Joan Hore, who was received at the session of the Congregational Union yesterday, is probably the first woman preacher of any denomination ordained in New South Wales.
Records show that Joan taught in Sydney at Redlands' Girls College, Cremorne, NSW and, during the 1920s, she had two short missionary placements, one in India and the second in Fiji.
It wasn't a straightforward path as, in Australia, the Congregational Union was the only Protestant church to provide a pathway for women into the ministry.
Winifred Kiek was ordained on 13 June 1927 as minister of Colonel Light Gardens Congregational Church in Adelaide, South Australia.
Hore's ministry in the Newcastle, NSW area coincided with The Great Depression and she was well known in the district for her work with the unemployed.
She visited shanty camps, taking donated food and groceries, clothing, reading matter, and gifts and cake on Christmas Day.