Michaelmas 2024 Term Card

Join us every Monday during term at from 19:30 – 21:00 UK time for programming in the Ursell Room of Pusey House, Oxford (unless otherwise stated).

Week 1 / 14 Oct / Welcome Reception and Opening LectureN.T. Wright
Faith and Scholarship

 

Week 2 / 21 Oct / Wole Agbaje

Faith and Creativity

 

Week 3 / 28 Oct / Katherine Tubb

Faith and Nature

6 Nov (Wednesday) / Oxford Pastorate (OP) Joint Film Night

1, 8, 15 Nov (Fridays) / OP Reading Group

 

Week 4 / 4 Nov / David and Jen Downs 

Theology and Medicine

 

Week 5 / 11 Nov / Adora Elisapeta Lovestrand

Capital as Influence: A Faith Informed Perspective

 

Week 6 / 18 Nov / Bethan Willis

Intellectual Life and Christian Scholarly Community Workshop

 

Week 7 / 25 Nov / Edward David

Rise of ‘None-Religions’

 

Week 8 / 2 Dec / Celebration

 

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Listen to recorded interviews

Panel 1

About Us

Welcome to the Graduate Christian Forum, a society for conversation between postgraduate (e.g., DPhil, Master’s degree) students and faculty from across the Christian community in Oxford. It’s a place to come together and think about what it means to be a Christian engaged in academic work, about how our faith shapes our disciplinary work and vice versa.

We hold a Monday night speaker series during term, interviewing Christian scholars and professionals upstairs in The Ursell Room of Pusey House (unless otherwise noted). The meetings begin at 7.30 PM and typically ends around 9.00 PM. Please join us at 7.15 PM for snacks and conversation.

The Oxford Graduate Christian Forum is an officially recognised Oxford University Students’ Union society, previously known as the Oxford Graduate Christian Union.

Our weekly room hire, speaker expenses and other running costs are paid for wholly from donations, usually alumni and interested academics. All donations, small or large will mean that the GCF can continue to host events for postgraduate students.

Make a donation

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up to our mailing list

Email Us

Panel 2

Where We Meet

We meet every Monday of term upstairs in the Ursell Room of Pusey House (attached to Saint Cross College) on Saint Giles Street (See term card for details).

The meeting begins at 19:30. Light refreshments provided.

End by 21:00, with Q & A.

Panel 3

Events & Resources

Oxford Conversations


A great collection of curated interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars at the University of Oxford.

Check out the videos on the website.


Developing a Christian Mind


Developing a Christian Mind at Oxford provides space for postgraduate students, post-docs and faculty to consider how they integrate their Christian faith and their academic life. The programme includes two conferences, Christianity and the Life of the Mind: An Introduction (January), and Seeking Wisdom: Engaging the Academic Disciplines from the Standpoint of Faith (March). It also includes a smaller group called Christians in Academia that runs through the year for discussion, mentoring, and prayer.

Check out the Developing a Christian Mind website for information on these conferences and more.


The Oxford Pastorate


The Oxford Pastorate is a Christian charity, an historic Anglican chaplaincy that has been serving Oxford University students since 1893. We now serve the postgraduate community, offering: pastoral care through an international team of experienced chaplains; connection to Christian groups and initiatives in Oxford; a welcome and orientation programme for internationals; Christian leadership development programmes; and opportunities for Christian postgraduates to engage with the wider University in service and mission.

For more information:  http://oxfordpastorate.org.


The Oxford Character Project


Each year, Oxford and other world-class universities produce leaders and thinkers who go on to have significant influence and impact around the world. The Oxford Character Project, affiliated with the Oxford Pastorate, aims to help talented postgraduate students develop key virtues of character which will prepare them to be the wise thinkers and good leaders the world so desperately needs.

For more information go to http://oxfordcharacter.org.


St. Ebbes Thesis

Thesis is the postgrad community for St. Ebbes church, located in the center of Oxford. We are a diverse group of people from over 20 nationalities, DPhil and Masters students, single and married (including spouses of postgrads). Whether you are a committed Christian seeking to grow as a follower of Christ during your time in Oxford, or someone looking into the Christian faith from the outside, you are very welcome.

During term, we meet at St Ebbe’s each Tuesday evening from 7:00pm to share a meal, get to know each other and to discuss a passage or topic from the Bible and pray. Thesis Together, or T2, is our Friday study day for postgrads, providing an opportunity to study alongside others and enjoy fellowship during breaks. Lunch and refreshments are provided. T2 runs from 9:30am-5:30pm.

Glenn Nesbitt is the postgraduate student minister at St Ebbe’s. Email him to find out more: glenn.nesbitt@stebbes.org.


St. Aldates Postgrads


Find community at the heart of Oxford – we’re a group of postgrad students seeking God together. Some of us are exploring faith, some are committed Christians, some are somewhere in between! We eat, pray, worship and discuss together, including in small groups for deepening friendships.

Postgrads meet on WEDNESDAY EVENINGS, 7PM in the Christopher Room in the Parish Centre (40 Pembroke Street).
For more info see our website or email postgrads@staldates.org.uk. Or find us on facebook.


