John and Phyll Chesworth - UK |
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mp news
"God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
1 Cor.1:9
Dear Friends,
We apologise for the lack of news from us since last November. We really wanted to wait until we had positive news to tell you. We praise God that there has been a lot of progress during the past 6 months - but some things are yet to be finalised.
John
John had his viva for his thesis in January and was thoroughly examined. He was asked to make major corrections to the methodology sections. These have now been completed and he will receive his doctorate on 11th July. The thesis looks at Muslim and Christian outreach literature written in Swahili; it examines the way both Muslims and Christians use both the Bible and the Qur’an to explain why they believe their own religion is the correct one. As a result of the extra work needed on the thesis, since January John has had to concentrate on this, but has still fitted in the occasional trip abroad.
Sharia Debates Project
In April, he spent a week at the University of Jos, Nigeria, participating in a Sharia Debates workshop. Each of the Junior Scholars has now written an article based on the preliminary results of their work and these will be published as a book. While in Jos, John was able to visit the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN), and to meet the Dean and other staff members in order to discuss the possibility of TCNN inviting the Muslim-Christian Studies team to assist with the teaching of their MA in Islam programme next time they run it.
On the Move, for the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies
Until the end of April, we were based at our home in Kidderminster but travelling to Oxford for planning meetings on a fairly regular basis. The point was reached when we needed to be closer to the action and we were thankful to be able to rent a small cat-friendly property in Kidlington, just north of Oxford, quite cheaply. It is only available until the end of July and we are now looking for a property for a longer term let. We have been discovering the best routes to commute through Oxford by car or bus, but until now the weather has not been friendly enough for us to try cycling to work.
So, since the beginning of May, from Monday to Friday we have been living in Oxford and returning to Kidderminster at the weekends, where John, as Lay-Reader, continues to preach regularly, helping out during the interregnum in the parish.
Home Parish
We are glad that at last, over a year since Nick Barker left, a new Team Rector has been appointed to St. George’s Parish. He is Hugh Burton, who has been our Team Vicar at St. Chad’s Church, (which is part of St. George’s Parish), for the past 12 years, and he will be installed in September, leaving us with a vacancy for Team Vicar!
The Solomon Academic Trust and the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford
The Solomon Academic Trust has now been incorporated as a company and should gain Charitable Status soon, possibly later this month. We can then be officially seconded by Crosslinks to work for the Trust.
Phyll is now sharing a small, temporary, office at St. Stephen’s House with Ida Glaser (academic director of the project) and is busy with administration, liaising with the team members, trustees, advisors, the Trust’s solicitor and with the St. Stephen’s House personnel. Once the Trust has been granted Charitable Status, it can sign the lease to rent the Song School and parts of St. John the Evangelist Church which are part of the St. Stephen’s House complex of buildings. These buildings will become the offices and library of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies and we hope to be able to move into them during July.
John taught courses in Islam at All Nations Christian College (ANCC), last term and at Redcliffe College, Gloucester, this term, jointly with other team members, and found the teaching enjoyable, with students keen to understand more about Islam and Christian responses as they prepare for mission service in various parts of the world.
This term the Centre started a weekly seminar on Wednesday afternoons at St. Stephen’s House. These seminars provide an opportunity for team members and others to present ‘work in progress’ and to receive informed comment. John gave a paper on ‘The vilification of Paul in Muslim writings’. The seminars are helping the Centre to begin to establish a presence in Oxford.
Future Plans
At the end of July, John will be spending a week at the University of Bayreuth, presenting a series of lectures at an International and Interdisciplinary Summer Academy: “Religion and Order in Africa”.
In September he will be visiting St. Paul’s University, Limuru to teach on the MA programme. Once he has been there we will be able to give more news on developments since we left. We hear that the new Dispensary is now open and we are looking forward to receiving photos of it.
Finances
The amount pledged by churches and individuals for our support does not yet meet our Crosslinks budget so we are glad of John’s lecture fees from ANCC and Redcliffe College which contribute towards it. In order to earn additional money towards the budget, John is marking ‘O’ level ‘Islamiyat’ exam scripts for schools in Pakistan, for the Cambridge International Exam Board, and will be marking Religious Studies ‘A’ level exam scripts for OCR. Phyll has also obtained some proof-reading part-time work. If you are not already doing so, and feel that God is calling you to help towards our financial support, please get in touch with us or Crosslinks. If you are able to support us on a regular basis, we will send you the necessary forms; if you cannot do that, but would like to send a one-off gift, it would be most welcome. If you send it direct to Crosslinks, please mark it ‘for John & Phyll Chesworth’s support. Every little helps!
Summary & Points for Praise
- We are looking forward to the awarding of John’s PhD.
- We are thankful for great progress in the development of the Solomon Academic Trust, and pray that the final hurdle, the awarding of Charitable Status, will soon be cleared.
- We thank God that the work of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies has already started, with team members teaching at Christian colleges, writing, and being invited to contribute to Muslim-Christian consultations at the highest level. (Ida Glaser and Martin Whittingham prepared a paper for, and attended, a conference at Lambeth Palace earlier in the month.)
- We thank God for all of you, who have pledged to start or continue supporting us financially and prayerfully
Prayer Points
- For successful completion of the rental agreement for the Song School to become the offices for the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies
- For our own and the team’s accommodation and financial needs to be met
- For the support of organisations and trusts who recognise the need for a centre where Christians seek to honestly study and understand Islam and reach out with the love and truth of Jesus to Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
With our love in Jesus,
Phyll & John