First lecturer in chaplaincy for uni
THE University of Otago has appointed its first lecturer in chaplaincy, the Very Rev Dr Graham Redding, amid a growing national shortage of chaplains.
“The demand for chaplains — be they paid and unpaid, secular and religious — across sectors ranging from the military to healthcare to education to sports and the arts, exceeds supply,” he said.
And suitable training and credentialling was ‘‘crucial’’.
New Zealand was an increasingly secular society, but people remained interested in issues of faith, meaning and spirituality, and events of ‘‘deep personal significance’’, often traumatic, could trigger such interests, he said.
Since 2016, the Otago programme has offered a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and a masters in chaplaincy, the only specific university qualifications in chaplaincy offered in New Zealand.
Other academic staff teach the programme, but Dr Redding is the first person to be hired specifically as an Otago lecturer in chaplaincy.
After being master of Knox College since 2015, he took up his new role this week.
Many organisations saw the value of chaplaincy for enhancing the wellbeing of those who come under their care and employment, including in schools, tertiary institutions, hospitals, hospices and retirement homes, in the military, police and corrections facilities, or in professional sports teams and the media, he said.
Dr Redding is a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (200810) and was principal of the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership in Dunedin (200714).
His fiveyear, fixedterm post is externally funded by the Longview Trust and the Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland.
Dunedin police chaplain Monsignor John Harrison said there were many shortages across the diverse field of chaplaincy, including among Catholic chaplains.
Chaplains played a crucial role, including as part of the overall response to traumatic incidents, such as the recent Dunedin supermarket knife attack.