Community Member George Westhaver

George Westhaver

Rhe Rev. Dr. George Westhaver is the Principal of Pusey House, Oxford, and a fellow of St. Cross College.

Before coming to Pusey House in 2013, George was the rector of St George’s Round Church, an inner-city parish in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to that he was chaplain of Lincoln College, Oxford, and an an assistant minister at St. Michael at the North Gate.

George grew up near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. He studied philosophy and anthropology at McGill University, Montreal, and International Development Studies at St Mary’s University in Halifax. He then attended Wycliffe College, one of the member colleges of the Toronto School of Theology, where he prepared for a Master of Divinity degree.

After ordination in 1997, George served in Cherry Hinton with Teversham and in the Ramseys and Upwood (Diocese of Ely), before moving to Oxford. In 2012 George completed a PhD at the University of Durham under the supervision of Professor Andrew Louth, on E. B. Pusey’s unpublished lectures, ‘Types and Prophecies of the Old Testament’. His research interests include E. B. Pusey and the Oxford Movement, the allegorical interpretation of the Bible, and the artistic expression of Christian doctrine.

George is married to Karen and they have two daughters, Clara and Charlotte.

Recent Publications

“Mysticism and Sacramentalism in the Oxford Movement,” in Peter Nockles and James Pereiro, forthcoming

“A Catholic View of the Eucharist: the Prayer Book and E B Pusey,” in Faith and Worship 77 (Trinity 2015), pp. 24-36

“Unity among Christians,” co-author, in Sobornost 36:1 (2014), pp. 7-34

“Austin Farrer on the form of divine truth and the limits of reason,” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church 14:3 (2014), pp. 309-29

Anti-sacramentalism and history’s verdict

The Vision Glorious, part three

Reading the Bible through Keble’s mosaics

The Vision Glorious, part two

The Vision Glorious

This essay examines some of the principles that animated the leaders of the Oxford Movement and considers their relevance for contemporary opportunities and concerns.

Oxford Movement exegesis and sacramental ontology

In the world that Augustine and Aquinas inhabited, created things and human institutions were interconnected with heavenly realities, knit together in Christ in whom “all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). We seem not to inhabit this world.

The Oxford Movement’s sacramental interpretation of Scripture

For the Oxford Movement, the interpretation of the Bible is inextricably bound up with the doctrine of the Incarnation and the sacraments, so that to neglect a sacramental or allegorical interpretation is in some way to fail to appreciate, or even to deny, these doctrines.

Spiritual renewal, Scripture, and the Oxford Movement: The vision of God

Spiritual exegesis is part and parcel of the Oxford Movement's efforts to help the English church recover her capacity to see and to enjoy the kind of vision of God, which is compellingly attractive, which is the beginning and end of Christian life.

George Westhaver

The Rev’d Dr. George Westhaver is the Principal of Pusey House, Oxford, and a fellow of St. Cross College. Before coming to Pusey House in 2013, George was the rector of St George’s Round Church, an inner-ci... Read More...