Our team

Prior to coming to the LJC, David Birchall has been the director of Loyola Hall, an Ignatian Spirituality Centre on Merseyside, St Beuno's Spirituality Centre in North Wales and The Ignatian Spirituality Centre in Glasgow. In between times he worked in Dublin at the Jesuit Communications Centre and as Parish Priest in St Wilfrid's Preston. He brings many year's experience to the task of running the London Jesuit Centre.

Stuart is the Theology Lead at LJC. He graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.

John Moffatt SJ works at the London Jesuit Centre. His first degree was in Classics. He taught in London secondary schools intermittently between 1985 and 2016 and has worked briefly in University Chaplaincy. He has been involved with teenage and adult faith education in Britain and South Africa and has recently completed a doctorate in medieval Islamic philosophy.

Brian is a tutor in the theology stream. Originally from Birmingham, Brian studied philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University, Rome and later gained a Masters Degree in Franciscan Studies from St. Bonaventure’s University, New York. He has given retreats and courses throughout the UK and Ireland, North America, the Far East and Australia. He taught at the International Franciscan Study, Canterbury and at Campion House, Osterley before joining the Mount Street Jesuit Team when it began in 2004. Brian also taught at Heythrop College on the Foundation Degree in Pastoral Ministry. His particular interest is in opening up the Scriptures to people, young and old, at a level that they can understand and seek to apply to their daily lives. Brian is married to Deborah who works for CAFOD. They live in Buckinghamshire.

The Revd Dr John Russell is Acting Lead for Spirituality at the London Jesuit Centre. Previously, he worked as a Human Rights Lawyer and university lecturer. At age 40, he went into AA for 6 months, lived with monks in Yorkshire for 3 years and became a priest in the Anglican church. After a curacy in Chelsea, he served as Associate Rector at St James’s Piccadilly. John is an accredited teacher of trauma-aware yoga, with specialist qualifications in breath-work and addiction recovery. His favourite modes of transport are bicycle and kayak. He has 36 tattoos and thinks he may still have room for a few more.

Clare Bick joined the Spirituality team at the London Jesuit centre in April 2021, having worked in spiritual direction and retreat-giving. Clare is married with 3 adult children and has been involved for many years with an ecumenical lay community in West London in pastoral work with young professionals and people of all ages, as well as with related groups in Europe and the Middle-East.

Dr Nicolete Burbach is the Social and Environmental Justice Lead at the London Jesuit Centre. Her PhD thesis looked at Pope Francis’ hermeneutics of uncertainty, and her research focuses on resourcing Pope Francis to think through issues of alienation and disagreement, with a particular focus on navigating the difficulties around trans inclusion in the Church. Previously, she has taught modules on postmodern theology and Catholic Social Teaching, both at Durham University.

Aidan is a tutor in Social and Environmental Justice stream. He completed his PhD at the Divinity Faculty of the University of Cambridge in 2018. During his doctoral studies he ran as a Parliamentary candidate for the Green Party. He is the author of two academic books: Jewish Christians in Puritan England (2020) and Israelism in Modern Britain (2021). Between 2020 and 2022 he worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at St Mary's University in London.