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Geoff
Geoff Alves was born in Essendon in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on 11 January 1942. He was educated at North Essendon Primary School, Essendon High School, Melbourne Teachers’ College and, later, as a mature-age student, at University High School Evening Classes and The University of Melbourne, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in history and Middle Eastern studies. Geoff worked for the Education Department of Victoria, first as a teacher—at Noorinbee in East Gippsland and Pascoe Vale and Dallas primary schools in Melbourne. In 1974 he joined the Publications Branch of the department and was editor of the Education Gazette for fifteen years. In 1989 he left the Education Department to become assistant editor of The Australian Christian, the national journal of Churches of Christ in Australia. In 1993 Geoff became a freelance editor and publisher. His last big project was the design and layout of the ‘Course Advice’, the nineteen-volume course of study for schools in Victoria. He was editor of CCA News, the magazine of the Christian Conference of Asia, from 1998 to 2007. He has now retired, but does the occasional job. Geoff lived in North Essendon for the first fifty years of his life, and then bought a 640-acre property at Wroxham in East Gippsland. He has been associated with Churches of Christ all his life, at North Essendon, Keilor East and Footscray, and currently worships at Ainslie Church of Christ in Canberra. He was the co-founder and leader of the Keilor East Church of Christ Adventure Club, which conducted bushwalking camps for young people in East Gippsland for over twenty years. His interests include travelling, music, reading, walking, swimming and his Apple devices. He had two younger brothers, Robert and Ian. Ian died in 2014. |
Christine
Christine Ledger was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, on 16 September 1956. She was educated at Toowoomba East Primary School and Toowoomba State High School. Christine was awarded a Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University, Canberra, in 1977. Her postgraduate studies branched into the field of science, technology and society studies, first at Murdoch University, Perth (BSc (Hons)), and the University of New South Wales (Master of Science and Society) in Sydney. In 2004 she gained a PhD from Charles Sturt University, studying at St Mark’s Theological Centre in Canberra. Her thesis, ‘Towards a Theology of Technology’, can be found here. It discussed themes of technological culture, human creativity and community. Most of Christine’s working life has been with ecumenical organizations. This began with the Australian Student Christian Movement (1977–80), followed by the Australian Council of Churches (1982–84). In 1986 she went to Geneva, Switzerland, to serve as Co-Secretary General of the World Student Christian Federation. In 1991 she returned to Sydney, where she worked as Overseas Programs Coordinator of the ACC and later as Director of the Commission for Christian World Service of the new National Council of Churches in Australia. In 1996 to 1999 she was Associate General Secretary for Finance for the Christian Conference of Asia, based in Hong Kong. After returning to Canberra in 1999 she was Honorary Treasurer of the World Student Christian Federation, a position she held for five years. From 2004 to 2006 Christine was centre manager of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture and of the Public and Contextual Theology Strategic Research Centre at Charles Sturt University, Canberra. Since then she has worked in many areas within St Mark's and the ACC&C (teaching, editing, conference organising etc.). Christine is an active member of the Anglican Church of Australia. She currently worships at Holy Cross Anglican Church, Hackett. Her interests include birdwatching and travel. She has two sisters, Helen and Alison, and a brother, Peter. |
Geoff and Christine
Geoff and Christine met in Hong Kong when Geoff became editor of CCA News. Their relationship developed when Christine returned to Australia in 1999 to begin her PhD studies. They were married on 23 October 1999 and made their home in Hackett, a suburb of Canberra, Australia’s capital city. They worship each Sunday at both the Anglican Church in Hackett and the Ainslie Church of Christ. Their interests now are reading, music, walking, swimming and travel. Between them they have almost forty great nieces and nephews (and still counting). Geoff has ‘retired’ and Christine has now completed writing her biography about Vernon Cornish, which Geoff published (for details see here). Contact Us 54 Grayson Street, Hackett ACT 2602, Australia Geoff's mobile phone: + 61 419 125 974 Christine's mobile phone: + 61 419 125 975 Geoff's email: [email protected] Christine's email: [email protected] Skype: geoffalves or chrisledger Our Christmas Letters All our Christmas letters from 1999 to the present can be found here. Keith Roby Memorial Lecture 2023 Christine’s lecture at Murdoch University, Perth, 18 October 2023 can be found here: roby_memorial_lecture.pdf |