Loads of us have just returned from Wildfires Festival and Big Church Day Out. We had an amazing time, and there are lots of personal stories to be told - just ask anyone who went!
If you weren't able to be with us, do listen to some of the excellent Big Top teachings here:
A talk from Senior Pastor Steve Jones about how we see and do gathered worship in OCC.
We're about to start a new teaching series on Sundays: Following the Way.
A city like Oxford is for many is a stepping stone of education and early career development, with high population turnover. A city church like OCC will reflect this population turnover of the city. But with our 'apostolic vision' for God's world, we see that turnover as an opportunity, not a threat!
Outside of Covid times, OCC holds regular so-called Church Family Meetings (that is, meetings of the whole church family). In these, the leaders bring reports and updates, we talk and consult over various matters, and we pray together for God's guidance. These are important times in the life of the church, in which we're looking for that Acts 15 sense of "the decision seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us".
Spring 2022 saw two Church Family Meetings close together.
Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last week, bringing outright warfare to Europe again.
In Philippians 4:6, Paul invites the church to prayer. He says in every situation, by prayer and petition, we should present our requests to God.
We want to call all in our OCC family to pray for Ukraine, and propose the following resources to help us do that.
OCC has connections with a network of churches in South East Ukraine, led by Pastor Viktor, who has given the following prayer requests.
This blog seeks to window into how OCC is approaching questions of racism, racial justice, and ethnic diversity, at this point in time. I'm writing as one of the elders and Assistant Pastors, but also about my own story.
Full disclosure: I’m a white man of a certain age. I grew up in the UK in the late 20th century. This is a tricky subject to get right. It’s not my ‘lived experience’. It's a current, very live, and controversial topic. Writers, commentators and activists use a lot of terminology that you need get your head around.
As you will be aware, last week the Covid rules in England changed (again). The most notable change for many of us is that the legal requirement to wear a face covering has been relaxed. The guidelines now say “consider wearing one in crowded, enclosed spaces where you may come into contact with people you do not normally meet.”
This video is a presentation given by Steve Jones (Senior Pastor) to the church family meeting on Thursday 27 January 2022, in which he explains what has been changing in patterns of leadership in the last 3 years, the introduction of Focus Teams, and proposes the appointment of 3 new elders.
Breaking bread (aka communion, Eucharist, Lord's supper) is one of the few things that Jesus commanded the church to continue. It's no surprise then, that in every church tradition, it remains a key aspect of worship and shared life.
Because of the education and employment dynamics of Oxford city, a significant number of people join in at OCC each year, as well as people moving on. As new people join in, they often come from different church backgrounds, with different emphases and approaches to breaking bread, so we wanted to take a moment to explain how we do it in OCC.