Steve Jones, OCC Senior Pastor, introduces our founding vision for the church - and how that leads us to prepare for our 2023 Gift Days on Sundays 18 and 25 June, and 2 July.

<< Back to the main page for Gift Days 2023

This page answers some of the common questions you may have about the 2023 Gift Days specifically. More general questions are tackled here, such as 

One of a series of blogs from team visits to Bethel Church (Redding, California), a large and well-known church that God is using to serve the body of Christ more widely. See my previous blog here.

In previous blogs I noted some of the really straightforward learnings from my recent trip to Bethel, as well as the first two challenges (risk-taking, and fivefold leadership) that I've had to process more.

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. …

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. Through it all, we remembered that we give because God is the ultimate giver - for God so loved the world that He GAVE Jesus! 

September is here, a new year has a begun! Perhaps more than usual this year, the autumn can be a time of particular hope, vision, and expectation. As people move to Oxford during Sept-Oct, it’s our habit to take a few weeks looking at our vision as a church. But this autumn, we’re spending four weeks looking at both vision and money. Why would we do that?! 

In 21-22 we want to invest in development / growth / breakthrough, especially in our four Future Focus goals. 

To do this we want to invest in releasing more time from some members of staff and leadership, in order that they can increase their focus. Ideally, we want to increase capacity (time) for these people. If you're not sure who's who, look here. 

At the church news and prayer evening this week, one of the things Steve Jones explained was some of the dynamics affecting our church finances. Below, and to respond to your questions, Andy unpacks that a little more, so if you have any more questions please ask him!

Part 3 of a 3 part blog. Part 1. Part 2.

This is a barometer. A barometer helps us understand what is going on with the weather, which is always a bit hard to work out (esp in Britain). It helps us understand something that is a bit complicated. A barometer doesn't tell us everything we need to know about the weather, but it tells us enough to discern what is going on.

Part 2 of a 3 part blog. Part 1. Part 3. 

When I spoke a few days ago on this topic, an image that seemed to grab people's attention was this bucket. The bucket is overflowing because of the incoming flow of water. I asked, 'Is this bucket's generosity to do with how wonderful the bucket is, or something else?'