Rate My Professor Graham Redding

Dr. Graham Redding serves as the Douglas Goodfellow Lecturer in Chaplaincy Studies within the Theology Programme at the University of Otago, situated in the School of Arts and Division of Humanities. Beginning his professional journey with training as an accountant in Auckland, Redding transitioned to theological studies at Otago University. He spent fifteen years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, including serving as the national Moderator in 2008 and 2009. Subsequently, he earned a PhD in Theology from King's College London, with his dissertation exploring prayer and the priesthood of Christ in the Reformed tradition. This work was published as the monograph Prayer and the Priesthood of Christ: In the Reformed Tradition by T&T Clark in 2003. Prior to his current role, which he assumed in 2021, Redding was Principal of the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership in Dunedin until 2015 and then Master of Knox College, a University of Otago-affiliated residential college, from 2015 to 2021.

Redding's research specializations include chaplaincy across diverse settings, the chaplain's role as a ceremonial leader, theological insights into leadership, pastoral care amid dying, grief, and loss, historical aspects of Presbyterian Church schools, responsible giving, moral injury from violations of core beliefs, and Reformed perspectives on prayer and priesthood. His scholarly contributions feature the 2023 peer-reviewed article "The Peculiar Case of Presbyterian Church Schools" in the New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies and opinion pieces in the Otago Daily Times addressing moral injury (2021), inspiration from T. S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi" (2022), and liturgical realism through the lens of desert saints (2021). Recognized for expertise in chaplaincy, spirituality, Christianity in Aotearoa New Zealand, and Presbyterian worship, Redding also serves as course adviser for the postgraduate programme in Chaplaincy and Ministry, influencing the training of future leaders in these areas.