Journeying with John: A review
I suspect that for many reading this newsletter, the opening verses of John’s Gospel are highly familiar. So it was instructive for me to read those famous words with a group embarking on our ‘Journeying with John’ Bible study, and for three of those present to mention that they were reading the Bible for the very first time.
One of the great privileges of our engagement with postgraduates is the sheer variety of contexts from which they have come to Oxford, and the total range of faith experience that this includes.
Following the Postgraduate Student Welcome programme at the start of the academic year, we like to offer a follow-up opportunity for those who are keen to explore Christian faith with other postgraduates. This year’s initiative, ‘Journeying with John’, was a simple model: reading one or two chapters of the gospel over a sandwich lunch each Friday of the Michaelmas term. (The quality of conversation, and the relationships that grew within the group, meant we deliberately slowed the pace as the Gospel progressed, happily continuing into Hilary term.)
JwithJ, as it became known, offered a chance for those on the edge of Christian faith to hear the perspectives and insights of Christian postgraduates (two of whom co-led the sessions with me) and some significant steps towards personal faith were made. One participant surprised herself with her change in attitude, over the weeks of meeting, to both the person of Jesus and the attractiveness of Christian faith. JwithJ helpfully reminded me of the sheer power of shared engagement with Scripture, regardless of the diversity of faith commitment within the group; and we hope that both the friendships and engagement with the Bible begun on Friday lunchtimes will continue and deepen in future.