Cambridge Christian
Study Centre

A dedicated study space in the heart of Cambridge with specialist reference library, discussion hosts and mutual encouragement.

Learning together

Faculty reading lists within mainstream universities are often shaped by secular assumptions, and the wealth of Christian literature on the academic disciplines can go unappreciated. The Cambridge Christian Study Centre offers both the resources and the context for Christian students to gain the intellectual and theological foundations they need.

Learning is not an individual process. We can help one another with the shared discipline necessary to devote a regular time and place to the intentional study of what Scripture says concerning God’s world and its relation to Christ.

Open during the week in term-time, we offer protected periods for productive quiet study interspersed with mutual encouragement and rich conversation over coffee and lunch times.

Membership and Guests

The study centre is open through library membership and a desk booking arrangement, enabling you to book for yourself and for a guest. We invite you to apply for membership using the link below.

Book a trial visit

Membership does not commit you to using the Study Centre – it is a gateway to the desk booking system. If you would like to trial the use of the Study Centre, please complete the membership form and book a desk. If you discover it’s not for you, there is no obligation to use your membership, and you may also contact us to cancel your membership.

Intellectual foundations

The Study Centre sits within the Round Church, the second oldest building in Cambridge.

A Christian heritage

Built between 1114 and 1130, on the wave of the monastic renewal and at the outset of the twelfth century Renaissance, the Round Church predates the university. It is a symbol of the Christian intellectual and moral foundations of Western civilisation – a story told by the public Visitor Centre exhibition in the rest of the building.

Christ: the integration of all things

The church’s round shape and upward pointing conical roof picture a biblical intellectual vision: holistic and Christ-glorifying: ‘so that in everything he might have the supremacy’ (Col. 1:15-20).

‘He is before all things, and in him all things hold together’ ‘… in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’ (Col. 2:3).

Everything exists ‘in him’, ‘through him’ and ‘to him’, so the person and work of God’s beloved Son integrates each section of our reference library:

Our vision

The Study Centre and our partnerships foster a new normal in which Christian students at the University of Cambridge both:

contribute to their fields excellently from a Christian worldview and ethos, and
trace the signposts of their fields, through worship, cultural apologetics and outreach, to their ultimate end – the glory of God in Christ.

Weekly Timetable

Daily Schedule

Hosts

Hosts at regular coffee and lunch discussions direct students to relevant Christian literature enabling them to think theologically about their field:

Andrew Fellows (Visiting Tutor and former Chairman of L’Abri International) our regular Wednesday host.
Anja Lijcklama à Nijeholt (UCCF Research Associate), with a postgraduate background in theological anthropology.
Matt Peckham (Associate Pastor, Rock Baptist Church), with a postgraduate background in Christian aesthetics.

Guests

On guest days members may bring a guest who is a student member of Cambridge University.

Administration

Day to day operational management of the Study Centre is provided by the staff of the Foundations Trust: Jon Savage as Projects Manager, and Jo Pinfield, coordinating hospitality and administration.

Fellows Programme

For students and researchers who want to go deeper, we also organise an annual Fellows Programme. The programme includes discussion of guided reading and supported practical exercises through weekly term-time seminars and 2 away days.

We discuss significant texts and ideas from the Christian intellectual tradition which encourage the re-integration of the Christian faith with scholarship, teaching, research and the intellectual life. Fellows will receive support in writing an essay and preparing a short talk, relating their Christian faith and academic field.

Fellows who are based in Cambridge meet in the Round Church, with those based elsewhere joining on Zoom.

Taster Sessions:

28 Nov – Introduction to the doctrine of God and its
interdisciplinary implications, Dr James Eglinton

5 Dec – The relevance of the Creator-creature distinction for academia today, Dr Gray Sutanto

19 Dec – Augustine and the intellectual impact of the Fall, Dr Brad Green

To find out more and sign up, please follow the link below.

Cambridge Christian Study Centre