Chris Sugden Issue: Vol.1 No.1 April 2024 Article 1 pp.2-3

Welcome to the first issue of the Journal of Religion and Public Life (JRPL), the new journal published by the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life. This will be a conversation of scholars, serious students and activists in the area of public life to give a globally accessible voice to scholars and activists from the Global South on key issues. We stand for religious and academic freedom. We espouse a conservative Christian perspective that focuses, with ecumenical engagement, on the mission of the church that transforms the whole of life. The purpose of JRPL is to give visibility to and distribute more widely the fruits of the work of the OCRPL international research community of faculty, graduates, students and supervisors. There are 10,000 academic institutions globally that are interested in the kind of work we are engaged in. Multiply that by the number of their students! OCRPL’s mission is to equip resource, strengthen, and empower the Church’s life and ministry to deal with the challenges of Christian life and witness in religiously plural contexts where Christianity is a minority religion and faces hostility, and Christians are suering or are marginalised, and to witness to the transforming power of Christ. This will be achieved through research, The Shepherds Academy (which provides undergraduate level and short courses), masters programmes, consultations and publications. The journal will be part of the communication strategy.