Our Vision
It is our vision to be 'Following Jesus in a BIG way', which means:
- B: Building family across the city
- I: Igniting passion for God and his kingdom
- G: Going with good news to students, local communities and beyond
Following Jesus
Jesus claimed to be the Way, and called people to follow him. The earliest disciples were known as followers of ‘The Way’, and that is what we aim to be. In all that we do as a church community, we constantly ask: “What does Jesus think about this?” The answers that we find, both in the Bible and on our knees in prayer, lead us on an adventure of faith!
Building family across the city
Friends and family are people with whom you want to spend time, to eat meals, to laugh and to cry. As a church family, we are there for each other through thick and thin, and we seek to resolve any issues that arise between us. We live in a diverse city with rich and poor, young and old and many different cultures. It is our vision to build friendships across all these natural divides, believing that each person has something to offer that enriches us all.
Igniting passion for God and his kingdom
We were made for a supernatural relationship with God. When we meet together, we encounter Jesus by opening our Bibles and listening to the Holy Spirit. As we do that, He ignites passionate praise and heartfelt prayer. Jesus’ teaching was focused on ‘the kingdom of God’, which grows as people are "born of the Spirit" (John 3:5). We play our part in this through the clear communication of truth, through social action and through praying for miracles of healing and deliverance. It is our vision to be passionate and effective ambassadors of this kingdom.
Going with good news
We believe that many people in Oxford would love to follow Jesus, if only they knew how. We are constantly thinking and praying about how we can communicate the good news that Jesus offers His friendship freely to people, even to those people who feel they don't deserve it.
- To students: Early in our church’s life, God spoke to us about making special efforts to reach out to students, who make up 20% of the city’s population, but less than 10% of the church in the city. So, for both prophetic and strategic reasons, we invest in Christian students so that they can be effective in reaching out in their college or university.
- To local communities: As a city-wide church, it is our vision to bless and to communicate with people in many local communities across Oxford, as well as encouraging outreach in workplaces and sports clubs and in other cultures.
- Beyond: It is our vision to send people to strengthen existing churches beyond Oxford and also to send teams to start new local churches. We support workers in Africa, Europe and Asia, and are supporting new churches in Thame and in Paris.