Jean Skuse served as general secretary of the Australian Council of Churches (1975-88), vice-moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and organiser of the WCC’s Canberra Assembly (1988-91). A former Methodist lay preacher, she was a leading advocate of the role of women in church and society.

Pictured above at a gathering of friends to mark the occasion, Jean is flanked by two other members of the Uniting Church in Australia who followed in her footsteps – Tara Curlewis, currently general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, and David Gill.