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# Face of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/face-of-the-day-1423/
- Published: 2026-03-04T17:30:35.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-04T17:30:34.000Z
- Description: “Over time, I got this idea that I really was a priest, even though I’m a university lecturer and an atheist,” she explained.
- Author: Good Oil Staff
- Tags: Face of the Day

> An atheist academic who lived as a “secular priest” for a year says non-believers in New Zealand can learn a thing or two from those who have a faith.  
>  
> Niki Harre, who heads up the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology, launched herself into Christianity during a sabbatical to explore what’s lost when religion fades away – and has since produced a book recounting her experience, titled *The Calling*.  
>  
> Her experiment consisted of immersing herself in the life of a Christian – including reading the *Bible* and attending church – all while trying to live the life of a priest by embracing three “vows” of simplicity, hospitality and prayer, and running her own services and rituals.  
>  
> In an interview with Newstalk ZB’s *Real Life with John Cowan* on Sunday night, Harre said she had always been interested in questions about how we live well together, and about a decade earlier had started to apply a religious philosophy lens to those questions.  
>  
> “Over time, I got this idea that I really was a priest, even though I’m a university lecturer and an atheist,” she explained.  
>  
> NZ Herald

[Read More](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/real-life-secular-priest-niki-harre-wants-nz-to-adopt-religions-best-bits/JN5VFM3ESBDZLG2JTNPTT3FD54/?ref=goodoil.news)