David Beresford started life in Auckland, New Zealand, and his childhood homes were in both New Zealand and Australia. He eventually settled in Wellington, where he worked in the theater as an actor, playwright, and director, while driving buses to make ends meet. David was also employed by the city council to teach drama to schoolchildren.
In his early twenties, David had the opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom on a six-month return ticket. He ended up making Britain his home for the next 34 years.
Settling in Brighton, East Sussex, David had many different jobs and dwelling places, but was grounded in his spiritual home, St. Michael and All Angels.
Married and two sons later, he discovered ministry in teaching Sunday School. Retreats at a nearby monastery and pilgrimages to Walsingham inspired his faith.
In his late forties, David discerned a call to ordained ministry and trained at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire.
His degree, a First in Theology and Pastoral Studies from the University of Leeds, was awarded in 2009. To be fully prepared for parish ministry, he earned a post-graduate diploma in Ministry and Mission and also trained as a spiritual director.
Ordained in the Church of England in 2009, David served several parishes in the Diocese of Chichester and as a prison chaplain.
In 2013 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he met another pilgrim from the United States. A call to a congregation in Bedfordshire, England was followed a year later by a proposal to that American pilgrim.
It took more than a year, but 2015 ended with a move to the US and a wedding sixteen days later, as David wed Ruth before a joyous congregation and all four of their children. Since then, he has served in several Episcopal congregations as an interim rector.
Combining his love for music, art, and literature with his faith and love for teaching, David created several courses for the congregations he served.
When churches were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, he wanted to keep faith and hope at the forefront in a challenging time. David began writing weekly meditations to email to the people of St. Barnabas—a ministry continued in each congregation served since.
His meditations were collected in David’s first book, Above & Below, published in 2021. His courses in faith and poetry were the inspiration for his thesis on faith and poetry, earning an MA (with distinction) in Theology from the University of Chichester in 2022.
Above & Below has the distinction of being a 2024 Montaigne Medal finalist.
A second book, Call to Love, was published in 2023, and a third book is underway.
David lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with his wife Ruth and their cat Mani.