they both understood each other’s difficulties and committed to support each other to grow and trust again in a stable and loving environment. They keep in touch with me and it is very rewarding to see both of them flourish in their new Marriage and trust again. It is great to see their renewed confidence as they both take steps to reach their full potential and sharing this with each other to further enrich their Marriage, their family and friends.

Other information
I majored in Piano studies and also play Pipe Organ and Concert harp.

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Lisa Greenfield
Trainer and Assessor
Essendon, Victoria

Lisa has been a Registered Marriage Celebrant for over 5 years. She conducts civil ceremonies including weddings, funerals, baby namings, reaffirmation of vows and commitment ceremonies.

Lisa was instrumental in the revised writing of Australian Celebrations Training Namegiving Manual, and was generous enough to include some personal poetry of her own.

Her formal qualifications are:

· Plan, Conduct and Review a Marriage Ceremony – unit of competency from Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy.
· Diploma of Training and Assessment
· Certificate IV Training and Assessment, Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment
· Bachelor of Arts

Her professional associations are:
·
Member of Australian Marriage Celebrants.
· Member of coordinating committee of the North West Melbourne Celebrants
Network Group (not actually a professional association – it’s a network
group)

Other professional skills that enhance her training abilities are:

Twenty years’ experience in Learning and Development, developing and delivering training programmes, managing training projects and mentoring L&D teams.

Why was Lisa attracted to the profession of celebrancy? And what were some of her fondest memories?

I became interested in celebrancy when my husband and I were married by a Civil Celebrant. This was my first experience of a civil ceremony, and apart from being a wonderful day for all the right reasons. I realised how special it was to transform an average garden to a sacred space that honours one of life’s greatest milestones. I was in awe of the power of ceremony and from that day, I decided that I would be a civil celebrant. It took me five years, but I got there!

I have had the privilege of conducting marriage ceremonies for dear friends of mine. I conducted the wedding of one of my dearest friends of 15 years – and the bonus was that it was at Circular Quay with the Opera House in the background – what a setting! I have officiated at the wedding of two other dear friends, and I will be marrying my niece and her fiance in May 2010. One of my recent brides is a lady who does voluntary work with disabled children, and she has looked after my son Tom a couple of times. I am so grateful that I was able to give something back to her for everything she has done for Tom and me – I hope I helped create a beautiful memory for her.

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Pastor Chris ODempsey
Trainer and Assessor
Buderim, Queensland

Chris has been a Marriage Celebrant in a civil and religious role since 1979. He has celebrated many marriages both church and non religious settings, with numerous weddings with high profile sporting personalities. Amongst those ceremonies have been an extensive number of cross cultural weddings. As a wonderful result of being a celebrant for a long time Chris has celebrated an increasing number of second generation marriages.

His formal qualifications include:

· Dip Theology (Qld)
· Dip Trichology (Vic Adanced)
· Certificate in Small Business Management
· Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment
· Paramedic Certificate (Vic)
· Business Management (AIBM)

His professional associations are:

· Australian Institute of Business Management
· PACCOM (Vietnam)
· Australian Ministry Fellowship
· International Federation of Eye Banks

Other professional skills that enhance his training abilities are:

· Training business professionals throughout Eastern Australia
· Professional Development Seminars and sessions with elite sports personnel
· Global Consultant for Nike through 7 countries in establishing training, strategies, OH & C and programs in these locations
· Trade teacher
· Pastoral teacher and encourager to ministry personnel in Vietnam.

Why was Chris attracted to the profession of celebrancy? And what were some of his fondest memories?

A natural extension of Pastoral Ministry, that developed into a wider community presence. I enjoy the sharing in the lives, highs and lows of peoples’ experiences, and being able to support, encourage, assist or walk beside people as they go through many of life’s experiences. Great moments included the marriage of several wonderful sports identities, as well as the marriage of a couple where the groom had days to live. Every service has a reason to make it memorable, some just stay with you forever.

Being a celebrant is a privilege. Chris has a great desire to see the bar “raised” to ensure the level of service, professionalism and meeting people’s needs is lifted as high as it can possibly go, and then go higher!

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Kate Thomas
Trainer and Assessor
Western Australia

Kate was awarded the Home Based Business Award from Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2009, and was also a runner up and finalist in previous years. She has built a strong reputation in celebrancy both marriage and funerals for her gentle caring ways and professional service to clients.

Her formal qualifications are:

· Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy
· Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (current studies)
· Registered General Nurse since 1976

Her professional associations are:

· Member Marriage Celebrants Association of WA
· ANF and Royal College of Nursing

Other professional skills that enhance her training abilities are:

· Running an accommodation business
· Communicating with clients
· Really listening to people – particularly in ceremony designing

Why was Kate attracted to the profession of celebrancy? And what were some of her fondest memories?

I was attracted to Celebrancy as I feel interconnected with people. I have experienced the most amazing moments in time with clients as a nurse. Celebrant work has allowed me to also assist clients & walk along side them on the journey, be it at a Wedding, or Funeral.

I am very passionate about Ritual within Ceremonies; my clients have made comment on the beauty & inclusion of same within Ceremonies I have performed during Weddings & Funerals.

I value sense of occasion, have a wonderful sense of humour, & am committed to the highest professional standards in both my occupations as a nurse and a celebrant.

Since becoming registered as Celebrant, I can honestly say every Ceremony has been a memorable moment for me. My first Wedding was extra special. I feel incredibly privileged to be invited into clients’ lives for their Ceremony.

