Tutors

John Hunt

(BA, Otago; LTh (Joint Board); Diploma in a Jungian Approach to Counselling (Albany Trust), Fellow of Know College)

John has recently retired as minister of St Giles Presbyterian Church Papanui, Christchurch, where he had served for thirty years. He has studied Celtic Spirituality with John O’Donohue and with Philip Newell on the island of Iona, Scotland. He has written three widely read books in the Celtic spirit: We Spirited People, We Well People and We Celebrating People (all Caxton Press). He is called upon to speak and to lead retreats and seminars nationally. He is a lover of God and of people; he delights in beautiful places and music; he enjoys fine food and drink.

Greg is Ecumenical Chaplain, Otago University, Dunedin. He was one of the Methodist Church representative members on the national Inter-Church Commission on Genetic Engineering. He has published "Theological Dimensions of G.E." in Real World (2001). Current research interests are in bioethics, spiritual direction, faith development & nurture, and environmental issues. His special interests are in theological dimensions of genetic engineering and pastoral care of tertiary students. His role for EIDTS is as Moderator of Creation Spirituality (TS 205) and Music and Worship (MM211).

Lydia Johnson

(B.Mus Hons., St. Andrews; M.Th., Harvard, D.Min. Lexington)

Lydia has taught pastoral theology at Pacific Theological College (Fiji), University of Durban-Westville (South Africa), and Otago University, was a tutor at the School of Ministry (Dunedin), and has pastored churches in Jamaica and her native U.S. Her special interests are in theology of ministry and cross-cultural pastoral care. She is involved in course revisions for EIDTS and is a tutor for Introduction to Theology (NT101).

Peter teaches at Middleton Grange School in Christchurch and lectures in New Testament Greek at the Bible College of New Zealand. His publications include: "Is Religious Discourse Meaningful?", Phronema, (1995); "In Defence of Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria as Author of The Life of Antony: A Discussion of Historical, Linguistic and Theological Considerations", Phronema, 1997. His special interest is in the historical Jesus and current research interest is in St Nilus of Ancyra. Peter’s role in EIDTS is as Tutor in New Testament Greek – Introduction and Advanced (NT201 & NT207).

Raeburn lives in Golden Bay (North West Nelson). He works from home as a historian, but formerly held positions at the University of Otago, the Pacific Theological College (Fiji), and the University of Canterbury. He has teaching, research and writing interests in the history of Christianity, Pacific history, and New Zealand history, and has published articles and books in those fields. Raeburn is Tutor in The History of Christianity to 500 CE (CHC101) and The Medieval Western Church 500-1500 CE (CHC202).

Judith was formerly a Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago where she now teaches part-time. Her current research interest is in the area of feminist post colonial readings of Biblical texts. Judith’s publications include Gendering Wisdom the Host: Biblical Invitations to Eat and Drink (1996), Reframing Her:Biblical Women in Postcolonial Focus (2004)and articles in various journals and essay collections. She is Tutor for Writings (HS204), Reading Women in the Bible : From Eve to Mary Magdalene (HS206), and is Moderator for Introduction to Hebrew Scriptures (HS101), The Pentateuch (HS202), The Prophets (HS203) and Theologies of the Hebrew Scriptures (HS205). Judith is a member of the Academic Committee.

Robyn is minister in the Kaeo-Kerikeri Union Parish in Northland. She has a particular interest in rural and community ministry. Publications include: Morality and Agency (1985), Change with integrity: can we live with metanoia and is it good for us, (1997) an article on Living on the Land published in Ecotheology, (2001) and articles  for the Catholic Institute of Theology publications. Robyn is Tutor for Prophets (HS203) and for Pentateuch (HS202).

Prue is a former secondary school teacher member of the Mission Resource Team of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and recently retired hospital chaplain. In the Mission Resource Team roles he worked for some twelve years with leaders and congregations at local and regional level assisting with various aspects of congregational life including worship, religious education, reviews and planning. Prue is currently the clerk of the Gisborne Hawkes Bay Presbytery and is an elder, worship leader and member of Faith Education teams at St Columba’s Presbyterian Church, Havelock North. For EIDTS Prue tutors Faith and Learning (MM203).

Ngati Raukawa, Kai Tahu, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Toa      Rangi is Te Kei, Chief Executive, Te Whare Wananga o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa, the Māori Anglican Theological College, based in Rotorua. He completed his PhD through the University of Auckland and Te Whare Wananga Te Rau Kahikatea looking at Maori language and cultural policy and practice in the Anglican Church and relating that to Treaty obligations and Gospel responsibilities. Rangi has taught Maori language courses at high school and tertiary level for nearly thirty years. His publications include Hei Timatanga Korero: Maori Language Regenesis and Mihinare Clergy University of Canterbury (2001), Marketing the Maori Language in Teaching Indigenous Languages,Arizona (1997), New Zealanders’ Attitudes to the Revitalisation of the Maori Language, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development Vol 12:5 (1991).  Rangi is Advisor to EIDTS in Te Reo and Tikanga Maori.

