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How Did It All Begin? The pioneers of WYSOCS were David Lyon and Ruth Hanson. In the 1970s David and Ruth were both involved in research and teaching at the University of Bradford and David ran the Ilkley sociologists’ study group. He and Ruth met from time to time to discuss doing work in the social sciences from a Christian perspective. For several years David also worked with John Stott at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (www.licc.org.uk). Founded in 1982, LICC sought to equip Christians to engage biblically and relevantly with everyday issues. David taught a segment of LICC’s annual “Christian in the Modern World” course and gave the LICC London Lectures in 1985. He impressed on John Stott that a London programme was too distant for people in the north of England and urged John to set up a northern ‘LICC’. John’s response was to tell David to do so himself. Accordingly David and Ruth each chose 3 others from their churches to form a committee, and arranged lectures, beginning in 1986. Over the years many friends from Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield have served on the committee of what became known as the West Yorkshire School of Christian Studies (WYSOCS). In the early years, Ruth’s husband, David Hanson, co-led a seminal course with David Lyon on the ‘Biblical Drama’. David Lyon left in 1990 when he relocated to Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where he currently holds the Queen’s Research Chair in Sociology at Queen’s University and is Director of The Surveillance Project. WYSOCS draws its inspiration from the Reformational tradition flowing from the work of the Dutch Christian scholar, theologian, and politician, Abraham Kuyper. Some of the many friends of WYSOCS in the UK, sharing that tradition and grouped for the photograph below, gathered for a Colloquium in October 2006. Short papers were presented by 23 of the 45 participants, demonstrating a wide and fascinating variety of subjects and interests.  So What did We Do? From the beginning we have sought to find teachers who are authorities in their field, and who have developed a distinctively Biblical perspective. We have sought to do this for as many areas of study and as many issues as possible. To this end we have been delighted to welcome Christian scholars from around the world. In particular – and this has distinguished us from other similar organisations – we have sought scholars who draw from and develop a systematic Christian philosophy. Worldview thinking is an approach that can be grasped by most people. But those who are called to make a difference in the professions and in public life need more systematic analyses and more thorough critiques. We have found that Reformational philosophy has enabled us to provide teaching that can be developed further and deeper for those who need it. [See Clouser, 2005, listed in Resouces under Key Worldview Books, for an introduction to Reformational philosophy, which is exceptionally lucid and accessible.] Resources gives a selection of the topics we have covered since 1986. From early on David and Ruth Hanson’s home in Leeds, Outwood House, – once the home of the Christian labour reformer Richard Oastler (1789-1861) – became the regular venue for WYSOCS’ meetings. The Barn was re-developed for lectures, but it and the house are also used for concerts, art exhibitions, round-table discussions and private symposia. The development of WYSOCS was enormously helped by David Hanson’s work with the International Association for Reformed Faith and Action (IARFA) and his contacts with Reformational scholars around the world. Indeed David and Ruth played a role in preparing the first international conference on Christian Higher Education which was held at Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (PUCHE) in South Africa in 1975. Another seminal event came in 1996 when the great missionary theologian and bishop, Lesslie Newbigin, led a colloquium at WYSOCS with many of our like-minded academic colleagues from overseas and the UK. He left us with the challenge to make the culture-transforming work of Abraham Kuyper known in this country. Refocusing the Vision The WYSOCS pattern of lectures continued into the new century, but it was becoming clear that we were getting no nearer to our goals. We were reaching only a very small number of people, whilst the public culture continued haemorrhaging Christian presence and influence. To accelerate our progress towards a Christian university, we first thought in terms of establishing an intensive learning programme with resident students. A local pastor suggested that we form a City Academy and this focused our minds on reaching young people to equip them for their chosen fields of study or occupations. After much discussion Ruth suggested that a Gap Year programme, unconstrained by the National Curriculum, would enable us to engage with Christian students – an achievable first step. We were also excited by the prospect that some of the students might eventually become faculty of our university! The programme – called Thinking Space – was launched in September 2003 and ran for three years. For the students involved it was very successful, but by Autumn 2005 it was obvious that WYSOCS and its innovative courses were too little known and understood for us to recruit enough students to make the programme viable. However it did catapult WYSOCS into the employment of our first paid teaching staff – Arthur Jones in 2003, joined by Mark Roques in 2005. Changing the Climate, Creating a Constituency In 2006 we took the decision to put the Gap Year programme on ice (apart from the offer of a single student internship as funding permits). By then it was clear that if we were to reach young people and others in greater numbers, then we needed to take our programmes out around the country, ideally through collaboration with other Christian organizations. So we launched the WYSOCS outreach programme – REALITYBITES. Since January 2007 we have been working closely with Urban Saints (formerly Crusaders) and other Christian organisations in running youth leader training programmes and writing new training materials. In March 2007 we began a new ministry delivering sessions with school students taking the increasingly popular Religious Studies courses at GCSE, AS and A2 levels. The Resources section gives a selection of the topics we offer in the REALITYBITES programme and the sessions we can offer to schools for Religious Studies students. If we can help you in any of these ways, please contact us. In summary WYSOCS provides Christian education with a Biblical worldview. We believe that the kingdom of heaven is Christ’s redemption of the whole creation and that the Bible reveals God’s wisdom for the whole of life – in home and church, school and college, farm and factory, laboratory and studio – that all of our thinking, speaking, and doing may please the King of Creation, the risen Lord Jesus. WYSOCS therefore seeks to build cultural understanding on a foundation of Christian scholarship, which will both inspire believers and challenge non-believers. A world-transforming vision empowers us to engage practically and unashamedly with secular views and to discover the richness of God’s callings for our lives. To this end our work now flows in two major streams, the one introductory to our vision and the other, fed by it, still moving towards a Christian university. Our new mottos capture this.
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