Rachael Barham is currently the Spiritual Formation Coordinator at SSU. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and German (1996) and a Master of Arts in European Languages and Cultures (2007), both from the University of Exeter, England. Her studies in the theology program at SSU led to a Bachelor of Ministry (2003) and Master of Ministry in Spiritual Formation (2010). She has been teaching at SSU since 2008, when she and her husband Jeremy moved to St. Stephen from the UK with their daughter Amélie. In SSU’s BA program, she offered courses in Language, Culture, and Identity, French, Teaching English as a Second Language, Responses to Religious Difference, and Spiritual Practices, as well as co-teaching with Walter Thiessen the weekly School of Contemplation for students, staff, and faculty. She also worked for many years in the Europe Study Abroad program, in logistics coordinator, faculty, and program leader roles.

Rachael is a spiritual director trained in the Ignatian tradition (AASEA, 2017) and completed additional training in accompaniment of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in 2023. She offers one-on-one spiritual companionship in person and online, facilitates contemplative retreats for groups, and is an active member of the AASEA, an association of Ignatian spiritual directors, as well as part of the Leadership Collective of St. Croix Church. Her personal spiritual journey and work in spiritual direction have drawn her to explore the transformative potential of contemplation, interfaith / interspiritual contemplative practices, and the role of the body in spirituality.