Explore @ 4

St. James’, Selby

Cathy Rodgers, Multiply Lay Leader, at St. James’, Selby has developed a New Worshipping Community called Explore @ 4.

“Explore @ 4, our new service at St James’ in Selby, is all about questions. We meet once a month at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon to explore the Bible together by discussing some questions and asking lots more of our own. 

We started Explore@4 with the aim of establishing an accessible service, primarily for unchurched people, with the intention of reaching families from our Lighthouse toddler group. We were also aware that this would suit some people from our existing church community, and therefore create a place where church members would connect with those currently outside the worshipping community. We wanted to develop a service that was child friendly but also met the needs of adults. 

We discovered the Explore Together resources from Scripture Union, which focus on different learning styles, and we have used these as the basis for our services. So, we gather together and share a Bible passage, usually by reading it or telling the story. Then we introduce some questions to help people think more about the passage and we invite them to explore the questions in  various different zones that we set up around the room. These zones correspond to different learning styles and the idea is that we help people to respond to the questions and to the Bible story in a way that works for them, according to how they learn. 

We started Explore@4 in January and we have been thinking about who Jesus is by looking at stories about his life and his miracles.  People are really interested in finding out more about Jesus, how he lived and what he did. We are seeing people encountering and exploring these stories for the first time chatting with others who have heard them hundreds of times before but are discovering new things. God is at work in this space, opening people’s minds and hearts through conversations. We have an average of 30 people attending each month. 

During our last session about the Wedding in Cana, two mums were in the busy zone with their children, playing with water. As they poured water into wine glasses they were  chatting about Mary and asking each other how she was so certain that Jesus could turn the water in wine. 

Aaron and Melissa, who we met through our toddler group, have been coming regularly with their two children. They summed up Explore@4 as, “welcoming, fun, good community and thought provoking.” 

Jason Reid, our vicar, said that, “Explore@4 has provided a natural and easy step for unchurched families to engage in the worshipping life of St James’. Those attending are predominantly people Cathy has connected with through her Multiply ministry here. It is wonderful to see those without a church history engaging in meaningful theological reflection and grow in their understanding of Jesus and His place in their lives.” 

We are excited to see what the Holy Spirt is doing as we start to explore questions about what these Bible stories mean for our lives”

You can read more about Cathy and her New Worshipping Community here.