Project Members

Give me ten men really detached from the world,
and I have the heart to believe I could convert the world with them.

_

St Philip Neri, Maxims and Sayings, 3rd December

Fr Adrian Sharp

Moderator

Born in 1975, Fr Adrian is a local of Brisbane. After high school he entered Pius XII Provincial Seminary, Banyo, in 1993. Following pastoral placements as a seminarian in the parishes of Boonah and Inala he was ordained to the diaconate in December 1999, after which he began service in the parish of Booval. He was ordained to the priesthood in September 2000. He has subsequently served as Associate Pastor in the parishes of Burleigh Heads, the Cathedral, Noosa District, Acacia Ridge and Sunnybank. He was Parish Priest of Coomera from 2008 to 2010 at which point he was sent to undertake studies in canon law at Saint Paul University, Ottawa (Canada). With his studies completed he returned to Australia in 2013 and commenced as an Associate Judicial Vicar in the Regional Tribunal, and assisted in the parish of Regents Park. He became part of the Brisbane Oratory in Formation project in October 2013, and was appointed Parish Priest of Annerley Ekibin in 2014. He became Moderator of the Brisbane Oratory in Formation in May 2016. He continues working in the Regional Tribunal, and from 2019 is the Judicial Vicar.

Fr Andrew Wise

Fr Andrew was Ordained to the Priesthood in St Mary’s Cathedral Sale, Victoria on 5th September 1987. Since then he has gained a wide range of pastoral experience as an Assistant and Parish Priest in both country and large outer suburban Parishes. Fr Andrew was Dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sale for four years between 2011 and 2015. Over the years he has also served in a variety of Diocesan and wider Church capacities: these include Reserve RAAF chaplaincy and as an inaugural board member of Catholic Care in the Diocese of Sale. He also served as a board member of the Catholic Development Fund for nine years. He chaired the Diocese of Sale Education, Finance and Audit Committee for a number of years. Fr Andrew was a member of the College of Consultors and the Council of Priests for the Diocese of Sale. He was also a national executive member and treasurer of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. Fr Andrew holds a MA Degree in Christian Spirituality and a Graduate Certificate in spiritual direction from Creighton Jesuit University in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Theology. He also has a Certificate in Counselling, including marriage and family counselling. Fr. Andrew has been active in the ministry of spiritual direction since 1998. The seed of the first Australian Congregation of the Oratory was sown after a period of prayer before the Altar of St Philip Neri at the Chiesa Nuova in Rome, in 2010. From that time Fr Andrew experienced a growing interest in and devotion to St Philip and the Oratory. This gradually developed into a desire, if it is the Lord’s will, to found the first Australian Congregation of the Oratory.

Fr Scot Armstrong

Fr Scot Armstrong is the third priest who comprises the foundation community of the Brisbane Oratory in Formation. Fr Armstrong comes to Brisbane  from the Wagga Wagga Diocese, having been Parish Priest of Ganmain and seminary professor and Vice-Rector at Vianney College. He has been involved in the Oratory project from the beginning. Fr Armstrong brings a wealth of experience in academic circles as well as extensive pastoral work and a love of sacred music.

Br Tyson King

 Br Tyson joined The Brisbane Oratory in Formation in 2014. As soon as Tyson heard about the Oratory he felt a strong connection to the charism of helping others come to know Jesus Christ with a spirit of holy joy, fraternal charity in community, and the special focus on beauty and reverence in the Mass of the Roman Rite as seen in the life of St Philip Neri, the superior of the first Oratory.

Fr Conor Power

A Brisbane native, Fr Conor was born in 1983. He grew up in Spring Hill having Villa Maria as his local parish and attended St. Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace. After graduating from Secondary School Br Conor travelled extensively throughout the USA and Europe. He was in the inaugural graduating class of Campion College Australia, with the Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts. He later worked with the University of Notre Dame in the School of Philosophy & Theology and then with an industry association. Throughout 2013 he discerned a possible vocation and in 2014 entered as a novice with the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans). Towards the end of that year he concluded he was not called to the Dominican way of life. After much time in prayer, he learnt of the Brisbane Oratory in Formation as was immediately attracted to their charism and way of life. He was clothed in the Oratorian habit on September 6th 2015 and began his first probation or novitiate year on that day.