Students | Oxford Community Church

I'm a fresher!
Students are very important at Oxford Community Church. We are seeing a new generation of students supported, trained and sent out to see God’s kingdom come.
We’re all about community – a special type of community. We like to think of it in the following way: A missional...authentic... innovative...prophetic...community.

Missional
Jesus left the early disciples with the word, “Go!” ringing in their ears and then empowered them to do so effectively by sending the Holy Spirit. We don't want to retreat from uni into church meetings, but to take our wonderful, prayerful, transforming, truth-speaking Christian community and plant it right in the middle of uni life! So at the heart of what we do are a bunch of missional communities, each with a vision to reach a specific group within the student world.

Authentic
Sharing life is fundamental to true community. We are cultivating a caring, supportive, accepting, trustworthy, honest community, where you don’t have to hide who you really are.

Innovative
The gospel hasn’t changed but the ways that we communicate it and connect with people needs to adapt to the situation God has placed us in. We have a culture of training up innovative leaders who will creatively engage with this challenge, combining our own God-given passions and talents with the people he gives us a heart for.

Prophetic
God is a speaking God. His will isn’t supposed to be something we can never figure out. Rather, with our eyes on the Scriptures and our ears tuned to the Holy Spirit, we encounter His guidance, discipline and encouragement and we find Him thrusting us out in faith exploits that we may never have considered or thought possible.

You may have some questions…

How far is it?
On Sunday mornings we meet on the Osney Mead Industrial Estate here at 10:30am, it’s about 1 mile from the city centre – that’s a 15 minute walk or a 5 minute cycle. From Brookes, a bus to the station and then walking from there is the easiest way.

What's the time commitment?
We don’t prescribe meeting times for fusion groups, but most of them meet one evening a week. Our Sunday morning meeting goes from 10:30am to 12:30pm and there is often some sort of lunch gathering following the meeting. We don’t want to fill our lives with meetings so we are committed to only meeting together when there is a purpose for doing so. We hope that those who consider themselves to be “part of” the church get involved in serving in some way (kids work, stewarding, PA team, etc.) but there is no pressure to do so!

What is going on that I could get involved with?
The main thing to get involved with is a fusion group [link to student MCs]. We also run discipleship courses and leadership training courses from time to time.

How does church fit in with uni/everyday life?
Balancing our many commitments can be a big challenge but it is better to think of our lives as one thing rather than having a “church life”, “college life”, “home life” etc. each with a separate set of relationships and commitments. One key to authenticity in community is breaking down those artificial barriers we can set up between “God stuff” and “other stuff” and mixing it all up so that God’s in everything we do. How about arranging for your missional community to meet all your college friends in an informal setting? How about inviting a friend from church to join you for lunch in college? How about introducing a college friend who is struggling with something to a friend from church who you know has been through the same issue?

Will I grow in my walk with Jesus?
Following Jesus is all about becoming more like him and getting to know him better. Being a prophetic community constantly pushes us into deeper relationship with Jesus and having people around us who are at different stages in their walk with him is a fantastic source of strength and encouragement. We have found that having an older, wiser and more experienced person come alongside us to help us as a “personal pastor” is really fruitful, so we provide this for those who want it.

Is there a place for me?
We offer unconditional love and a place for all because Jesus has broken down every wall that would separate us. Sometimes we feel we have to wear masks to show people what they want to see but in Christ, we are able to let the real us show without experiencing shame or being shunned. Jesus was inclusive and we reflect this as we seek to be an authentic community. We also believe that God has part for everyone to play in his church. His body won’t be complete unless we all make our contribution and we help students discover what theirs is and how they can make it.

Will I be given some responsibility?
We are not made up of “leaders” plus “the rest of us”. We are a body and each person has a part to play so we are committed to training and releasing leaders to do what God is giving them to do. Missional Communities are not led by paid church staff, but by people who have responded to God’s call to take responsibility for reaching out in a certain way or to a certain group or people. Again there’s no pressure to and you’ll be helped along the way but if you are up for it, we want to help you lead in the way God may be calling you to.

Am I ready to do what's expected of me?
Nobody is perfect and everybody is on a journey in their growth as a Christian, as well as in things like confidence and life skills. The first disciples were far from well trained and ready when Jesus sent them out but he gave them ongoing support and help in the form of each other and the Holy Spirit. We don’t push people out on a limb and see what happens, we support and train and encourage people to seek the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we shouldn’t focus so much on what we can’t do but on what we could do.