our values.
We are a welcoming church with a heart to serve Oxford, while equipping all our members to be ministers of the gospel in their homes, streets, colleges, schools and workplaces. Take a look at our core values.
Upwards
Worship + Prayer + The Word
We are a house of prayer for all nations at the heart of Oxford
We recognise that ‘the chief end of man is to worship God and enjoy him forever’. We realise that worship is a matter of giving our lives as living sacrifices and as such encompasses all our activity. Yet we know that time given in praise and intimacy with God is time when we are transformed into God’s likeness. We aim to give priority privately and corporately to being before God and giving Him worship.
Prayer
Jesus cleansed the temple and called for His house to be a house of prayer for all nations. We recognise that we are living in a time of worldwide awakening for intercession on behalf of the whole creation which is groaning. We want to join in with this as a church and as individuals. We want our individual lives, our homes and our church to be places where priority is given to seeking God in prayer.
The Word
We recognise the authority of the Bible as the Word of God and seek to read it, meditate on it, and for our lives to be transformed according to its teachings. We seek to expound and teach the Scriptures publicly and from house to house. We seek to develop a hunger for the Word of God and to become a people who know their God through its teachings. We seek to teach the principles discovered in the Word of God in training courses to ‘equip the saints for the work of ministry’.
Inwards
Ministry + Maturity
We believe that Jesus Christ will return for His Church, which has “made herself ready” (Rev 19).
We seek to prepare the Bride by creating a community that is transformed by His love; we seek to love one another, serve one another, live transparent lives. We want to be a family of God, committed to unity, loyalty and trust, encouraging one another and being ready to be led on further to live sacrificial lives in conformity to the Word of God.
The Church is a body where every member has a part to play. We are called to minister to one another through acts of service and also through spiritual gifts which God pours out on His Church. Whenever we meet, we are expectant that the Kingdom of God will come as people are healed and helped as we pray one for another. We encourage every member to be involved in ministry both within and outside the church. We believe ministry is pursued and exercised on our frontline whether at work, in our neighbourhood or at home.
Maturity
We are called to grow and become mature. Maturity can come through teaching and training, exercising faith, suffering, obedience and consistent service. Evidence of growth includes fruitfulness in witness, growth in holiness, healing of past hurts, Christ-like character and the fruits of the Spirit.
Outwards
Unity + Service + Mission
Christ prayed that we may be ‘one so that the world might believe’.We know that our unity will persuade, convince and convict people of the divinity of Christ.
We therefore seek within the church to keep the unity in the bond of peace. We also know that no single church has the authority to begin to convince Oxford of the Lordship of Christ. Therefore, we work for unity with the other churches of Oxford, seeking to complete each other’s work and never to compete, to honour, to serve and promote the interests of each other.
Service
The Bible repeatedly calls us to seek justice, to serve the poor and care for creation which is groaning. Placed as we are in the city centre, we seek to have open hearts and hands to the poor of our city who are so often on our doorstep and to the global poor through holistic mission, including outreach and caring for our planet. We look for God-given projects which can give a face to this so that we can be an influence for good, making a difference in our city. Above all we look to our hearts that they may not be hardened, but overflow in acts of compassion to the poor and the poor in spirit.
Community
We believe that Jesus Christ will return for His Church, which has “made herself ready” (Revelation 19). We seek to prepare the Bride by creating a community that is transformed by His love. We seek to love one another, serve one another, live transparent lives. We want to be a family of God, committed to unity, loyalty and trust, encouraging one another and being ready to be led on further to live sacrificial lives in conformity to the Word of God.
Mission
We believe that our calling is, with others, to bring the Kingdom of God to our city, our region, our nation, to the ends of the earth and to all creation. We are aware of the extraordinary opportunity and responsibility represented by the presence of so many students in our city and tirelessly we will seek to win them to Christ. We also know that Oxford is a city which has seen awakening as well as martyrdom in the past, and we long to see a move of God through the whole town. We aim under God to ‘win, train and send’ labourers into this end-time worldwide harvest field.