A panel of guests sit on the sofa to share their experiences of not working, and how this impacts their experience of ordinary life.

Our culture celebrates success and achievement, and in a workplace environment there is an expectation that everyone will ‘climb the ladder’. But of course, places at the top are limited! How do we respond when we don’t get that promotion? Or what if we’re quite happy where we are? Rob Trickey explores how we can simply ‘be’ at work.

Does God have a set and specific plan for each of us when it comes to our work? How do we choose our jobs and what kind of jobs should we be doing as followers of Jesus? The average adult will spend 3515 days of their life at work, so it’s really important we reflect both on the jobs we do and why we do them. Jo Dolby helps us explore these questions and considers whether there is a specific plan for each of us, or whether we make our own plan.

Oasis Church Bath invited Phil Mader-Grayson to the sofa. Phil shares his own journey of faith through the army, the evangelical church, ordained ministry, and membership of the Northumbria Community. Most recently, along with his wife Rosie, Phil ran a retreat centre called Bridge House which welcomed, in his words, “people on their way into the church and people on their way out”.

Oasis Church Bath welcomes a special guest Jill Rowe, who is the Ethos and Formation Director for Oasis UK, and part of Oasis Church Waterloo. Jill is speaking, as part of our 'How to be Ordinary' series, on being at home in ourselves. Whilst we might see home as defined by the bricks and mortar buildings we live in, our body is the primary place we live in and inhabit. It is through this body that we experience the world and live our lives and so it’s important to ask how we can feel at home in our bodies, and with ourselves?

Jo Dolby kicks off a brand new speaking series by thinking about what it means to ‘Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering’ (Romans 12:1, The Bible).

September often feels like a new beginning, or the start of a new year, where we prepare for a new season or different rhythm of life. As we start a brand new speaking series we take some time to reflect on the roles, relationships and contexts we find ourselves in at the moment, recommissioning one another to be light seekers and love bringers wherever we go and whatever we do.

In this podcast we explore the story of Susanna Wesley. Best known as the mother of two exceptional children, John and Charles, Susanna Wesley was a principled and committed Christian who took her faith into her own hands. She was a mother to 8 surviving children out of 19 births, often parenting them alone and through multiple hardships, and assumed responsibility for both their traditional and spiritual education. While not a minister, she ran a popular Christian gathering in her house and wrote numerous meditations and commentaries. She made a huge impact on her family, in her community, and as a result on the world.

It may be frowned upon for religion to interfere with politics, but faith cannot avoid being involved in public life. Rob Trickey tells the stories of Rosa Parks and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who, inspired by their faith, stood against oppressive systems and suffered the consequences. Rosa Parks was imprisoned for refusing to adhere to racial segregation. Bonhoeffer, a German Reformed pastor and theologian, was executed in a concentration camp for writing against and then conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Both made the costly decision to stand their ground against evil, knowing that they would suffer as a result.

Oasis Church Bath, were excited to be joined on the sofa by Lou Bisset, Church Leader at the recently launched Oasis Church Reading. She tells us about the messy table Lou and her team have been creating in Reading, and who she might invite to her own metaphorical messy table!