Peter Osbourne

(B.Theol, Auckland; MA Creighton, Nebraska)

Peter is a priest in the Anglican Church and Ministry Educator and Director of Vocations in the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki. Peter trained at St John’s College in Auckland and then undertook post-graduate study in Christian Spirituality in the United States.  Prior to taking up his present position in 2008 Peter served in the Holy Trinity parish in Suva and in the Piopio Aria and Mokau Co-operating Parish.  Peter is a representative of the Anglican Church on the Ecumenical Board of Theological Studies. 

Barbara is an ordained Methodist presbyter who worked for some thirty years in the Nephrology Department at the Christchurch Hospital and was an honorary lecturer in microbiology at the Christchurch School of Medicine. Barbara is Secretary of the Central South Island Synod of the Methodist Church. She was Vice President of the Methodist Church of New Zealand (2007-2008) and is Chairperson of the NZ Inter-Church Bioethics Committee. For EIDTS Barbara is tutor for Christian Ethics (TS204).

Mary Petersen
(BA Auckland, Dip Tchg, Dip Hum (Rel.St.) with distinction, Massey)

Mary is minister of the Mercury Bay Co-operating parish. She has taught distance courses in Religious Education and Curriculum Development for Otago and Massey Universities. Mary was National Co-ordinator of Ministry with Children and Families for the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand 2001-2004 and General Secretary of the Churches Education Commission 1990 - 2000. Mary is the course writer and Tutor for Ministry with Children (MM209).

Douglas is Professor and Convenor of the Religious Studies Programme at the University of Waikato and Canon Emeritus Theologian in the Diocese of Waikato. His special interests are in inter-religious dialogue and Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. He is the author of Religion: A First Encounter (1993) and most recently The Church and Other Faiths: The World Council of Churches, the Vatican, and Interreligious Dialogue (2010). He has also published: Relational Deity (2002), Rethinking Religion – Exploratory Investigations (2003) and The Challenge of Islam: Encounters in Interfaith Dialogue (2005), and is author of a new WCC book, Being Open, Being Faithful: The Journey of Interreligious Dialogue. . Douglas is Adjunct Professor of Theology and Interreligious Studies at the University of Bern, Switzerland, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Monash University, and NZ Associate UNESCO Chair of Interreligious and in Intercultural Relations Asias Pacific at Monash University . Douglas wrote the course and is Moderator for World Religions (CHC208) and wrote and tutors the course Church and Interfaith Engagement (TS209).

Graham is an ordained Presbyterian minister and has served in several parishes within New Zealand. He is currently Principal of the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership and is a past Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. His main area of academic interest is in the theology and practice of worship. He is the author of Prayer and the Priesthood of Christ in the Reformed Tradition (2003). For EIDTS Graham is Moderator for Worship and Liturgy (MM204) and Spirit, Church and the Christian Life (TS203). He is a representative of the Presbyterian Church on the Ecumenical Board.

 David C. Rice
(BA Lenoir Rhyne; MDiv Duke University)

 David is the Anglican Bishop of Waiapu.  He spent his first seven years of parish ministry in the U.S.A. before coming to New Zealand where he served as parish priest in the Mount Herbert parish.  In 2002 David was appointed as Dean of the Cathedral of St Paul in Dunedin.  He also served as a member of the Human Ethics Committee at the University of Otago.  David has interests in the relationship between sport and the church and in Native American spirituality.  For EIDTS David is the Moderator for Christian Ethics (TS204).

John is a mission historian and Presbyterian minister who has taught at the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership in Dunedin, Laidlaw College in West Auckland, and Seminary Theology Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. He has special interests in Reformed Christianities and in Southeast Asian church history. For EIDTS he is Tutor and course writer for Presbyterian (Reformed) Studies (CHC2052).

Kathleen has had wide experience in education and Christian education. She is a member of the Sisters of Mercy. Publications include The Parable of the Woman in Childbirth :A Metaphor for the Death and Glorification of Jesus (2011 Mellen Press). Kathleen has written and tutors in Johannine Literature (NT2032), and is Moderator for Reading Women in the Bible (HS206). She is also a member of the Academic Committee.

Anne is an ordained deacon in the Anglican Church and an Archdeacon in the Diocese of Christchurch. Her special interests are in the way diaconal ministry is exercised in parishes and in care of the elderly. She has responsibility for the oversight of the training and formation of deacons in the Diocese and is editor of their newsletter. Anne is the course writer and tutor for The Diaconate in the Church (CHC204).

