Ralph taught at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Holy Trinity Theological College (now Holy Trinity University), from 2008-2014. He is now based in Cambridge, England, where he has taught and supervised research at a number of prominent research institutions including SOAS, the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in the Cambridge Theological Federation, as well as at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). Ralph has developed teaching on many aspects of contemporary Africa, with a focus on the interaction between Christian traditions and those traditions with Islam.
He specialises in Orthodox Christianity, and in particular on the TäwaHedo churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea, with his research focusing on the contemporary and historical literature, theology, traditions and religious practices of the TäwaHedo churches. He has further explored their interactions with the Coptic and Indian churches. He has a particular interest in the relationship between TäwaHedo Christian thought and the broader Christian world, and also in indigenous Ethiopian thought as expressed in biblical commentary, hymns, and other works, including reform movements within Eastern churches.
He is also the director of the OCMS Research Institute for Mission and Innovation, where he is Principal Investigator (PI) for the research cluster on Orthodox Christianity. He is also PI of the Voicing the Mystery project on the TäwaHedo liturgical poetry known as Qene, which is run in partnership with Sankt Ignatios College (Stockholm School of Eastern Christian Studies).