about Jen
Hi, I’m Jennifer but you can call me Jen.
I’m glad you’re here.
I’m a spiritual director and writer who loves to hold space for people to tell their stories as they notice and follow their experience of the Divine (that mysterious More that abides).
My own experience of God continues to deepen and surprise me but I feel most at home in the contemplative and mystical streams of Christianity. Here mystery is embraced and encounter with Divine Love is made central. I especially appreciate the life and work of St Augustine, St Francis, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and Richard Rohr but delight in discovering new guides and teachers.
I grew up in Chester and then studied theology at Cambridge University for almost a decade before moving on to teach Religious Studies at a secondary school in Bedford.
In 2016 my family and I moved to Chicago and, while living here, I finally discerned that my lifelong calling to ministry-but-not-the-priesthood was a calling to the work of spiritual direction and enrolled in a 2.5 year programme at the John Weborg Center of Spiritual Direction at North Park University.
In 2020 my family moved back to the UK and we now live in Bedford, an underrated British town with a very lovely river, 40 minutes north of London.
I am married to Tom, and together we have two loving and lively children - Henry (10) and Phoebe (8).
We also have a stripy tailed cat named Maia and a mischevious dog named Teddy, whom I hoped would be a therapy dog but has other ideas about what counts as a good time.
I seek to live a slow, intentional life and spend my time trying to be present to the (mostly happy) chaos that is ordinary family life. When I have a quiet-ish house, I read, write, offer spiritual direction, host retreats and facilitate group learning and listening.