Pusey House

Pusey House is an institution associated with the University of Oxford founded as a memorial to Edward Bouverie Pusey, a leading figure of the Oxford Movement - a movement of the mid-19th century which sought to bring the Church of England to a deeper understanding of its witness as part of the Universal Catholic Church. Pusey House was opened in 1884 as a memorial to Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), Regius Professor of Hebrew and Canon of Christ Church, who was for forty years a figurehead of the Oxford Movement and its de facto leader after Newman's conversion in 1845. According to its founding documents, the House exists to promote theological study and holiness of life, and to provide spiritual counsel and comfort to members of the University. Today, the community of Pusey House embraces not only members of the University, but all who avail themselves of the work and ministry of the House within the Church of England and beyond. In working to renew the Church of England’s Catholic life and witness, Pusey and his colleagues also sought to understand and respond to the most profound needs of society in their day. One of the basic principles of the Oxford Movement was that the life of the mind and the life of prayer belong together, and that holiness of life overflows in ministries of love and service. In different ways and in a different context, Pusey House today seeks to embody these founding principles. It is an institution which proclaims the Catholic Faith without apology at a time when so many of our theologians and bishops seem uncertain what they believe or what they should preach. Above all, it is the combination of daily Christian worship and prayer with scholarship and unremitting pastoral work which makes Pusey House unique and indispensable.