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John Scanlon
Trainer and Assessor
New South Wales

John has been a Registered Marriage Celebrant since 2005, during this time he has conducted hundreds of ceremonies, as well as funerals, naming and commitment ceremonies in dozens of varied locations.

His Formal Qualifications are:

· CHCMCEL401A – Perfom a Marriage Ceremony
· WFSFNL407A - Perform General Funeral Celebrancy
· Naming Ceremony course
· Advanced Diploma in Business Management
· Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAA) · Justice of The Peace

His Professional Association Memberships are:

· Australian Federation of Civil Celebrants (AFCC)
· Australian Marriage Celebrants Inc.

His Work Experience is:

· Retail Pharmacy
· Industrial Engineer
· Factory Manager
· Transport Company Owner
· Newsagent
· Past President Apex, Rotary, Chamber of Commerce
· Foundation Chairman and Managing Director of News Extra, News N More and Radio Extra Australia.
· Conducted marketing sessions for prospective newsagents on behalf of Newsagents Association of NSW & ACT
· Supervised training for newsagency staff undergoing Cert II and IV in Retail

Why was John attracted to the profession of celebrancy?

Dealing with people one on one gave me an insight into who they were, how they reacted to situations and more importantly how I handled these people and situations. After many years of prompting by my wife the time came when I was ready to heed her suggestion and pursue marriage celebrancy.

Defining events in my life conditioned me to know that it needed a special mind set to become a successful celebrant. I felt that the expression of love was something different for each of us and if I could feel with the couple the love they had for one another and how it was expressed then I could create a ceremony that imaged their unique feelings. Each of my ceremonies are uniquely created to express their individuality. My mission statement was not to do the most weddings but do the best that I possibly could.

His Greatest Moments:

· To be voted celebrant of the year by the Newlyweds.
· To be chosen by industry associates to perform their weddings and the funerals of their loved ones.
· To completed a course in Spiritual and Pastoral Care With The Ageing.
· Becoming a volunteer, visiting the aged in the local Uniting Care facility “Kombala”

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Dr. Irena Yashin-Shaw
Guest Presenter
Queensland

Dr. Irena Yashin-Shaw PhD, Managing Director of Speaking Edge is an accomplished educator, workshop leader and professional keynote speaker with an amazing breadth of experience across academia, government and business. With a PhD in Educational Psychology and a Masters degree in Adult Education, Irena understands what works and why when it comes to helping people learn and develop. Clients who complete her workshops consistently confirm that she has a talent for bringing out the best in a person.

Irena is an expert in teaching people how to acquire excellence in communication skills. Through her innovative and interactive methods Irena shows how mastering some basic yet powerful principles can transform an individual’s sense of personal power, a business’s bottom line profit or a company’s corporate image.

An award winning entrepreneur and prize winning speaker, Irena is the 2009 President of the Queensland Chapter of the National Speakers Association of Australia.

When you engage Irena you can be completely confident that you are working with a total professional.

“I personally was extremely impressed with Dr. Yashin-Shaw’s attention to detail and enthusiasm. She is an excellent presenter, trainer and public speaker and I would have no hesitation at all recommending her to other public and private sector organisations”. P Cantwell LL.B Solicitor Assistant Ombudsman – Major Projects Team Office of the Queensland Ombudsman

Educational Qualifications:
· Doctor of Philosophy (Griffith University)
· Master of Adult Education (Griffith University)
· Bachelor of Arts (Qld University)
· Associate of Trinity College London
· Diploma of Teaching (QUT)

Professional Associations:
· Professional Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia
· 2009 President of Qld National Speakers Association
· National Board Member of NSAA
· Fellow of the Australian Institute of Professional Facilitators
· Certified Learning and Development Professional

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Judy Aulich
Trainer and Assessor
Canberra, ACT

Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts Degree
Diploma of Education
Justice of the Peace
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
Plan Conduct and Review a Marriage Ceremony

Professional Associations
Australian Marriage Celebrants

Experience as a Celebrant
Judy has been a full time professional marriage celebrant since 2006. She brings rich life experience and much enthusiasm to her role as celebrant. Judy is also a Civil Partnership Notary and recently conducted the first ceremonies to legalise gay unions.

Originally from Tasmania she has lived in the ACT for over 30 years. Her background is in Education. Before becoming a celebrant she was a teacher and Deputy Principal of a primary school, a profession she loved. This experience is invaluable in her new profession of celebrant.

Judy is an internationally published author and has wide experience in public speaking, to a variety of audiences and in a variety of media. She has spoken to professional groups, parent groups, at conferences and to literary gatherings.

What attracted me to celebrancy?
A friend mentioned that she had decided to train as a celebrant and convinced me that I should train with her. The irony is that she does not like the role and is no longer active and I find it so enjoyable and rewarding.

A great moment in my celebrant practice
It was very special to conduct the first ceremonies in Australia to legalise gay unions, only days after the ACT legislation was passed. The first men and first women to have such ceremonies had drinks with my husband and me a few days later and we celebrated the significance of the occasion. There really was the feeling for all of us involved that we were part of the history of human rights in Australia.

I enjoy all aspects of being a celebrant but especially the opportunity to meet such a variety of interesting people and having the opportunity to share with them a highly anticipated and important milestone in their lives. And marrying ex students and the children of friends is also very special.

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