Jacky Sewell
(M.A.(Youth Ministry and Theological Education) King’s College, London;  B.Mus. (Perf) Auckland;  L.Th, JBTS)

Jacky is an Anglican priest who has a background of 25 years in youth work. Following some years in parish ministry, Jacky spent 12 years as Youth Facilitator and Educator for the Diocese of Auckland.  Following this, she spent 4 years directing a Centre for Youth, Arts and Spirituality, and a year as school chaplain.  Since 2005 she has been on the faculty of St John’s Theological College, whilst pursuing PhD studies in youth, spirituality and visual art.   For EIDTS Jacky is Moderator for Ministry With Youth (MM 212)

Andrew Shepherd

(BA, Victoria University of Wellington; BD, Melbourne College of Divinity; PHD, University of Otago)

Andrew has spent twenty years involved in formal and informal theological education. He has worked for Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF), Bible College of New Zealand, PRAXIS, and a number of US universities and tertiary training providers. He currently works as a free-lance researcher, writer, and educator, with a particular interest in theological ethics, public/political and ecological theology. He is the Educational Coordinator of Christian conservation movement, A Rocha Aotearoa/New Zealand, and an Assistant Research Fellow at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues - University of Otago. He lives in the small settlement of Makarora at the head of Lake Wanaka with his family.

Susan is a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. She is a lecturer emerita in the School of Theology at the University of Auckland. Susan teaches some New Testament papers for Broken Bay Institute in Sydney, a Catholic tertiary institute affiliated to the University of Newcastle. Susan has co-edited (with Helen Bergin) Nourished by Eucharist: New Thoughts on an Ancient Theme, (2006), Land and Place, He Whenua, He Wahi: Spiritualities from Aotearoa New Zealand (2004), Spirituality in Aotearoa New Zealand: Catholic Voices He Kuku Whakawairua (2002). She is the author of Women in Mission: From the New Testament to Today (Orbis Books, Maryknoll New York 2007) and Call to Mission: The Story of the Mission Sisters of Aotearoa New Zealand and Samoa (Auckland, David Ling, 2010.) She is currently researching, writing, editing and coordinating a history of her congregation. For EIDTS Susan is Tutor for Women in Christian History (CHC203) and course writer and Tutor for the Gospel of Matthew (NT203) and Tutor for Christ and Creation (TS202).

Jim is a retired Methodist minister. Born in New York City, he received his BA in history from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennslvania. He served as an officer in the US Navy before pursuing theological studies in the United States, England, Germany and Switzerland. He has served in churches in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois and New Zealand. From 1979 to 1984 he was the John Wesley Lecturer in Systematic Theology in Auckland. He has taught at universities in Illinois, Oregon and served as Chaplain and lectured in Peace Studies and Sociology at the University of Canterbury. He is the author of three books and numerous articles on religion, theology and ethics.  For EIDTS Jim is Moderator for Methodist Studies (CHC2053)

Susan Thompson
(MA Hons, Canterbury; BTheol, Melbourne; PhD, Auckland)

Susan is a Methodist Presbyter and Superintendent of the Waikato/Waiariki Synod.. Her interests are in the area of Methodism in New Zealand and her PhD thesis was entitled "Knowledge and Vital Piety: Methodist Ministry Education in New Zealand from the 1840s to 1988" and was published in 2010. Susan is Moderator for Christianity in Aotearoa New Zealand (CHC102).

Brian is an Anglican priest who works as a communications consultant within the Anglican Church.  As a former journalist Brian has special interests in communication, both oral and written and is a member of the Anglican Commission on Communication. He also edits Anglican Taonga, the quarterly magazine of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Brian is Moderator for Homiletics (MM205).

Derek is lecturer in New Testament at the College of St. John the Evangelist, Auckland, and teaches in the School of Theology, University of Auckland. He is an ordained Anglican priest, who served in parish ministry in the Diocese of Christchurch from 1980-1990. Derek has been at St. John's College since 1995. He is the author of Narrative Art and Act in the Fourth Gospel (JSNTSup Series 151; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997); Jesus, Story of God: John's Story of Jesus (ATF Press, 2007); and "On Not Unbinding the Lazarus Story: The Nexus of History and Theology in John 11:1-44" in John, Jesus, and History: Vol. 2. Aspects of Historicity in the Fourth Gospel, edited by Paul N. Anderson, Felix Just and Tom Thatcher (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009), 219-223. For EIDTS Derek is Moderator for Johnannine Writings (NT2032).

Gillian is the Chaplain and RE teacher at St Hilda's Collegiate School in Dunedin. She also teaches NT Greek and The Bible in Religious Education at The University of Otago. Previously Gillian has worked as a primary school teacher, a Baptist minister, and has taught at Laidlaw College. For EIDTS Gillian is the Tutor for Introduction to New Testament (NT101) and 1&2 Corinthians (NT205), and the Moderator for Luke (NT202).