A Conversation With... Revd Dr Nick Baker

Fresh off the back of being licensed today (Friday 15 September) to be the College's Chaplain, we sit down with Revd Dr Nick Baker in this week's 'A Conversation With...'. In this feature, we learn more about our new Rev including his passion for history, his journey to becoming a priest, and what a day in the life is like for a College Chaplain.

What is your role and how long have you been at Shiplake College? 

I am the Chaplain of the College, otherwise known as the Rev, and I have been here since the start of this new academic year. 

What were you doing before you joined the College? 

I was working as a parish priest in Leicestershire. This involved officiating at baptisms, weddings and funerals, as well as leading services of Holy Communion. Some of my time was spent visiting residential care homes, leading collective worship in various schools, and seeing parishioners in hospital. There was also plenty of admin! 

However, I became a priest rather late in life. Before that, I spent 25 years or so working in historic libraries and archives. I was once the Librarian/Curator of Hereford Cathedral where I was responsible for its famous Chained Library and Mappa Mundi - the largest surviving medieval map in the world. As I’m passionate about history, it was like being a child in a sweet shop!

Why did you become a priest? 

Ever since I was a teenager, I always felt a nagging feeling that God was calling me to ordained ministry. I believed he was directing me to serve others, pastorally and sacramentally. This bubbled along in the background and when I joined the team at Hereford, one of the cathedral canons asked whether I had ever thought about becoming a priest. When I moved to Leicestershire for work in 2017, I eventually decided to find out whether God was calling me or not. Following lengthy conversations with others in the church, those especially trained to discern vocations, I was sent to something called a Bishops’ Advisory Panel (BAP). This makes the BBC’s Apprentice look easy. You go away for three days, undergo various interviews, deliver a short talk, and facilitate a discussion. Everything you do is watched and examined. After the BAP, I was recommended for training and so theological college beckoned. I was eventually ordained as a deacon in 2020, and as a priest in 2021. It was a long journey. 

What appealed to you most about working here? 

I well remember seeing the advertisement in the ‘Church Times’, and it stuck in my mind. Was this God trying to give me a nudge in a particular direction? I then discussed it with various friends, and they suggested I should apply. The rest is history. What appealed? I have always been drawn to communities in the past, and Shiplake sounded like a good community. Its ethos struck me in particular. I felt it was a place where I could help others and make a difference. 

What does a day in the life of Revd Baker entail? 

I’m still finding out! I always begin by saying morning prayer - sometimes at home or in the parish church before a service begins, where I pray for the Shiplake community and other concerns. I open the church, lead a chapel service, and then lock up. Emails are opened and then I might prepare something to say at a service. Morning break is always spent in a House, and then it is back to the office. Most days, I make sure that I am in my office, the ‘Rev’s Den’, between 12.00pm and 1.30pm in case anyone wishes to pop in for a chat. I may also walk around the site to see what is going on as you never know who you will meet and what things you will discuss. I also do an evening duty in College House. Being a chaplain means that every day is different.  

What are you most looking forward to doing/experiencing here? 

The answer is quite simple: to be a Christian presence within the school and to help those exploring faith and who are asking big questions; to walk with people during their journeys through life, and to provide a listening ear should anyone need it. 

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

That is a very good question. Once you are priest, you are always priest. It is a way of life, or being, rather than a job that you can just switch on or off. Saying all that, I do have things to do when I am not ‘officially’ occupied. I enjoy reading (anything really), going to the cinema (especially sci-fi films), and visiting friends and family. My favourite places to go on holiday are North Wales, Cornwall, and Yorkshire while Italy is one of my favourite countries on the planet. Being a history geek, I still do a bit of research into early medieval art, which was the subject I studied for my PhD; I still have some unfinished business with a ninth century stone cross in Yorkshire! I’ve been working on it for about thirty years so I might get round to writing about it in due course. Wish me luck! 

What does the future hold for Revd Baker? 

That is a very easy question to answer: it is in God’s hands!