Oxford's Secret

Tuesday May 31 2016

The Rev Andrew Anderson highlights the global reach and work - and Church of Scotland connections - of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies

It has been called "Oxford's secret".

Entered through an anonymous side door, it is identified only by a discreet sign on the gate that is easy to miss: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). Those who enter find a remarkable institution served by an unusual community.

It was the vision of the founders of OCMS to establish an institution in Oxford that would enable scholars and mission practitioners from the world church to research at the highest academic level in the field of Christian mission.

Presently OCMS has 120 postgraduate students from over 40 different countries. The range of subjects covered is wide, many of them related to the local church and cultural contexts in which they live. Most of our students are mature men and women with extensive experience of the world church in all its diversity and with all its challenges.

I was asked to become Chaplain at OCMS when I retired to Oxford in 2012 after a long parish ministry in Edinburgh. I am responsible for our weekly chapel services, am available to attend to pastoral needs, and I am the independent monitor for the students in the event of problems or grievances.

One of the features of the community which struck me when I first became involved was its cross-denominational character. Staff and students are drawn from across the wider church including Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian. We are all one in Christ and totally dedicated to his mission to the world.

This means that, in addition to the pursuit of academic excellence, we have a huge commitment to love and support one another, not least in prayer, and not least those who are in difficult situations.

One of our alumni ministers is in Georgia, north of Turkey. He and his church have been severely tested in trying to help the large numbers of Christians and others fleeing from Syria.

A student from Kenya told me that when Al-Shabaab terrorists stormed a bus carrying Christians in Kenya in November 2014, killing 28, one of the few spared was her nephew. Another student told me that his cousin was killed when two suicide bombers attacked churches in Youhanabad, Lahore, Pakistan in March 2015.

Another of our alumni emailed us from northern Nigeria to say that his family church had been completely destroyed in a Boko Haram attack.

In the safety of Oxford I am reminded that the worldwide persecution of Christians is still not fully recognised and condemned for the widespread evil that it is.

One remarkable part of the OCMS ministry is its publishing of the Edinburgh 2010 Series, arising from the Edinburgh 2010 centenary conference and study process. This now stands at 28 volumes, with a further eight in hand. When complete, it is expected to be the most important series on Christian mission for our century. Funding has come from a variety of sources including the Church of Scotland.

It was a very great honour for us to receive just before Christmas a visit from the then Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev Dr Angus Morrison. It was a reminder of the continuing link that the Kirk and Scotland make with the world church.

OCMS reminds us that, despite - or because of - persecution in so many places, we should be heartened to see that so much of the world church is growing and Christ’s mission flourishing. If all this is "Oxford's secret" it deserves to be better known!

For further information see www.ocms.ac.uk and www.ocms.ac.uk/regnum.

Andrew Anderson was minister of Greenside Parish Church in Edinburgh until he retired in 2011.

This is an extract from a feature in June's Life and Work. Subscribe here.