Orthodox Christian Student Society

The Orthodox Christian Student Society is a dynamic and open community of Oxford students of different nationalities united by Orthodox faith. The Society aims to bring together Orthodox students and other Orthodox members of the university, as well as help introduce the Orthodox Christian faith to anyone interested.

E-mail: ouorthosoc@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page.


St. Stephen's House

St Stephen’s House is an Anglican theological foundation and Permanent Private Hall in the University of Oxford, offering formation, education and training for a variety of qualifications and ministries. But, we also take non-ordinand postgraduates of all faiths.

Visit our webpage  for more information.


Emmanuel Church

Postgraduate students are an important part of the Emmanuel family. We aim to help you grow in your relationship with God through practical teaching from the bible and an openness to the Holy Spirit.

We meet on a Sunday 10:30 AM at Oxford Spires Academy, Glanville Road. We encourage our postgraduate students to join one of our mid-week groups called Connect Groups and we have a Student and Young Adult group that meets 3 times a term – visit the website for more information and to get in touch!


Trinity Church

Trinity is a small evangelical church in the heart of the city, seeking to reach people with the good news of Jesus and welcome them into our church family. As well as events for students, we encourage the church to live and work together as family.

For more information visit our website.


Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy

Meeting on Wednesday evenings from 7:45pm and beginning with pizza, God in the Quad provides a supportive and friendly environment for post-graduate research students wishing to make connections between scholarship and their faith. The group is accompanied by Fr. Mark Aloysius SJ, a DPhil student at Campion Hall.

For more information visit our website.


St Mary Magdalen Oxford

St Mary Magdalen’s is an Anglican church in central Oxford. We are a vibrant all-age and inclusive community, offering worship and witness in the Catholic tradition.

For more information visit our website.

Transforming the Mind Conference

The highly recommended National Christian Postgraduate Conference in June: https://transformingthemind.org/ for more info.

Veritas Forum

The Veritas Forum is an annual event, which engages student and faculty in life’s hardest questions and the modern relevance of Jesus Christ. See the website for more details and previous recordings of their lectures and discussions with the pre-eminent experts of a wide range of topical issues.

Interesting Talks Oxford

The place to go for all the latest and best talks, lectures, and events happening in Oxford. A lot are free, others require registration and a few charge for tickets, but if you want to make sure you don’t miss out on the best talks in town this is the website you want, they also have an active and useful Facebook page, perhaps you’ll even see a GCF talk advertised there too.

Faith in Scholarship blog

Faith in Scholarship blog: http://faithinscholarship.org.uk/

Christian Scholar blog

The Christian Scholar blog: https://thechristianscholar.wordpress.com/

Scholar's Compass

Scholar’s Compass: online blog for Christian Graduate Students

http://blog.emergingscholars.org/category/scholars-compass/

Christians in Science

Christians in Science:  http://www.cis.org.uk/

Biologos

Biologos: http://biologos.org/, a place to explore the harmony between science and biblical faith.

Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

Faraday Institute for Science and Religion: https://www.faraday.cam.ac.uk/

Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics

Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics: https://kirbylaingcentre.co.uk/

Christian Heritage

Supports postgrads through a Christian public lecture series, mentoring and apprenticeship programs, summer schools, Scriptorium, etc http://www.christianheritageuk.org.uk/

The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students

IFES: The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (of which UCCF and InterVarsity USA are members):

http://ifesworld.org/en

IFES Word and World

IFES Word and World: promotes theological reflection and conversation around IFES and beyond: https://en.ifesjournal.org/

InterVarsity USA's Emerging Scholars Network

InterVarsity USA’s Emerging Scholars Network: http://blog.emergingscholars.org/, seeks to encourage, and equip the next generation of Christian scholars to be a redeeming influence in the academy, church, and the world.

The Well

The Well: http://thewell.intervarsity.org/, an online gathering place to encourage and equip women in the Academy and professions.

Other Christian Professional and Academic Societies

Oxford Cantonese Christian Fellowship for Chinese Students

OCCFCA are a group of university students and young professionals who are passionate about sharing our Christian faith with the others, through discussion and communication. All Christians or those who are keen to know more about Christian faith are welcome to participate in our meetings and activities.

Our regular meetings, to be conducted in Cantonese, will be held on most of the Friday evenings during the term time of Oxford’s two universities. Our weekly program includes dinner, singing of hymns, sharing, and praying. But from time to time, we will also organise a range of activities, including seminars, Bible study sessions, workshops, and outdoor activities.

If you are interested in joining us, you are most welcome to email oxfordcfcs@gmail.com or join our facebook group for further details. We will be most happy to answer any questions you may have.

Devotional

A set of questions for personal bible study and praying from the scriptures.

by Joe Martin

Click here to download

Contact us to include your society, church or event’s information on our website.
Panel 4

Our beliefs

This ancient statement of faith called the Nicene Creed has been handed down from generation to generation of Christian believers. We gladly now play our part in affirming it.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen.