Sarum College is an ecumenical study and research centre with an international reputation for excellence in theological education and spiritual reflection.
Sarum College offers a distinguished location for meetings, conferences, events and functions with full catering services.
Sarum College Bookshop is Salisbury's most established independent Christian and theological bookshop.
The Sarum College Library has an outstanding academic theological collection of more than 40,000 books covering all denominations.
Meet the Academic Staff
James WoodwardPrincipal and Coordinator for the Centre for Human Flourishing Read more
Karen O’DonnellCoordinator, Centre for Contemporary Spirituality Read more
Jayme ReavesCoordinator, Centre for Encountering the Bible and Short Courses Read more
All academic staff
February 2020
Perham-Shaped Worship
This symposium is an invitation to consider the remarkably rich and diverse influence of the late Bishop Michael Perham upon worship in the Church of England. In this public forum, speakers with first-hand experience of Michael’s ministry will address issues such as nurturing worship in the parish, liturgical leadership, the formation of praying people, and liturgical revision. Session Titles & Contributors Click on a session title for the full description Praying and Practising the Liturgy: Inhabiting the Eucharist with Tom Clammer… Read more
April 2020
Music in Worship Day: The Legacy of African American Spirituals for Congregational Song
This course will explore theology and spirituality of African American Spirituals against their cultural and political backgrounds and assess their legacy for church music today. The Spirituals emerged from a cauldron of conflict, deep pain and suffering. They were, for enslaved African Americans, a source of affirmation, protest and liberation. So too, congregational song has, from its beginnings, been mired in controversy and conflict. Church authorities have regarded it with suspicion because singing affirms and emboldens the people in the… Read more
May 2020
Leading in a Second Chair
Leaders are often assumed to be at the top of organisations. Relatively little attention has been paid to those occupying a second chair. The role may be clear, eg deputy head of a school or vice-chair of a board of trustees. But the application in a church context – youth pastor, curate, deacon, Licensed Lay Minister – can raise questions of ecclesiology and approaches to ministry. Second chair leaders are both leaders and followers. What personal and organisational consequences does… Read more
July 2020
Music in Worship Day: Sing it Again: Taizé and Short Songs in Worship
An opportunity to explore, through teaching and practise, how short songs can enrich all kinds of worship. ‘The high point of this prayer [at Taizé] is the singing which never ends and which continues afterwards in the silence of the hearts when we are alone again.’ Brother Roger of Taizé The use of repeated short songs is a feature of worship in various traditions; what is its value? In answering this question the course will focus upon the music of… Read more
August 2020
Greek in a Week: Learning to Read the New Testament in Greek
The New Testament is both a very familiar, and at the same time, a very strange text. Distant from today’s English, both linguistically and culturally, the poetry and prose of the original texts speak of long vanished Empires, the abuse of power and the plight of the poor and disadvantaged. To encounter the text in its original language is to step into a world of priests and kings, wandering rabbis and provincial governors. An earlier time when the rich and… Read more
October 2020
Sing Gregorian Chant
This day offers the chance to experience and sing Gregorian chant in a friendly context. An entertaining, informative and enjoyable experience structured around the monastic hour services. The theology of Gregorian chant is explored through singing it, for those with theological, historical or musical interests. Singing experience is welcome, but not necessary for the course. There will be a chance to sing a short service in the Trinity Chapel at Salisbury Cathedral. Using at first simple recitation in English, it… Read more
November 2020
Teach Us How to Pray: Poetry and Prayer
This day will explore the role of poets as instructors in the art of prayer, not just as a set of words, but as an effective experience, a form of meditation and a wordless, bodily practice. The day will involve close reading, reflection and discussion on poems that engage with traditions of public and liturgical prayer, of private and extemporary prayer, and of secular forms of prayer. By the end of the day, you will have encountered new literature and… Read more
Sarum College 2019-20 Courses and Events Brochure
