Revd Dr Elizabeth Smith
I enjoy liturgical challenges, large and small, encouraging lively liturgy in your context.
commissions, conversations, collaborations
commission a text, schedule a sermon, propose some PD
Commission a text
From a special-occasion prayer to an entire order of service, I can help your parish, school or organisation find the right words to pray or sing together, in language is theologically true, fresh, and appropriate to your context.
generous Anglicanism, plus
I'm an Anglican priest with parish and diocesan experience, and respect for the gifts of other denominations, too. I've long been committed to the full inclusion of women in the life, leadership and language of the churches, and to common prayer where everyone can find themselves seen, heard and honoured as God's beloved ones.
Professional Development
I can help with your PD programme for clergy, lay leaders and students, from an evening seminar to a half-day workshop to a longer immersion in good liturgical planning. Let's talk.
coaching, mentoring
If you're exploring a new liturgical context - school, parish, chaplaincy, church plant, fresh expression - and you want a conversation partner, I can keep you company as you make the decisions that will lead to lively prayer in your community, using the best available resources.
preach, teach, ponder
Sometimes we need someone from outside our familiar context, to help us hear the Spirit's prompting more clearly. For a single sermon or a series, for a retreat or quiet day, for a slice of academic curriculum in liturgy or preaching, let's talk.
The Reverend Dr Elizabeth J Smith AM
You've probably sung some of my hymns, to familiar or new tunes. You've probably also prayed text that I have written during my years of membership of the Liturgy Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia, though those resources have been improved by my colleagues, and don't belong to me any more. My PhD, from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, looked at how feminist biblical interpretation could contribute to better Anglican liturgy, and I've been putting that theory into practice ever since. I've led parishes, and worked as a mission development resource person, expanding my horizons beyond parish work. In 2024 I was honoured to be awarded the Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship. Now retired from full-time parish ministry, I'm free to bring my skills and experience to encourage lively liturgy for the many contexts of our changing church.
Recent work
A prayer for a new Anglican school
AngliSchools began in Perth and now offers excellent education within and beyond WA. A new school in 2024, All Saints Anglican School in Shepparton, Victoria, needed a school prayer to go with their motto, "equipping the saints." Only a year later, students wrote and performed a winning song based on the school prayer that I wrote for them.
Open House at St John's Kalgoorlie
As part of the Hope25 initiative locally, we needed things to give as "freebies" to everyone who was invited in to explore our historic building and meet some friendly locals. All kinds of blessing prayers came in handy.
Seminar on a Feast of Creation
There's an ecumenical conversation under way about whether all the churches might add to our calendars a new Feast Day for the Christ the Creator. I've attended two seminars in Assisi, Italy, in 2024 and 2025, where the theology and nomenclature are being thought through, and reported progress to a research seminar with Wollaston Theological College.
A hymn for a Catholic community
An amalgamated Catholic parish in Sydney wanted a new hymn that could celebrate both their patron saints - St Michael and St Brendan. They commissioned me, along with a noted Australian choral composer, to come up with a text and the music that have now settled firmly into the joint repertoire of the parish and its associated schools.
I'd love to hear about your context, and how I might help
Let's talk! The first conversations are always free, in person or online. Depending on your needs and my capacities, the fee can be negotiated. I'm happy to travel for face-to-face teaching, preaching and workshops.
my spiritual landscape
I grew up in the Church of Christ and became an Anglican gradually through my late teens and early 20s, thanks to some wise priests, feisty lay people, and the new Australian prayer books. While teaching teenagers in working class migrant suburbs of Melbourne, I studied theology at night with the United Faculty of Theology and Trinity College Melbourne. I was ordained deacon in 1987 and priest in 1993. I earned a PhD in liturgy in the early '90s, and put the theory into practice through 13 years in a Melbourne parish.
In 2008 I moved to Perth to be a resource person for their Mission Plan, and expanded my horizons beyond parish life to schools and agencies, and beyond the suburbs to the rural and regional areas of the diocese. In 2015 I came to Kalgoorlie as Mission Priest, where I've innovated in a highly secular, post-faith context for more than 10 years until retiring from full-time parish ministry in 2025.
I've contributed to the liturgical life of Australian Anglicans - and others - through hymn writing, membership of the General Synod Liturgy Commission, and countless formal and informal conversations with people who want their common prayer to be authentic, lively, and fit for context.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, I'd love to work with you or your community face-to-face. If you're in Perth, it's easy. If you're further out in WA, or interstate, if you look after travel and accommodation costs, we can negotiate the fee. The first conversation is always free.
Yes, I have an ABN for the business name "Other Suitable Words," and I can create an invoice for any service where we agree on the fee.
Most of my work starts with a phone call or an email. You tell me what you're looking for, and we chat about what I might be able to offer. From there, coaching and mentoring can easily be done online, with Zoom or Teams as back-up. Face-to-face is always best for teaching.
The first conversation is always free. If we agree to work together, the fee will be negotiable, depending on your capacity to pay, and my enthusiasm for your project. If you commission a hymn, it's a significantly bigger investment than a simple prayer or short order of service, which come much cheaper. For teaching or PD or guest preaching, we'll negotiate about preparation and delivery time. If you're further out than Perth, WA, I will ask you to cover travel and accommodation for face-to-face events.