Always A Mater Girl

Shelley says her time at Mater Christi helped shape the person she is today. 

“I had the freedom to be who I wanted to be. It wasn’t just about your studies at Mater; it was about belonging to a Good Samaritan school. It helped me understand that there are more important things than IQ—it is how you relate to people and how you make other people feel that’s most important.” 

When she was 15 years old, Shelley joined a local Youth Group and ‘found her church’, where she later began volunteering.

“I wasn’t raised in a religious family, my parents started coming to church when I was in Primary School. And I didn’t always believe in God. The message given to young people at the Youth Group I joined when I was 15 was that God loves them. We all mess up, but we are all a family. Through that message, I found my love of God.” 

Shelley wanted to start working at the Church straight out of secondary school, but her mum was keen for her to get a degree, which she did! In fact, she got a Science degree from Monash with a double major in ‘Immunology’ and ‘Molecular and Microbiology’, shortly after that she began working part-time at the church.

Today, as Youth Pastor and Head of Ministry at CityLife Church, Shelley says every day is different. One day, she will present to a group of over 60-year-olds about the purpose and meaning of life; the next, she will be at a youth camp. Her role as Head of Ministry is less pastoral and more about budgets, overseeing staff and leaders, and administration. However, she still keeps her foot in the church community doing weddings, funerals, preaching, teaching, running weekly services, and mental health awareness days.

“We definitely need more kindness in the world! Young people are struggling these days. You never truly know what someone else is going through. Ultimately, asking someone what we can do for them takes nothing away from us. I’d like to see everyone in the community take a step back and be more mindful of others.”

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