The Ridley Community
"Before coming here I hadn't anticipated the strength of the community." Revd Kylie Hodgins, former ordinand (Ridley 2000–02)
Ridley Hall is a diverse community made up of ordinands; children, youth and sports minstry students; independent students; guests on our Refreshment programme and our staff.
Whether we live and study on or off-site, we seek to be a community where the Gospel is lived out and where we are shaped to proclaim it more fully in the world.
There are natural groupings within our community, and you can find out more about the life of each group by following the links on our Programmes page. But as one community we grow together in an atmosphere of friendship, grace, honesty and humour.
As followers of Jesus Christ, called into this community as part of our formation for a life of faithful service, we commit ourselves to grow in love, wisdom and humility. We do this through paying attention to God (in worship, prayer and the study of Scripture) and through the practice of humble submission to one another.
The Community Rule
Members of the College (students, tutorial and teaching staff) commit to practising seven disciplines which, together, make up our Community Rule:
- Pray daily and study Scripture diligently
- Participate fully in the worshipping life of Ridley Hall
- Speak well of each other, avoiding gossip and ‘murmuring’ and judgemental attitudes
- Engage graciously with people with whom we disagree
- Respect and uphold the authority of Scripture and the discipline of the Church of England with regard to human sexuality and marriage
- Strive to serve the community in practical ways wherever possible
- Demonstrate respect for those in positions of authority and for one another, honouring our commitment to be present and punctual for lectures, services and fellowship groups
We prayerfully seek God’s grace as we strive, together to live out our Community Rule and we root ourselves in Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:3–5
