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Start your learning journey at Sarum College

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Home Learning

Learning to Nourish the Human Spirit

Sarum College is a learning community open to all.

Sarum College offers diverse courses, consultancy, conferences and research opportunities to suit different styles of living and learning.

Course and programme structures vary widely, from evening lectures to day and residential courses – at varying levels, from academic to experiential, intensive to leisurely.

Life experience feeds into our tailored approach to learning and theological exploration within a community of people who want to develop as thinkers and leaders.

Our mission is fulfilled when students and guests come away from their time here spiritually and intellectually nourished, refreshed in wisdom and courage.

 

In a time when formal religion seems to struggle to connect with people — Sarum, in its message and its methods, offers a special place and a series of imaginative communities for nourishing the soul, growing wholeness, and giving confidence for a richer future.

— The Rt Revd Alastair Redfern, Chair of Trustees

Ministry Pathways for Ordination & Reader/LLM

View the Spring/Summer 2025 Course Brochure

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Theology, Imagination & Culture

Pursue theological enquiry and its relationship to culture and creativity. Wide range of courses to support a thoughtful engagement with society, the arts, mission, and contemporary challenges.

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Christian Spirituality

Explore society’s search for spirituality and its role in church life and public values. Wide range of interdisciplinary programmes to study for interest and vocational development.

Sarum College Spiritual Direction
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Spiritual Direction

The two-year Sarum Course in Spiritual Direction prepares those called to this ministry to competently and confidently accompany others. Blends personal and spiritual formation with skill development.

Human Flourishing

Human Flourishing

The centre for human flourishing aims to inspire fresh thinking on how we live together. We interrogate the common good via themes such as wholeness, healing, suffering, playing, work, eating, loving and blessing.

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Leadership & professional development

Leadership courses, development, research and consulting services for area, regional and national church bodies, organisations and for individuals. Practical effectiveness with theological and theoretical rigour.

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Bible & Sacred Texts

Read, explore, discuss and interpret biblical and sacred texts from diverse perspectives for historical information, moral guidance, spiritual wisdom, to encounter each other and God, and for the sheer pleasure of it.

Private Stays, Retreats, Study Breaks

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Student Blogs

View all news

Ministry student blog, Student Blog

Disability Justice and Church Inclusion – Relational God, Relational Church

The Revd Holly Newton shares insights from a recent ministry day on disability justice and church inclusion.

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Ministry student blog, Comment

Robyn Golden-Hann: Vulnerability is My Calling

The Revd Robyn Golden-Hann, a former Sarum Ministry student, on vulnerability as a calling.

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Ministry student blog, Comment

The best prayer God didn’t answer

Sarum graduate David Reed and journalist Sonia Sodha grapple with moral issues around prenatal screening.

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Study at Sarum

View all courses
  • Postgraduate Study
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Forthcoming courses

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Taster Session: Postgraduate Study in Christian Spirituality

18 June 2025

The MA in Christian Spirituality at Sarum College is the very best programme of its ...

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Sarum Study Day June 2025

23 June 2025

An opportunity to spend a refreshing day at Sarum College. You could take time out ...

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Reclaiming Evangelism

23 June 2025

Evangelism from Below: Helping People Speak of God in Authentic Ways One of the largest ...

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Exploring Theology Spring 2025 Sold Out

24 June 2025

Living Out Christian Faith This term addresses some of the very real questions and dilemmas ...

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Mark Oakley

Faith is an imaginative adventure

The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley

I admire the work and tone of Sarum College very deeply. It is a community that takes theology and spirituality seriously, not as hobbies but as pursuits into understanding, and engaging in, a complex world.

Sarum College reminds us that faith is an imaginative adventure and that it is shaped by a questioning joy.

Vibrant approach to theology

Fr Azariah France-Williams

I’ve been particularly struck by the refreshing approach to theological education here. In a world, and indeed within parts of the church, where faith can sometimes feel stagnant or out of touch, Sarum offers a vibrant and relevant alternative. The courses encourage a bold exploration of profound ideas, connecting with truths that lie beneath the surface and fostering genuine personal growth, which feels particularly significant as I approach my 50th year. This counter-cultural spirit, which embraces depth and challenges ageism and fear, is truly remarkable. Sarum is a place where individuals can be transformed by engaging with a living and breathing faith.

 

 

Stimulating and Challenging

What is Successful Ageing? led by James Woodward

I enjoyed the course immensely from beginning to end – the seamless interweaving of knowledge, ideas and research and the linking with belief and faith.

The content was stimulating, challenging, thought provoking and I was greatly appreciative of the contributions and questions from other participants, your considered and sensitive responses and integration with your presentations.

Thank you!

 

 

Netflix, Theology and Pastoral Practice

Peter Butchers on his MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture student experience

How do cultural tropes, like those found in Black Mirror, help bridge the gap between what academic theology espouses and what the everyday Christian believes? In his research as a student on the MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture, Peter Butchers explored platonic philosophy, digital theology and eschatology, and pastoral practice around death and dying.

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Rewarding Sabbatical Stay

The Revd Greg Syler, is Rector of Ascension & St. George’s, Resurrection Parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC USA, spent part of his ministry sabbatical at Sarum College in spring 2022.

His account of the experience begins: ‘I loved spending nearly three weeks of my ministry sabbatical at Sarum College earlier this year.

Not only did I rest, and rest well in the comfortable care of the Sarum College staff, I experienced very significant renewal and fresh insights.’

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The Road Not Taken

Sarum Graduate Mike Truman

January 2022

Five years ago, I told my Warden of Readers that I would not be renewing my licence when it expired in 2019, as I thought my faith was becoming too unorthodox for a Church of England licensed lay minister. As someone who knew me well, she challenged me to actively explore what I did still believe. Thus started the journey that ended last August with the dissertation completing my MA in Theology Imagination and Culture (MATIC) at Sarum College.

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