The Revd Canon Dr Nigel Rooms

Bio:

The Revd Canon Dr Nigel Rooms joined the Sarum Spiritual Direction team in January 2025. He trained in the ministry of spiritual accompaniment on the Diocese of Sheffield’s  Art of Spiritual Accompaniment course in 2013.

He has since overseen the spirituality provision in an Anglican diocese and developed a spiritual direction course. Out of this experience, he co-authored a book with Adrian Chatfield entitled, Soul Friendship:  A Practical Theology of Spiritual Direction which offers a contemporary theology of spiritual direction connected to the mission of God.

During the last 10 years Nigel has been seeking silence in apophatic prayer in the Carmelite tradition and roots this practice as a Priest Associate of the Sisters of the Love of God at the Convent of the Incarnation, Fairacres, Oxford.

In addition to being a spiritual director, Nigel has a portfolio of freelance pastoral, practical and academic roles, locally, nationally and internationally. He has a PhD from Birmingham University in missiology and is interested in mission in and from the local church. He is an Associate Priest at St. Margaret’s, Leicester and helps facilitate the diocese’s “Minster Communities process to establish a sustainable and mission-focused foundation for the worshipping communities across the Diocese.

Alongside these roles, Nigel volunteers with the Church Mission Society, co-edits the journal Ecclesial Futures and is an assistant editor at Mission Studies, as well being the Treasurer of the International Association of Mission Studies. He has a long-term interest in adult theological learning and teaching, has created many learning materials and courses, including in the Anglican Church in Tanzania where he worked for seven years developing Theological Education by Extension.