Who we are

Welcome to OCCA

We’re passionate about engaging the heartfelt questions people have about the Christian faith and helping others do the same.

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Wider team

What we do

Our Board

Reboot Youth Apologetics

Thinking Faith

Our Speakers

Our team speaks in a variety of settings about the big questions of faith, life, and meaning; from community cafes to universities, from local schools to the marketplace.

Alanzo Paul

Alanzo's work focuses on addressing metaphysical and existential questions. He has a degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, and a Masters in Theological Studies from the University of Toronto.

Ben Thomas

Ben qualified as a Doctor in 2003, working full-time in the hospital setting with the exception of one year where he pursued training in Theology and Apologetics at the OCCA and the University of Oxford. In 2016, he obtained a Consultant post in Neurosciences Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, but now works part-time alongside his role at the OCCA. Ben has particular interests in the intersection of Christian faith and sexuality, gender, medical ethics and psychology. He has spoken numerous times to young people and adults in churches, conferences and mission events across the UK & in Australia. In his attempts to work out what it looks like to follow Jesus well, he is also a keen runner (Forrest Gump style!), musician and cook and loves spending time with family, friends and God-children.

Clare Williams

Clare's work focuses on questions of race, justice and culture, and what the Christian message has to offer these contested issues. She studied English Language and Literature at Oxford University, and has Masters degrees in Leadership, Culture, Diaspora and Ethnicity.

John Lennox

John is Chaplain and Speaker at OCCA. He is Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University (emeritus) and speaks on the interface of science, philosophy and religion.

Lara Buchanan

Lara has a specific interest in studying the impact of Jesus’ life and teachings on the flourishing of individuals as well as communities. She holds qualifications in History, English Literature, Education, Apologetics and Theology.

Max Baker-Hytch

Max is Academic Consultant & Tutor at OCCA. His research focuses on the philosophical arguments for theism, the rationality of belief in God, divine hiddenness, and the historical credibility of the New Testament. Max has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oxford.

Rahil Patel

Rahil is an Adjunct Speaker and tutor at OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. His work evolves around Hinduism (a group of multiple religions) and how the Christian faith can build bridges into that eastern worldview and offer the beauty of the Gospels. Prior to his work for the Christian faith, Rahil was a Hindu monk for 20 years with one of the world’s most influential Hindu traditions and was Head of Europe and Russia before he had a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ.

Sara Stevenson

Sara is passionate about exploring questions raised by Philosophy of Religion and Ethics. She has an MSc in Philosophy of Science and Religion from the University of Edinburgh, and an Education Degree in Religious Studies.

Simon Edwards

Simon's work focuses on presenting and defending the Christian faith in a way that engages with the big questions of our culture. Previously a lawyer, Simon holds qualifications in Law, Economics, Education and Theology,

Tom Price

Tom is passionate about philosophy and theology. He has an MA in Christian Apologetics, and is currently working on his doctorate in Theology, Philosophy and Film.

Wider speakers

Andy Moore

Andy is an adjunct speaker with OCCA and Managing Director of Chorus Network. A qualified chartered accountant, Andy also holds a Masters in Philosophy and has been involved in business missions across the world.

Calum Miller

Calum is an adjunct speaker with OCCA, a medical doctor, and a research associate in bioethics at the University of Oxford. He speaks widely on the existence of God, probability theory, and beginning of life ethics.

Charlie Styles

Charlie is the executive director of OCCA. He loves teaching the Bible and is never happier than when helping people grasp life-changing spiritual truth for the first time.

Max Jeganathan

Priyan (Max) is an international speaker and writer for OCCA and Thinking Faith. He is passionate about helping people make sense of current issues and life’s big questions through the lens of the Christian message. A former lawyer and political & policy adviser in the Australian National Parliament, Max has spoken around the world in banks, businesses and universities, including Facebook, Google, Nike and Goldman Sachs. He is based in Sydney, Australia and is currently undertaking a PhD on the ethics of human dignity.

Os Guinness

Os is a visiting fellow at OCCA. He has written or edited more than thirty books, and is passionate about religious freedom.

Sam Allberry

Sam is a senior fellow at OCCA and a pastor, apologist, author and speaker. He writes extensively on issues relating to identity, sexuality, and faith.

Sharon Dirckx

Sharon is particularly interested in questions of meaning, purpose and identity and how they relate to Christian belief. She holds a PhD in brain imaging from the University of Cambridge.

Abigail Woodcock

Director of Communications, OCCA and Managing Editor, Thinking Faith

Charlie Styles

Charlie is the executive director of OCCA. He loves teaching the Bible and is never happier than when helping people grasp life-changing spiritual truth for the first time.

