Seventy-five years ago, the Christian Union at Oxford (OICCU) hastily threw together an outreach initiative to the university in the heart of the Second World War.
It was small and disorganised, and their speaker, Dr Martin Lloyd Jones, pulled out at the last minute with illness. But an enduring idea was born: a focussed initiative, once every three years, to give as many Oxford students as possible the opportunity to hear, engage with and respond to the gospel. That vision has remained constant, and so 9-14 February saw Uncover, the Silver Jubilee of triennial OICCU missions.
Keller on John’s Gospel
At the heart of the week were two series of talks aiming to connect with as wide a range of students as possible, whatever their knowledge and interest in Christianity. At the evening events, Timothy Keller (pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan) spoke at the Town Hall on ‘The Life Jesus Offers’ from John’s Gospel, attractively and vividly showing how the meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity and hope found in Jesus Christ meet our deepest needs.
There was live music, a time of question and answer, and a story of how an Oxford student grappled with these issues for themselves. After each evening, people were encouraged to continue their conversations at the Uncover Café, kindly hosted in St Aldate’s Church. After one evening an OICCU member said: ‘My [friend] is literally on the cusp of becoming a Christian…SO nearly there! We just had a wonderful chat. She’s read John and is starting to read Luke. She openly says she is desperate to become a Christian.’ About 600 people came along each evening, with many more students and locals alike watching a live video link in St Aldate’s and St Andrew’s churches. The queue for people asking Tim questions afterwards grew each day as people engaged with the gospel, and there was news of a handful of professions of new faith in Jesus.
Life’s big questions
At the lunchbars, Os Guinness (author and social critic) unpacked the human quest for meaning under the title ‘Life’s Big Questions’, examining the big issues of meaning, world-views, truth, evil and purpose.
The format for the lunchbars effectively slots into the Oxford student’s day: arrive at 1pm for a free sandwich, a 25-minute talk and a chance to ask questions, before dashing off to 2pm lectures. Numbers grew through the week to around 500, with Os’s fascinating and profound talks teeing up countless personal conversations. One student said: ‘I've been praying all week for three of my friends... I took them to today’s afternoon talk and they were all so engaged throughout! We sat and chatted there for more than an hour about the talk and they all really enjoyed it. They would like to explore the ideas of the Uncover talks more!’
Fine art and text-a-toastie!
These series were surrounded with a constellation of other events aimed at drawing people in to think further. There was a powerful art exhibition put on by fine artists, a banquet for international students, a Text-a- Toastie on the eve of the first central events (which saw hundreds ask questions) and a hip-hop event. Advertising was seen far and wide through posters and flyers, as well as a flashmob, articles in the student papers and through social media. The postgraduate community was drawn in through a reception after the first evening talk with Os Guinness and Ard Louis (Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford). A talented team of 60 CU College Guests was invaluable in talking with interested students and encouraging the College Groups in a busy and tiring week. It was great to hear of creative ways College Groups engaged their Colleges: a ‘Why I am a Christian’ blog with over 1000 views, chapel services, ‘grill-a-Christian’ events, a port and dessert evening, questionnairing, free tea and coffee and much more!
Following through
Two evenings of discussion groups, Questioning Jesus, have been running since then on Monday and Tuesday evenings in Costa Coffee. Vaughan Roberts and Charlie Cleverly (rectors of St Ebbe’s and St Aldate’s respectively) have been speaking, with table leaders drawn from a range of local churches. Vaughan Roberts commented, ‘Each generation of Oxford students is further back in its understanding of Christianity, which means the follow up is more important than ever. There has been a more diverse crowd than I can remember previously, with a significant number of atheists and those from other faith backgrounds attending. We're praying that this openness continues into next term and beyond.’ The numbers of seekers had grown to about 75 by the third week, during which two people professed faith.
