Planting churches is the result of effective evangelism, so that should be our priority: to reach out to our friends, neighbours and work colleagues, wherever we fi nd ourselves, seeking to introduce them to Jesus and his great family!

God has also highlighted to us priorities for our work together across our region:

• Planting in Other Towns
  For example, Banbury, Carterton, Swindon, Thame.
• Planting Into Villages
  200,000 people live in lots of villages in rural Oxfordshire and we want to find ways to establish God’s community for them too, as we more proactively plant cells linked to one of our churches.
• Planting into new Communities
  We can plant into new communities in towns where we already have churches. As society becomes increasingly fragmented into micro-communities, based on non-local friendships, workplaces and common interets and excluding of ethnic minorities, the poor and other marginalised groups - so we need to find new ways of doing things! So, we need to fi nd new ways of doing things! As an example, the Oxford church has been working hard to understand the different ethnic communities in the city and is developing various ways to reach them and to gather a multi-ethnic congregation.

Banbury & Surrounding Villages

Banbury, an outpost in the northern tip of Oxfordshire, see itself as more ‘Midlands’ than ‘South-East’. Yet, with its catchment area of villages, across four counties, Banbury is a signifi cant town and is set to grow by 12% to 47,000 by 2011. Barrie and Mary Wood, who in 1992 moved from Oxford to plant Bicester, moved again in 2004 to establish a base in Banbury, from which to see viable expressions of church established in the surrounding villages.

They say: “We are not building a conventional congregation competing with other churches in the town, but drawing together groups meeting informally in homes or other venues. The groups will develop in different ways, but at the heart of each will be a focus on Jesus and the key values of giving, receiving, accepting, caring and encouraging. “Eventually there will be a network of such groups established in various parts of Banbury itself and in villages across north Oxfordshire. The emphasis is on each person walking the pathway of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and reaching out to his or her unchurched friends, neighbours, work mates or other contacts with the love of Jesus.”

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Carterton

Carterton, inextricably connected to major employer RAF Brize Norton, is a West Oxfordshire town that is projected to grow in the next few years by 30% to 16,000 by 2011. So, lots of new homes are being built! Matt and Anna Biddlecombe lead a group of people that are seeking to find new and creative ways of reaching their community and to establish a church. Having been linked to the church at Cote, they are increasingly establishing their own identity. The Carterton group have a particular focus on work with children and families, through regular kids clubs and family fun afternoons!

Cote, Aston & Bampton

Cote Baptist Church was one of the founding churches in Oxfordshire Community Churches, and has been a seedbed for many church plants. The church at Cote is currently releasing the Carterton plant. Situated in rural West Oxfordshire, Cote, Aston and Bampton villages are home to a growing number of young families and who work from home or commute to Oxford or London. There is defi nitely scope for fresh work amongst them. How can we introduce these busy young professionals to Jesus and his church? We are looking for at least 2 young families who would consider moving to Cote to initiate new creative strategies to build church amongst these people, starting with a blank sheet of paper! This new work would have a high degree of fl exibility to meet the needs of a growing mission fi eld in the villages. You could enjoy the community life of a village and pioneer a new work for God!

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Moreton-in-Marsh

Dan and Kerstin Campsall, with the church in Chipping Norton, are feeling stirred about the potential to plant a church in one of the nearby market towns. How about travelling up the A44 to Moreton to help establish something there, linked to the church at Chipping Norton?

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Swindon

Just off the south-western corner of Oxfordshire, Swindon is a large city of 180,000. John and Gail Reeve lead a church plant in West Swindon. Now numbering around 20 adults, they are growing steadily through running courses like Alpha and Freedom in Christ.

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Thame & Surrounding Villages

Thame is an Oxfordshire town of 11,000 that’s so far on the eastern border of Oxfordshire that it’s almost in Buckinghamshire! For a number of years planting a church in Thame has been ‘on the radar’ for the leaders of OCC.

A small team of people are now starting to gather in Thame, as the basis of a new church plant, with a view to responding to God as he leads in reaching out to that community and gathering a church.

Is God stirring you about Thame, Long Crendon, Princes Risborough, Haddenham, Chinnor, Wheatley, etc.? You don’t have to be specially gifted – just willing to be obedient to God!