Frequently Asked Questions

Bursaries for students: Are they available?

Community Lunch: How do I book to attend?

Denomination: Is OCMS affiliated to any one denomination?

'Holistic Mission': What does it mean?

'Mission Studies': What does it mean?

Residency in Oxford: For how long would I have to be away?

Visas: Are there restrictions on who might get them?

Study Process: Describe this please?

Visiting OCMS: May I come and see you?

Refunds: Am I able to obtain a refund for a product I have purchased here?

Security and Data Protection: What's your policy?

Customer Service:  What's your policy? 

 Bursaries for students: Are they available?

Answer: 

Scholars from the Global South are eligible to ask for an OCMS bursary of around 30% of fees.  OCMS has further, limited scholarships to put towards OCMS fees for those who are in greater need, for which scholars must apply in writing.  In addition, there are some special bursaries that students might apply for, including funds to encourage women leaders from the two-thirds world to apply for part time research.  Please contact Parrizad Pound on ocms@ocms.ac.uk.

 Community Lunch: How do I book to attend?

Answer:

Attendance at Community lunch must be booked by lunchtime the preceeding day, via the Community Pages of our Moodle Site for which staff, faculty and students all have a personal log-in which is allocated to them in the first few days of their time with OCMS. 

If you wish to find out more about us by attending the community lunch, but do not have log-in details, please contact ocms@ocms.ac.uk.  The meal costs £3 for students, £4 for staff and £4.50 for visitors.  Visitors are most welcome.

 Denomination: Is OCMS affiliated to any one denomination?

Answer: 

Truly international in its leadership, fully interdenominational in its reach, and deeply     evangelical from its roots to its mission, OCMS brings the world’s church together under one roof.  As a centre for world mission engagement and academic enquiry, OCMS does not belong to, nor is it shaped by, any one denomination.

 Holistic Mission: What does it mean?

Answer:

Holistic Mission is the expression used at OCMS to describe the way of expressing the love of God through word and deed, through being both salt and light to a community, by seeking to bring about holistic transformation to those with whom the Christian is engaging.

The term is designed to move church language away from the concepts of Christian mission held in a dichotomy of evangelism and/or social involvement. 

Holistic Mission, it is argued, is rooted in scripture and is no less than than the model Jesus himself set for mankind, which seeks to convict people of the good news of Jesus Christ as well as striving to help them experience the fullness of the Kingdom of God in their physical lives, too.

OCMS' publishing house, Regnum Books has two books that might interest the reader:  

1. Holistic Mission: God's Plan for God's People, edited by Brian E. Woolnough and Wonsuk Ma, Foreword by Las Newman.  Published by Regnum  (2010), 279pp, ISBN: 978-1-870345-85-9
2. Mission as Transformation: A Theology of the Whole Gospel, by Vinay Samuel and Christopher Sugden.  Published by Regnum (1999), 522pp, ISBN: 0870345133

 Mission Studies: What does it mean?

Answer:

OCMS rates the context for mission as more significant than the background of the missionary. Therefore the study of mission cannot be removed from the study of the world, which God has made. Communication, culture, and history are all dimensions for understanding mission in any particular environment. Each dimension or any aspect of it, can be researched in its own right using one or more of a wide range of University disciplines. OCMS thesis abstracts give a good idea of this range.

Mission Studies for OCMS is a broad category. The missio Dei, or mission of God, transcends the church. Mission involves the mediation of the divine between different cultures. The activity of God in mission can normally be discerned by studying the particular cultures and the history of their interaction. Mission studies necessarily includes research into communication and language, culture, history and development. Communication and language clearly give a place to the study of Bible in mission, with a special emphasis on the context both in which the Biblical revelation was given and received and also the context in which it now speaks, so that translation and hermeneutics are relevant.

The study of culture has geographical, legal, philosophical, political, social, economic, military, ritual, aesthetic, educational, psychological, medical, technological etc. aspects. A theology with the incarnation of God as a premise must arise out of such earthly realities and not in ignorance of them. Thus holistic approaches to research combining consideration of belief and practice, are both welcome and possible in OCMS.

The international community which founded OCMS has been particularly associated with the development of "Mission as Transformation" as a helpful way of thinking about holistic mission. The volume of the same name is published by Regnum Publishing.

