Contrary to logic, sometimes parallel lines appear to converge. And while this makes no sense in a physicalist world, sometimes you just scratch your head and wonder at how The Grand Weaver makes things happen. Such was my own experience at “OCCA,” including how I ended up there and now where I hope this experience takes me.
What follows is not intended to be a comprehensive description so much as key takeaways and suggestions. And if you want the short answer to, “Should I do this?”, the simple answer is a resounding, “Yes.”
What is the OCCA Business Programme?
The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics is a “centre of excellence” hosted by Zacharias Trust, the EMEA arm of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. And while its bullseye is “emerging leaders” in a longer program, it also hosts a four-week business program for those already leaders and influencers. The cohort for this program is intentionally small, kept so via an application process and interview in hopes of ensuring a strong fit for participants.
It’s about the people, not the content (and the content is great).
First a confession of bias from the cultural trends analyst in me: people show up for content, but they stay for people. We live in a world where for all of history knowledge has been scarce, but in less than our lifetime knowledge has zoomed past abundance to overwhelm. Put another way, I can learn stuff from a functionally infinite number of sources through a functionally infinite number of channels. The scarcity in life, then, is quality people.
My class was 11 top-notch people (of which I felt ‘the least of these’). I find in difficult to believe that, given the nature of the program, that you wouldn’t create some lifelong connections like I did.
More importantly for you, the people of OCCA – leaders, instructors, adjuncts, and staff -- are a credit to the evangelistic soul of the organization (organisation!) for the glory of God. You may not experience exactly what I did, but the opportunity to learn in a small group from world-class Christian thinkers is second-to-none.
The program needs less content and more application (though the content is great).
The Business Programme used to be eight weeks, now it’s four. I think that’s the right move. That said, coming from a guy who has spent the last decade and a half designing learning and who has the aforementioned bias, the packed schedule was like drinking from a firehose. This is entirely understandable. When you have so much awesome stuff to cover and so little time to do it, you risk (as my pastor-from-Oklahoma grandfather used to say) trying to fit fifty pounds of potatoes in a five pound sack.
To be fair, there are several points to make, all of which in no way detract from my positive recommendation of the program:
There is NO way you really impart a body of knowledge in four weeks.
The schedule was thoughtfully balanced in several categories (much like you see when attending multi-track conference or trade show). Categories included business and leadership issues, core apologetics, applied apologetics, spiritual formation, and special events.
What you are likely to find useful is going to depend on your background and preexisting knowledge about apologetics and evangelism. I had more formal apologetics training coming into the program (I’m nearly complete with a Masters from another world-class crew), so take what I say from that perspective.
A couple sessions were explicit examples of how evangelism-in-the-marketplace presentations are made (privately and via the genius Festival of Thought). For me, these gave me a vision for how to take the implicit biblical principles already present in my professional speaking and, in the right context, render the gospel explicit. Max Jeganathan and Simon Edwards were brilliant.
Some learning sessions were lecture-style which, to a small group of 11, was a missed opportunity. Lecture I can get on YouTube. There were only two explicitly hands-on, application-oriented activities. Again, not my preference.
One example: Tom Price’s system for engaging people in worldview conversations is brilliant (and one of the rare things not available online), but we were given no time to put it into practice. It was suggested as homework, but…
Despite little practice, there was a strong, if not dominant, emphasis on conversational apologetics (versus presentations from stage), and this is exactly as it should be. If my afore-described cultural analysis is correct, relationship (in a new context) is more important than ever for delivering messages. Relationship is the context where the majority of Christians will be engaging culture.
Please hear me correctly here. I believe optimization drives valuation. What I’m describing is how to make great stuff greater, and I’m confident some classmates would not share my opinion because they came from a different place. That said, I’ll conclude with these admonitions:
When you don’t have enough time to deliver all the “what” of learning content, your greatest training need is building lifelong learners driven by a “why” and “how (do I train myself).”
If you then assume your learners will emerge equipped knowing how to continue to self-educate, you can teach the hands-on application (conversation/engagement skills) that will be how they’ll apply the “what” they learn in the future. Such skills are best taught in realtime (in person first, though realtime virtual classes are effective, too).
Therefore, I’d have preferred if such hands-on work had a larger slice of the time pie.
If you’re curious, talk with someone (e.g., set up a Skype/phone call).
Don’t rely on the website to help you make an informed decision. You’re not going to get a sales pitch because the Business Programme isn’t for the masses. I now understand why, but again, a website’s imperfect at communicating this. You are welcome to call me, too (really).
The bottom line
I am sure that the moment I hit “publish” I’ll think of something else I should have said. I could have rambled on and name dropped (e.g., Michael Ramsden, John Lennox, Os Guinness, and on and on) all the people who gave of themselves to us there (including and especially accommodating requests to meet one-on-one as best they could), but here’s the thing: if you value relationship in the way that I do, then no website or blog review will really do justice to the depth and breadth of how OCCA’s Business Programme may change your life. Godspeed as you prayerfully figure it out.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in communications, an award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. A five-time entrepreneur and certified John Maxwell Team leadership coach, his latest endeavor is For The Hope, a daily Bible and apologetics podcast and training company equipping on-the-go professionals with confidence and courage for marketplace relationships. On Twitter can follow him @RogerCourville and/or his podcast @JoinForTheHope, or get all updates by email subscription at www.forthehope.org.