David Lloyd

Development Consultant

Johnathan Davys

Finance & Office Manager

Kathie Roberts

Training Coordinator

Khadija Paul

Senior Administrator

Mary Simek

Social Media Specialist

Naomi Thomas

Ministry Activities Manager

Sophie Styles

Content Reviewer

Zachary Jackman

Director of Operations

Evangelistic Speaking

Our team speaks in a variety of settings about the big questions of life, faith and God; from community cafes to universities, from local schools to well-known corporations. We love to be invited to point people to the God who loves them. We also run youth and one-day apologetic events for local churches that delve into the big issues of our day from a faith-based perspective.

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Online Resources

We love to create content that is both intelligent in thought and aware of the cultural narratives that shape our world. We work with a wide variety of academics and experts from many different fields to offer a hub of bespoke videos answering every question that might help someone come to faith in Jesus.

Training & Equipping

Our team provides training and resources to equip everyone to confidently share the extraordinary news of Jesus. From online courses that cover topics such as critical thinking and the existence of God, to small group sessions that engage with heartfelt questions about the Christian faith, we’ve designed a training pathway to help on every stage of the journey.

Events

Akeel Sachak

Akeel is a Partner of Rothschild & Co, the Anglo-French investment bank, where he advises corporates on mergers, acquisitions, capital raising and restructuring. He comes from a Muslim family background, but became a Christian while studying law at Christ Church, Oxford. He is married to Joy and has four adult children. He worships at Christ Church, Virginia Water and is closely involved in a number of Christian ministries. Akeel joined the OCCA Board in 2021.

Christine Brindley

Christine has been a supporter of OCCA for a number of years, having re-engaged with them when a group from her church went to a "Why?” event. Since that time she has been involved with apologetics both in her church and in a local secondary school. She trained as a lawyer and works for a Christian charity. She is part of the church family at St Nicholas, Sevenoaks along with her husband and three nearly grown sons.

James Gardner

Chairman of the Board - James lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Eileen and their two children, and worships at Christ Church Chorleywood. He became a Christian after university, and has been passionate about apologetics since his first encounter with OCCA fifteen years ago. He was a lawyer in London and Asia for many years, and now works with a number of evangelical ministries. James joined the OCCA board in 2013 and became board chair in 2015.

Matt Baird

Matt works for a Canadian pension fund where he helps ensure the businesses the fund invests in are as successful as possible, and the firemen and women of Toronto get to enjoy a happy retirement. He first heard of OCCA ~15 years ago when he was invited to a dinner by a friend and has been a supporter ever since. He lives in Twickenham with his wife, Amy, and two young children. They attend St Stephen's East Twickenham where Matt serves as Treasurer and Amy helps lead worship each Sunday. Matt joined the OCCA Board in 2022.

Yolanda Ibbett

Yolanda started her career in banking and has spent the last 25 years working in private family business in a central Executive role. She first heard of OCCA at a Stewardship event and later attended an OCCA conference where she gained a greater understanding of the huge opportunity to reach people for Christ through evangelism training and apologetics. Yolanda lives in Bedfordshire with her husband John and they are part of Grace Community Church in Bedford. She joined the OCCA Board in 2022 and is happy to share, where relevant, her many years of general experience serving on both business and charity boards in the areas of finance, governance, organisation, people and marketing.

Youth Apologetics

Reboot

Reboot is all about offering a space for young people to ask difficult questions about God, faith, life, meaning, purpose, and many other topics.

Working collaboratively with partners and local churches, our team delivers youth apologetics in a way that is engaging, relevant and respectful of everyone’s backgrounds. Youth are safe to raise their questions about God and life and can expect kind and credible responses.

Visit the Reboot website

OCCA Project

Thinking Faith

Every day we’re confronted with big issues and trends from around the world. From war, to inflation, to what everyone’s watching on Netflix. It can be a lot. Well, our team at Thinking Faith are passionate about making sense of the stories beneath the headlines- through the lens of the Christian message. With fresh insight and depth, they offer thoughtful reflection on current affairs and pop culture to encourage meaningful conversation about the big issues shaping the world around us, and our place in it.

Check out their website, and follow them on Instagram for (almost) daily shots of content.

Watch the trailer

Go to Thinking Faith

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What our team says

I love helping people to see how Christian faith answers humanity’s deepest questions, and meets our deepest needs.

Simon Edwards OCCA Speaker

About

Our History

OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics was established in 2004 to raise up the next generation of evangelist-apologists. By 2021, around 350 emerging evangelists from around the world had studied on the OCCA one-year programme. This course equipped each of them to share and defend the gospel message and to come alongside others to help them with their intellectual objections and heartfelt concerns about the Christian faith.