Paul Thompson BMus PGDipTheol MPhil
Background
Paul is a Research Fellow at the St Mary’s Centre. He is married with three adult sons. He worked as a clergyman in the Church in Wales diocese of Llandaff from his ordination in 1980 until taking up the position of Chaplain at the University College of St Mark and St John, Plymouth (UCP Marjon) in 2009. While holding parish appointments in Wales, he was also Deanery Youth Chaplain in Rhondda deanery for seven years and Llandaff Diocesan Youth Chaplain for ten years. He studied for his initial degree in Music (BMus) at Cardiff University and went on to Theological College at The College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, reading for a Postgraduate Diploma in Theology (PGDipTheol) at Leeds University.
Research
As a result of his work as Youth Chaplain, Paul became interested in the spirituality of young people, particularly in the light of the rise in popularity of ‘New Age’ and esoteric spiritualities. He began a research project on ‘The religious beliefs of young people’ which was partly completed in an MPhil dissertation in 2004 at the University of Wales, Bangor. Paul’s research now continues at Doctoral level at Glyndwr University with Professor Leslie J Francis.
