FR. NIGEL BOUSFIELD

Priest

Why doesn’t Father Nigel have a British accent?, someone was heard to say. Many people are surprised that with such a British name, surely he must talk like a Brit? Well, there is a reason he doesn’t. Nigel was born in England to British Army parents who met in Egypt following WWII.

Even though Father Nigel’s Dad was a Major in the Queen’s Royal Army Corps of Transport, he was also working closely with the American army. Due to various army “postings”, the Bousfield family moved twelve times before Nigel and his mother ultimately emigrated to the USA in 1970 following the death of Nigel’s Dad. Nigel describes his childhood years as him being either the American kid in Britain, or the British kid in America. The result was an ever-changing accent that adapted as kids do to their environment.

Following a seven year stay in Upstate New York where he attended High School in Ticonderoga, that led to the choice to pursue a degree in Business at the State College in Canton, New York, he moved to the Southwestern part of the country in 1977 where he began a career in sales and marketing at both the retail and wholesale levels. After changing careers to work in an area of strong interest, Nigel found himself working in marketing and engineering within the challenging field of international motorsports. His involvement included both amateur and professional racing sanctioned by the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) that extended to both the IndyCar and Formula One series.

It was during this exciting career that Nigel received the call to ordained ministry choosing to attend seminary at Nashotah House near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Due to time spent as a child in the Church of England as both an altar server and choirboy, many members of his family were not all that surprised by this change in focus. However, others have questioned openly, “How does one go from car racing to the priesthood?” For the answer to this, he is more than happy to discuss the details at length. Father Nigel is not one who finds himself short of things to say!

Ordained to the diaconate in late 2002, and the priesthood on the Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul in June of 2003, Father Nigel began his parochial ministry at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington New York as the curate. After almost three years in this assistant position, the Diocesan Bishop of Long Island requested that Nigel take over Christ Church in Babylon as Priest in Charge. It was during his third year in that position that a holiday in Wisconsin provided a chance meeting that he calls, “an encounter with the Holy Spirit” as it led to Father Nigel becoming Rector of St. Mark’s in Waupaca, Wisconsin, where he served for over twelve years until his retirement at the beginning of 2021.

Father Nigel comes to St. Peter’s bringing with him the type of experience and enthusiasm that the church needs at this time of renaissance for the Episcopal Church in West Allis.