As we draw our ‘Trajectories’ speaking series to a close, it’s time to Dream Big together! Can we imagine a brave, proactive, sustainable community, where people feel a sense of ownership and are reimagining their faith? Come and be part of the conversation, and dream with us.

Due to our constantly changing world we need to explore ways of making ourselves more sustainable and secure for the future, ensuring we have the resources and people we need to fulfil our vision and be mature followers of Jesus who can hold reliance and sustainability in tension. At Oasis Church Bath this Sunday, Gaynor Williams shares some thoughts that can help us navigate this tension, as part of our current trajectories speaking series. This service will also include a brief reflection on the theme of remembrance.

We’re joined on the sofa by three wonderful creative people from Oasis Church Bath for a panel discussion on creativity and spirituality. Claire Shelswell chats to Julia Trickey (botanical artist), James Otto (composer) and Jo Rich (designer and all round creative genius!) about how their faith impacts their art, and vice versa.

Reprising this topic from before the summer, Jo Dolby explores what it looks like for the Oasis community and for each of us as individuals to move from being a safe space, to a brave space.

We welcome Jill Rowe, the Director of Ethos and Formation for Oasis UK, to discuss the next in our series of Trajectories - 'from reactive to proactive'. While we always have to respond to changing circumstances, constant fire-fighting gets in the way of us progressing towards being the community, people, and world that we dream of. Jill helps us to reflect on what it means to proactively move towards the future that we envision, and how we can play our part.

Sometimes it feels like our church and our community work can exist in different worlds, but for Jesus it was just as important to feed the hungry and help the vulnerable as it was to teach people how to live. In this conversation, our Community Work Manager Claire Henwood and our Associate Minister Amanda talk about what we do in our community projects and why, working through some of the jargon and language barriers towards a unified view of what makes us Oasis Bath.

We start a new speaking series, where we take some time to reflect on the trajectories from our new Hub Plan. What are they, why are they important, and what difference might they make? Expect phrases like ‘the priesthood of all believers’ as Amanda Higgin talks about taking agency and responsibility for the things we care about, and how the Baptist Church tradition of church membership puts power into the hands of the people at the heart of the community.

For lots of us, August is an interruption to our usual routine – whether that's because of work, school, hobbies, family, or our Oasis Summer Sundays. Amanda Higgin helps us to reflect on our return to the joyful ordinary, thinking and praying about where God is calling us to right now, and celebrating that we each have our own purpose and path in the world.

An interview with Karen O'Donnell. Karen is a lecturer and ‘trauma theologian’, and has recently released a book called ‘Survival: Radical Spiritual Practices for Trauma Survivors’. We talk to Karen about her helpful concept for trauma survivors of ‘remaking the self’ as opposed to ‘recovery’, and ask her about some of the spiritual practices she suggests in her book, many of which are unusual and radical.

We welcome Chrissie Chevasutt as our Sofa Sunday guest at Oasis Church Bath. Chrissie is employed by the United Reformed Church in Oxford as ‘Outreach and Development Worker with the Transgender, Intersex and Non-binary Community’ as well as being part of the team at Exeter college chapel. She has been a key support for LGBTQ young people in Oxford in recent years, pioneered the national Transgender Theology Conference, and this year will be launching a conference to gather national voices on Safeguarding LGBT+ People in the Church. In 2021, she published her memoir of coming out and finding faith: ‘Heaven Come Down, The Story of a Transgender Disciple’.