Love Oxford: mixed feelings again

This year, Love Oxford moved out of the city centre to South Park (no guffaws, thank you). I confess to being fearful that the move - combined with poor weather - would leave the event a bit of a damp squib. But I'd say that around 2000 people were there (maybe a few more than that), probably a similar number to last year. And they seemed to be enjoying themselves.


As I remarked last year, the event leaves me with slightly mixed feelings. On the whole, it's pretty inclusive and positive. An event whose core organisation mixes some of the strongest charismatics in the city with some of the most vehemently reformed souls could hardly be otherwise. I didn't get there in time for the "introduce the pastors" slot, so I don't know if the Roman Catholics were well-represented, but it seems not. Nor, I think, were the more liberal-minded churches in evidence. The black-led churches certainly were - a reminder in itself that we have some way to go in developing an integrated faith community in our city.

The cost of staging the event - £30,000 - leaves me a little staggered: particularly as I've never seen any accounts published. For readers from afar, that's significantly more than the national average salary; worked out at cost-per-head, it's approaching the price of two movie tickets - or five pints of beer. Is that a lot? Well, it seems so to me - but perhaps I'm just too frugal about such things.

The sermon managed to put penal substitution in a positive light, but was a little on the vehment side. The representative of the students' Christian Union prayed against intellectualism in the University, which left me wondering slightly why he is (presumably) reading for a degree. The band was suitably loud, the dancing appropriately enthusiastic, and the offering (to cover the £15,000 budget shortfall) collected in awfully large buckets.

I probably sound rather cynical: for which I'm sorry. A while ago, I would truly have loved it: a great jamboree for all; an opportunity to share with other Christians; a chance to say that there are lots of people in our city who want to bring the kingdom in this place. And part of me still does: but part of me is awfully bothered by the detail, the language, some of the underlying assumptions of what's said from the front. Mention was made of the western European church being in rapid decline, on the point of being wiped out - or becoming a tiny rump. That's a real fear. Did I see anything today to suggest there's a real dynamic life-changing Spirit-filled life that's going to buck that trend? Not sure.