Mission and church may also be understood in history but this is not a merely antiquarian issue. tudy may also seek also to interpret and influence present and future directions. While the study of culture in theology works primarily with the pattern and structure of human life under God in culture, development studies in missiology analyses how culture can be changed to liberate life holistically, and so be redeemed.

Development Studies is inter-disciplinary, dealing with the same aspects of culture. Its core lies in the social sciences of economics, sociology, social anthropology, and politics. It also draws from the relevant aspects of the environmental and natural sciences and constructs its own theory on appropriate technology, development management, and public administration. In addition to the academic tasks of accounting for and theorising about what is observed, a more activist and narrative dimension is concerned with designing, appraising, and evaluating alternative development strategies, policies, projects, programmes, procedures, and institutional arrangements, according to key development criteria, typically economic efficiency or growth, equity and welfare, gender differentials, good governance, or environmental and institutional sustainability.

Full empowerment, and fulfillment of human potential, must involve the spiritual and moral dimensions. Therefore important theological and ethical contributions are made in areas such as holistic or transformational development, development ethics, and the assessment of the roles and performance of churches (as civil society organisations) and church-related non-governmental organisations in pro-poor development interventions. OCMS actively took part in the process of discussion between the World Bank and the Churches of Africa, documented in Faith in Development (Regnum/World Bank Publications). 

'Mission Leadership and Christian Theological Research' is an article written by OCMS' then Executive Director, Canon Chris Sugden, and published in an anniversary volume of the Evangelical Review of Theology, 2004.  It can be found HERE, or in the link at the bottom of this page.

 Residency in Oxford: For how long would I have to be away?

Answer:

We offer two programmes.  Three quarters of our scholars study on a part time basis which requires a minimum of 6 week's residency in Oxford each year.  The remainder are full time and spend all but their periods of field work here at OCMS.  Regardless of whether the chosen avenue is full or part time, new students are required to attend the Research Induction School, and are then strongly recommended to schedule a further 6 weeks for that first year. 

 Visas: Are there restrictions on who might get them?

Answer:

Depending on your nationality and country of residence, you may require a UK Visa to study at OCMS. You are advised to download a visa application form (from www.ukvisas.gov.uk) and to submit your application to your nearest British High Commission or Embassy, once you have accepted a place to study at OCMS.

Please apply well before you travel to the UK. OCMS can assist you with your visa application by preparing a letter of introduction to the relevant visa section for submission with your application. Please ask us for a letter, give us the address (town) where you intend submitting your application and let us know your full name (as it appears on your passport) your passport number, expiry date, your date of birth and your intended travel dates.

The Oxford Centre for Mission Studies is scheduled as a 'Provider of Courses leading to a Degree' in the Education (Listed Bodies) Order 1999. This means that the Secretary of State for Education recognizes OCMS as a body which falls within section 216(3) of the Education Reform Act 1988. OCMS is also registered with the Department for Education and Skills as an Education and Training Provider, reference no. 21721. Please cite this in any visa application for study in the OCMS Research Programme. 

 Study Process: Describe this please?

Answer:

The aims of the programme are:

1. To captivate, advance, and nurture a cadre of well trained multi- and inter-disciplinary minister researchers.
2. To be an incubator for innovative research, ministry and rigorous academic discipline that will adapt ongoing research and reflection to transform both ministry and the academy.
3. To bring to bear multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary practitioner reflection and research so as to generate new knowledge that enhances professional practice and academic research for those at the front lines of transformative ministry.

Answer:

OCMS welcomes visitors and is open from Monday to Friday from 9 to 5pm each day.  Please call or email us in advance to let us know you would like to visit.  We can then strive to have present the people who are most likely to help you with your area of interest.  Tuesadys and Wednesdays are the most common days of the week for visitors, when there is the opportunity of listening to the Montagu Barker Lecture, being part of  Chapel, or joining in with the Community Lunch or student-led seminar.

For further details, please contact ocms@ocms.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 1865 556071.

 Refunds:  Am I able to obtain a refund for a product I have purchased here?

Answer:

1. If you are based in the EU you  have the right to cancel within seven days of your contract with us, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). You will have your payment returned once we have received the item back in the condition in which it was received.  For details on how to return an item and/or obtain a refund, please contact us on ocms@ocms.ac.uk.  We aim to respond within 2 working days, and faster than that where we can. 
2. If you are based outside the EU, should you discover you have made a mistake in your order, you should contact us immediately to request either an order change or cancelation. Please quote your invoice number in any correspondence. Money can be refunded for orders that are cancelled prior to being processed for shipping
     Tel: +44 (0) 1865 556071
     Fax: +44 (0) 1865 517722
     Email: ocms@ocms.ac.uk

   Once your order has been processed for shipping, we can no longer refund your money.

