Rev. Dr. Craig Kocher

The Rev. Dr. Craig Kocher is Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University Chaplain, Jessie Ball duPont Chair of the Chaplaincy, and affiliated faculty in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies.

Dean Kocher is the chief religious officer for the University of Richmond and is responsible for the staff and programming of the Office of the Chaplaincy. He works at the intersection of religious and spiritual practice, student development, academic inquiry, and community engagement. Dr. Kocher serves on the Student Development Leadership Team and teaches courses in UR’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies, in the Sophomore Scholars in Residence Program, and is an academic advisor.

He previously served on the President’s Cabinet, as a Center for Civic Engagement Faculty Fellow, as a member of the Institutional Coordinating Council on DEIB, and the President’s Commission on University History.

Prior to arriving at UR in August 2009, Dean Kocher worked at Duke University, as assistant dean, then acting dean, and subsequently associate dean of the Chapel and director of religious life. Before his time at Duke Chapel, he was associate pastor at Davidson United Methodist Church and a campus minister at Davidson College. In 2016-2017 he was senior pastor of Oak Ridge United Methodist Church, a 1700-member congregation in Oak Ridge, North Carolina.

Chaplain Kocher loves to travel and has led students on short-term study abroad programs and pilgrimages to various parts of Canada, the Dominican Republic, England, France, Honduras, the Holy Land, New Mexico, Poland, Scotland, Spain, South Korea, Turkey, and Wyoming.

He received the Distinguished Faculty/Staff Person of the Year award from the UR Athletics Department, the Administrator of the Year award from the Richmond College Student Government Association, and the Servant Leader award from the Jepson School of Leadership Studies Student Government Association. He was also inducted as an honorary member of Richmond’s chapter of the Golden Key Honour Society and Omicron Delta Kappa.

He also received the Jameson Jones Preaching award given by Duke Divinity School, the John Wesley Preaching award from the Finch-Hunt Institute of Homiletics, and the ODK Community award for service to Davidson College.

In addition to preaching regularly in Cannon Memorial Chapel on the UR campus, he has been a guest preacher in many congregations in the Richmond region and throughout the United States. He is co-editor of two books, “Frontiers in Spiritual Leadership: Discovering the Better Angels of Our Nature,” edited and authored with University of Richmond colleagues, and “Mentoring for Ministry: The Grace of Growing Pastors,” edited and authored with clergy colleagues.

Dr. Kocher’s sermons and essays have been published in The Christian Century, the Feasting on the Word and Feasting on the Gospels commentaries, the Wesley Study Bible, Pulpit Resource, Lectionary Homiletics, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Duke Divinity School’s Faith and Leadership.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in American History from UNC-Chapel Hill, a Master of Divinity magna cum laude from Duke Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church.

Before attending divinity school, Kocher served as the play-by-play radio voice of the UNC women’s basketball and baseball teams, and as sports director of WCHL AM 1360 in his home town of Chapel Hill, NC. This first career has now become a hobby, as he is part of the Spider Sports Network broadcast team, calling Richmond women’s basketball and baseball games for ESPN+.

Craig is an avid reader and loves to participate in many sports especially squash, softball, and fly-fishing. He is married to the Rev. Abby Kocher, who is also a United Methodist minister. The couple has two daughters, Caroline and Catherine.