Oxford Lodge: Our Story

Meet our Director

For Bill Boyd, the concept of the Oxford Lodge developed over many years, through many conversations, and on many porches. Drawing inspiration from fellowship on the cabin steps of Alpine Camp, the porch swings of the Battle House at UNC Chapel Hill, and the rocking chairs on Bill’s own back porch at his home in Durham, NC, the Oxford Lodge emerged as a new mission to Ole Miss students.

Bill is no stranger to student life. Since he graduated from Ole Miss in 1989, Bill has continued to invest himself in building Christian community in multiple roles of leadership. After receiving his Master’s of Divinity from Covenant Seminary, Bill has served as RUF campus minister at UT Austin, senior pastor at All Saints Church (PCA), and senior pastor at Covenant Church (PCA) in Birmingham. He has also worked with Alpine Camp for Boys in multiple roles, namely recruiting and training, since 1986.

For the past three years, Bill has served as the Director of Spiritual Formation at the North Carolina Study Center at UNC Chapel Hill, where he began to dream of founding a center for student fellowship in Oxford.

Bill is passionate about hospitality, literature, and student life on college campuses. He also makes a mean breakfast taco.

“Students who are informed in the deepest sense of the word…”

Walker Percy, who grew up in the Mississippi Delta under the tutelage of his uncle, William Alexander Percy, described that setting in a manner that captures the imagination:

“To have lived in Will Percy's house with Uncle Will, as we called him, as a raw youth from age fourteen to twenty six, a youth whose only talent was a knack for looking and listening, for tuning in and soaking up -- was nothing less than to be informed in the deepest sense of the word.” - Walker Percy

On occasion I have found myself in a place like Will Percy’s mansion, a house or dedicated space frequented by thoughtful people, surrounded by books and artwork, fragrance of bittersweet coffee and baked goods in the air, dappled light shining through leafy branches, rushing waters on the wind, my mind open to knowing and being known.  The Oxford Lodge exists to replicate the kind of hospitality found at places that are dedicated in-depth, to the well-being of people. To do this the Lodge property must be convenient to students, preferably adjacent to the University. The Lodge must have quiet space for studying, common space for connecting and collaborating, a kitchen with the basic fuels for collegiate life - coffee and snacks - and an environment that invites thoughtful as well as playful interaction; food, books, a dog or two, music, tables, couches, seminars, guests - inviting, fun, respectful, and conducive to creativity - so that students might say, “to be a part of the Lodge was to be informed in the deepest sense of the word”.

— Bill Boyd, Founder and Curator

Our Values

  • Hospitality

    We open our lives (and living rooms) to the University of Mississippi community hoping to create a space that gives students a “home away from home.” The Oxford Lodge is a place where coffee is always brewed, snacks are always available, & fellowship is always meaningful.

  • Faith

    The Oxford Lodge is a place where students can live out their faith. Whether in prayer, Bible studies, or fruitful conversation, we hope that the Lodge is a place where students can go to learn about and grow in their faith.

  • Knowledge

    We are committed to the pursuit of knowledge, especially as a guide to reality and it’s deep-rooted connection to faith.

  • Arts

    The Oxford Lodge stands in the tradition of Christian Humanism, attending to and celebrating the Imago Dei, which involves our call to exercise stewardship over aspects of Creation. The Oxford Lodge hopes to promote and share art forms both for the enjoyment and encouragement of students’ reflection and discovery.

“Promoting interaction that captures students’ imaginations, so that they begin to realize that knowing Christ does not make your world smaller; it makes it much, much larger.”

- Bill Boyd, Founder and Director