Page 18 - Contact Summer 2017

Café explore
‘Exploring Mark’s Gospel
- Walking at your Pace’
From 29th January to 26th March, Café
Explore took place in the Oasis on Sunday
mornings. We had just finished the Life
Explored course in Café Church before
Christmas and wanted to be able to help those
who attended to grow further in their
understanding of the gospel and God’s word.
Café Explore was different in format to the
regular Café Church which maintained many of
the traditional aspects of a Sunday service. The
focus of Café Explore was on studying the bible
together in groups with people who were at
similar stages in their faith journey. There was
still music at the beginning of the session but
this was performed by several of our
talented praise team and was non-participatory
in nature.
That meant that those who had not yet made a
profession of faith wouldn’t have to sing along
with words they did not yet believe, but they
could at least hear words that spoke the truth
of the gospel. We also had a weekly ‘testimony’
or interview on a subject that was relevant to
the themes that would be explored in the bible
study. Most time was spent in studying Mark’s
gospel at a pace that was appropriate for the
different groups. Many of those who took part
remarked that it was one of the best learning
experiences, with one participant even stating
that it was during this study that he came to
faith. Below are some of the thoughts of those
who participated.