Hi, my name is Shakeel Nurmahi, I’m 24 years old, and I am delighted to be joining the Oakham team as Assistant Curate in June 2021. I grew up in Southampton in a Christian home and attended a South-Asian Church with my family, which later evolved to be an international free church. At 18 years old I moved to Bristol to read Theology at Trinity College Bristol. After three years in Bristol, I moved to Kettering, where I was serving as an intern as a part of Peterborough Diocese’s Echo Ministry Experience Scheme. During the two years I was in Kettering, I was exploring a sense of calling to ordained ministry with Peterborough Diocese DDO, Steve Benoy. In April 2019 I was recommended for training and moved to Durham in the Autumn to begin training at Cranmer Hall. After two years of training, I will be moving back to Peterborough Diocese to serve my title post as a part of the Oakham team. I will be moving to Rutland with Cecily, my fiancée, after our wedding next June. We met in Durham at Cranmer Hall, where we have both been training for ordination. We will be getting married in the summer just before we move to Rutland. Cecily will be weekly boarding in Durham as she completes her final year of training and will be back in Rutland on the weekends and the holidays, so you will still see her around.
I am very excited about joining the Oakham team, and I am very much looking forward to meeting you all. I hope that I can bring my passion for Jesus to the ministry across the churches. In my spare time, I enjoy snooker, tennis, reading and audio production. Thank you for all you have been doing in preparation for our arrival. Please continue to pray for us in the run-up to next summer. We can’t wait. See you in June 2021! – Shakeel Nurmahi