The Journey

	"Loving God, loving one another and loving the world"
The story so far...!

We spoke to John to find out more about where we've come from and where we're going as a a group of students as part of OCC.

Where have we come from?
Oxford Community Church was planted in 1985, with students as a key part of the church vision. We wanted to build a family church that welcomed students, bridging the Town and Gown divide, and train them up to be Kingdom influencers where ever they go. More recently, in 1998, the leadership team had a sense that God wanted to do something more amongst students in Oxford, and that we had a role to play in that. We received a number of prophetic words which spoke about God wanting to do new things amongst us. He said that he wanted to send fireballs of His power down on our universities, lighting fires of His presence in individual student’s rooms that would spread, changing the very culture of student world! It was at this point that Fusion got involved. A year or so before, Fusion had been launched as an organisation designed to equip local churches in student ministry. Rich Wilson came down with a team from Loughborough to share their vision with us, and as they did, there was a sense of God leading us to take on the Fusion 'cell group' model which they were proposing. Over the Christmas holidays 1998, us students went home over the vacation and prayed about the way forward. Six of us felt that God wanted us to start a Fusion group, so backed by our student leaders Andy and Ruth, we did! We weren’t a particularly remarkable group, but we believed that God wanted to do a new thing in Oxford University, and we dreamt big. Over the following years, we grew from 6 students involved in student Fusion groups to about 150 in 2003, with about 10 Fusion groups in the university ‘down the hill’, and 3 or 4 up at Brookes, and saw a lot of lives changed and Gospel seed sown.
Where are we going?
Good question. Well of course, we’re going to keep building on the BIG vision that Oxford Community Church has always had for students. God has called us to be a family together, and we’re going to keep on looking for creative ways to increase that sense of family between students and non-students. One of the things that students have always most appreciated about OCC is the opportunity to get into ‘real people’s’ homes for student lunches. But God has called us not just to be a family, but to be a family on a mission The reality is that the majority of our growth amongst students so far has come from gathering Freshers at the beginning of the year, helping them to find a church home, and to stand strong in their faith. Over the years we have seen a steady trickle of people becoming Christians, but it has been limited. Yet we believe that God has said, and is still saying, that he wants to have a big impact on our universities, so we are continuing to look outwards as much as possible. He has spoken to us about playing our part in seeing a generation changed! (see Bryn's prophetic word) The further we go on, the clearer it becomes to all of us that we must keep working at communicating the Gospel in words and deeds within both universities. We want Fusion groups to mature into groups that are actively engaged with the student community around them, learning to communicate the good news about Jesus in that community, as well as putting on bigger events which aim to serve each university as a whole. At Brookes, some of our students have just started a Fusion Society as part of the Students’ Union, which seeks to serve the SU by putting on diverse social events, and by encouraging a sense of community. Things like this are a vital part of us as Christians refusing to remain on the edge of the student community, but to make a positive difference within society. At the same time, we must continue to train and disciple students in their relationship with Jesus. Unless we are really living differently, we won’t be able to influence the world. The tension between an inward focus and an outward one is real, but we believe that the Fusion group cell model is flexible enough to help us resolve it. In Mk. 4:14 Jesus calls his disciples to be with him, so that he can send them out. We trust that through the Fusion groups, we will continue to gather groups of students who are growing in their relationship with Jesus, as well as becoming increasingly outward-focussed. Change a Generation?