One feature of living in Oxford is the possibility of spotting Richard Dawkins emerging from the supermarket or John Lennox disappearing into the post office.
How do the Christian students operate in this environment? One way is through organising Big Issue ‘lunch bar’ events, which happen every Friday throughout term. How do they work? Christians find it easy to invite their friends to a free lunch in a central caf? where a Christian speaker tackles a specific question and follows the presentation with questions and discussion.
Big Issues
I met with Amber Lee Coakes, who is the OICCU’s (Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union) outreach secretary and the current organiser of the Big Issues. Between mouthfuls of a delicious but messy Lebanese sandwich I asked her what Big Issues are all about. ‘The purpose of the lunch bar is to address some basic misconceptions that prevent people even considering Christianity. Questions this term include “Leap in the dark: what is faith?”, and “Get smart: isn’t religion the enemy of intelligence?” There are many cases of people who wouldn’t normally come to a Christian event but who do choose to come to a lunch bar because it’s a topic they’re particularly interested in.’