   If, on receipt of goods, you are unhappy for any reason, you may ship the item(s) in question back to us (at your expense) and we will happily replace them with another of the same type or credit you for a future purchase on our online store.  Items should be shipped to:
   Blanche Marslin

   Regnum Books
   OCMS
   St Philip & St James Church
   Woodstock Road
   Oxford  OX2 6HR
   UK  
    

   Please include a copy of your receipt in the package you send to us so we can correctly identify the order and process it accordingly.  Thank you.  Local regulations may apply.  

3. Should  OCMS cancel an event for any reason, we will make refunds to those who have purchased tickets usually using the same method of payment as the means by which we received the money.
4. All refunds are given at the discretion of OCMS.

 Security and Data Protection: what's your policy?

How do I know my details are secure?

OCMS uses industry standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to ensure the highest security for credit card and personal details submitted to us over the Internet. Recent surveys have shown that there is less fraud on the Internet than in real life situations (such as using your credit card in a department store or at a restaurant), and we're confident that we are offering the secure service you can expect from OCMS. Our security certificate is issued by Verisign and we use High Grade Encryption 256bit - US industry standard security software. Information passed between your computer and our website cannot be read in the unlikely event that it is intercepted by someone else.

What do you do with my data?

OCMS recognises the concern of our supporters regarding privacy of information. All information you give to OCMS is stored securely, and is not accessible to other users. Rest assured that any information you give to OCMS will not be distributed to any other organisation outside of the OCMS ministry or its affiliated partners.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. We will only use the information that we collect about you lawfully (in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998).

We collect information about you for 2 reasons: firstly, to process your gift or order and second, to provide you with the best possible service.

We will email you to thank you for your gift or order, or to keep you informed about the status of your gift or order or to let you know more about how it has been used. You can ask contacts to cease at any time you wish, either by email, by telephone or in writing, and we undertake to act on your request immediately.

The type of information we will collect about you includes: your name, address, email address, credit/debit card details.  We will never collect sensitive information about you without your explicit consent.  We will endeavour to keep the information we hold accurate and up to date. You can check the information that we hold about you by emailing us. If you find any inaccuracies we will delete or correct it promptly.  The personal information which we hold will be held securely in accordance with our internal security policy and the law.

OCMS relies on the use of cookies to process your gifts and orders. Whilst you do not need to allow your browser to accept cookies in order to browse much of our website, you must have cookies enabled if you wish to give or make a payment to OCMS online.

Cookies are small pieces of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which allows the server to uniquely identify the browser on each page. OCMS use 'session cookies' which are automatically deleted from your computer when you close your browser. You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, although in that case you may not be able to place an order on our website.

If you have any questions/comments about privacy, you should email us at ocms@ocms.ac.uk

How do I speak to someone?

We recognise that the most immediate and effective form of communication is over the telephone and welcome your calls. You can call us on Tel: +44 (0) 1865 556071 between the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday. Alternatively you can e-mail us at ocms@ocms.ac.uk. We recommend that you state your full name and address on your email, and provide as much detail as possible about the matter with which you wish us to help. We aim to respond to your e-mail within 24 hours. However at busier times this may not always be possible.

When can I contact someone about your services?

Our team are available to answer any questions regarding your order and possible purchases you wish to make.  You can call Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm GMT. We recommend you have your details at the ready to hand if your call is concerning a gift or order. Should you be unable to call within these hours, you call leave a message which we will answer the following working day.

What is your complaints procedure?

We aim to offer the best service possible but recognise that from time to time things may go wrong that are beyond our control. We would aim to resolve any complaint as soon as possible and recommend you contact us as soon as you can.

We aim to respond within 24 hours. We take feedback and complaints very seriously. We will investigate thoroughly to understand where any breakdown occurs so that we can avoid future mistakes. And it is our commitment to ensure we keep you informed throughout, and find a suitable outcome.

If you are in any way unhappy with the way we have dealt with your complaint, please do contact the Development Director, Stephen Dudley, who is responsible for the online giving and payments: