The Journey So Far

Andrew is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington. He serves as a Senior Lecturer in Theology and Public Issues at The University of Otago, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka.

Grounded Presence

Andrew’s work as a Christian theologian/ethicist emerges out of relationships, experiences, and roles in a range of diverse contexts.

Andrew has three decades of facilitating learning experiences in classrooms, on marae, in the outdoors, shoulder to shoulder and face to face with students from international contexts (e.g. Colombia, North America), and from within Aotearoa New Zealand (Pākehā, Māori). Teaching and learning is, in Andrew’s understanding, an experience of mutual reciprocity, of hospitality.

Andrew has a long involvement and deep connection to particular places and projects. Based for many years in the Makarora Valley, on the doorstep Mt Aspiring National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Area, Te Wāhipounamu), Andrew’s teaching and writing, particularly on environmental issues, is grounded upon historical and ongoing hands-on conservation practice and years of facilitating place-based environmental education.

The prioritising of experiential communal learning and then a response, through embodied action, has been integral to Andrew’s life and has expressed itself within his leadership. One notable example of this is Andrew’s role as a co-founder and then National Co-Director of the Christian conservation organisation, A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand. A Rocha’s 5 core commitments - Christian, Conservation, Community, Cultural Diversity and Collaboration - captures well Andrew’s underlying ethos.

The Public Square

As a public theologian, Andrew regularly contributes to ethical reflection upon contemporary issues: climate change, social polarisation, emerging digital technologies. From interviews on Radio New Zealand’s The Panel, to regular columns in local media outlets, he seeks to show how the richness of the Christian theological tradition might help address some of the most pressing challenges of the contemporary world. This commitment to public discourse is perhaps most evident in the Ngā Here podcast, an innovative collaboration exploring the many connections between faith, ecology, and the ongoing impact of colonisation.

Research & Academic Leadership

Andrew is a research-active scholar with a significant body of peer-reviewed work, including his monograph on the theology of hospitality, The Gift of the Other. Within the Theology Programme he is deeply committed to the full development of student talent, providing high-energy and high-quality teaching, and supervising postgraduate students as they explore their own unique contributions to theological ethics.