OUR NAME
The Oxford House Christian Study Center draws its name and inspiration from Oxford College, the alma mater of John Wesley, Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and other members of the Holy Club. During their time at Oxford, this group engaged in rigorous intellectual inquiry, disciplined spiritual practices, and intentional community, laying the groundwork for the Methodist revival that would sweep across England and beyond. Just as Oxford College shaped these influential figures, The Oxford House Study Center seeks to cultivate a similar spirit of intellectual rigor, spiritual depth, and communal engagement in students today, empowering them to become transformative leaders in the church and the world, just as the Wesley brothers and their associates were.
OUR CONTEXT
With over 80,000 undergraduate and graduate students among nine downtown Houston campuses are cultural and leader-shaping institutions. For generations, Christian faculty, churches, and campus ministries have labored to grow a kingdom movement on these campuses. We are excited to provide an exciting new resource to draw together the extended Christian community and to resource students and faculty to grow in Christ.
OUR MOVEMENT
On the national scale, Christian study centers first emerged in the 1970s and 80s, led by the flagship Center for Christian Study at the University of Virginia. For the last 50 years, study centers have sprouted up at colleges and universities around the country. The North Carolina Study Center (NCSC) was founded in 2015 at UNC-Chapel Hill, and has quickly become a flourishing center of Christian life and thought and a home-away-from-home for hundreds of students.
OUR PROGRESS
In the spring of 2025, a handful of leaders in the Houston community worked with NCSC to plant an independent Christian study center in close proximity to the downtown Houston campuses. As of June 2025, The Oxford House Study Center is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit and applying to become a member of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers.