Graham Joseph Hill

Graham Joseph Hill (born 8 July 1969 ) is an Australian theologian who is a former associate professor of the University of Divinity. Since 2024, he works as a mission catalyst for the Uniting Church in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Hill is a research associate with the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, US, and an associate professor and research fellow at Charles Sturt University. Hill is the author or editor of eighteen theological books. He has published in the areas of missiology, applied theology, Christian spirituality and global and ecumenical approaches to missional ecclesiology.

Education In addition to undergraduate studies, Hill completed a Master of Theology degree at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) at Flinders University. After church planting and pastoring in Sydney and Perth, Hill moved into theological education in 2004. Hill was a lecturer, vice-principal and provost of Morling College in Sydney from 2007 to 2019, a theological college affiliated with the Australian College of Theology and the University of Divinity. He presented at a 2013 Baptist World Alliance global gathering, and both the General Secretary and President of the Baptist World Alliance reviewed his books. Hill served as interim principal of Stirling Theological College (a member college of the University of Divinity) from February to November 2020 and principal from December 2020 to March 2022. Hill was promoted to associate professor of the University of Divinity in 2020.

Hill served as a visiting scholar at the Korean Baptist Theological University and Seminary in South Korea in 2019. He delivered public lectures and seminars at that Baptist university, as well as at Torch Trinity Graduate University in Seoul, South Korea. He serves as an adjunct faculty member of Abilene Christian University in Texas, in their Doctor of Ministry program. Since 2024, he is the Mission Catalyst for Church Planting and Missional Renewal with the Uniting Churches in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, and an associate professor and research fellow at Charles Sturt University.

Hill is the founding director of the Global Church Project. He is chief editor of the Australian Journal of Mission Studies. Hill is a research associate at the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts).

In the 2024 King's Birthday Honours list, Hill was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for "service to theological education, and to the Baptist Churches of Australia".

Personal life Hill married Felicity Herbert in 1996 and they have three daughters. They divorced in 2022.

Hill married Christianne Shyn Ellamar in 2023.

Research Hill's first book explored ecumenical and missional approaches to Christian ecclesiology. This work was a revision of his PhD thesis, "An Examination of Emerging-Missional Ecclesiological Conceptions: Missional Ecclesiology and the Ecclesiologies of Miroslav Volf, Joseph Ratzinger and John Zizioulas", and was published in 2012 by Cascade Books. Scot McKnight awarded the book the Jesus Creed Book of the Year in the category Church in 2012, writing "This is the most important book I have ever read on the church."

Hill's book Global Church: Reshaping Our Conversations, Renewing Our Mission, Revitalizing Our Churches was published by IVP Academic in 2016. Global Church and his research into global Christianity have been reviewed in Patheos, Christian Courier, Moody Bible Institute, and academic journals. Global Church was awarded an honorable mention in the 2015 IVP Academic Readers Choice Awards.

Hill's book Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World, co-authored with Grace Ji-Sun Kim, was named as a Resource of the Year - Culture by Outreach Magazine in 2019. The book was examined on ABC Radio National's Soul Search program, with reference to its research into Asian Christianity, and the interview was broadcast on the ABC on 18 August 2019.

Hill's book Holding up Half the Sky: A Biblical Case For Women Leading and Teaching in the Church has been profiled by Scot McKnight.

Selected publications

Hill, Graham Joseph (2013). Servantship: Sixteen Servants on the Four Movements of Radical Servantship. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books. ISBN 978-1620328248. Hill, Graham Joseph (2015). Signs of Hope in the City: Renewing Urban Mission, Embracing Radical Hope. Melbourne: ISUM. ISBN 978-0992394110.

Podcast Hill presents a devotional podcast called Daily Devotions with Jesus.