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. 

At last night's student night and Bunch combined prayer evening it was a privilege to hear from Jack (an overseas worker, sent and supported by OCC) about his team's work in Central Africa, with the Muslim refugee tribe they are seeking to connect with and serve. Alongside schooling and home-schooling their 4 children, Jack and Claire lead a team of 10 committed to learning the local tribal language, developing a dictionary, developing media in the local language, Bible translation, and drilling water wells.

Now that the dust has settled, we wanted to report further on the Gift Days in September 2021. 

As Sanjay said in a previous blog, "through September, we spent four weeks looking together at money! We walked with Jesus towards Jerusalem, looking at four stories about money in Luke 19-21. We considered our attitude in giving, the aim of our giving, the amount we give, and what God does when we use our money for His Kingdom. …

We've just ended an important series in the life of OCC. As we explained in a previous blog, as we all emerge from the constraints of the last 18 months, the elders agreed it is time to invest again in our relationships with God ー both as individuals and as communities. 

In the series we focused on nine 'keystone' habits, as we explained here, the habits most likely to lead to other changes.

Last Sunday, former student Adam Walton, who is moving on work with YWAM, mentioned a prophetic word about 'balls of fire'. What was all that about, I hear some of you asking!?

The prophetic words that God gives us as we pray and seek him is an important part of catching a vision of what is on his agenda for us. Biblically, God speaks through dreams, visions, pictures, and men and women of God. As we have met together, over the years, to pray for Oxford, God has given us a number of these prophetic pointers, which we  weigh together.

Our Covid working group (details here together with more on our approach to managing Covid-19 risks) met today 21 October. As has been our habit for 18 months now, we reviewed national and local data, and our own activities.

For now, we continue to ask for face coverings to be worn in public worship services and especially in sung worship. 

Read on if you want to know more about why have we made that decision. In coming to that decision (unanimous in the team, by the way) we've asked ourselves a bunch of questions, such as:

From 17 October to 7 November, we're doing a 4 weeks series on Sundays entitled Unforced Rhythms. For the after-series resources, read this blog.

This is a phrase from Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. The Message Bible beautifully paraphrases this as