Christian Leadership and Service
In 2010, the Oxford Pastorate began a programme for Christian postgraduate students involved in service and leadership in their community. We hoped that drawing these women and men together and intentionally supporting them in their development as followers of Christ, would have a beneficial impact on mission and ministry in Oxford, and would make them more effective servants and leaders in many nations of the world in the future.
It proved to be an inspired vision, already alumni of the programme are serving as Oxbridge academics, in Christian ministry, in Parliament, in cutting-edge, African medical research, as authors, and as leaders of important institutions.
What’s more, it was out of this initial programme that the Oxford Character Project was born and now offers similar support in character and leadership development to much larger numbers of Oxford postgraduates, including many from beyond the Christian community, and, increasingly, to students at other universities in the UK and around the world.
This year, we selected participants in the Christian Leadership and Service cohort on the basis of extensive life and ministry experience, passion to bear witness to Jesus Christ while in Oxford, and a desire to be equipped to serve faithfully in the future, wherever they may be led. We have an exciting cohort, drawn from many nations with experience in many fields – including business and finance, military intelligence, student ministry, ordained ministry, Bible translation, academia and research.
At our first retreat, we were immensely fortunate to have the Revd Dr Joanna Collicutt speak. She offered an insightful and inspiring approach to understanding the journey of Christian discipleship and challenged us to make the most of the year we will spend together as part of the Christian Leadership and Service programme.
You can watch Dr Collicutt introducing her approach to Christian discipleship and formation in this video recorded at our Cultivating Virtue in the University conference at Christ Church in May 2017.