If you've never heard of Christianity Explored and wonder what it's all about, how it works, how to get started even, this is the post for you.

Here are seven reasons to try Christianity Explored:

1. Christianity Explored is thoroughly based on the Bible. Those who go along are invited to discover who Jesus really is by exploring Mark’s Gospel. Exploring all of Mark’s Gospel means that people hear the whole gospel and not just the edited highlights. CE presents this gospel in all its fullness so that God many be glimpsed in all his greatness.

2. CE doesn’t shy away from truths that are often neglected – like the significance of sin, the centrality of the cross, the sufficiency of grace, and the necessity of repentance. Again and again course participants have found themselves challenged (in a non-threatening manner) and given new insights into what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

3. The informal structure of Christianity Explored: a simple meal, a Bible study, a talk (or DVD) and a discussion, means that those who go along are often more willing to ask questions and explore the gospel of Mark in an open and relaxed way. Course participants feel they are being listened to, not lectured or preached to and there is plenty of time during the course for people to ask whatever questions they may have.

4. The flexibility of the course materials means that it can be run in all sorts of environments. Courses are already being run in youth clubs, prisons, home groups, hotels, universities, restaurants, in the workplace, and even as part of marriage preparation! Many non-Christians may find the idea of meeting at a church a barrier to finding out more about Christianity, but the nature of CE means it can be run literally anywhere! We even know of a course currently being run in a Pizza Hut!!

5. CE materials have been put together to make running a course as easy as possible. Not only is there a Leader’s Guide but we’ve also developed a How to Run the course book which provides you with everything you need to successfully run a course. Practical advice on promoting, preparing for and running the course, transcripts of the original talks, and a CD-ROM containing written transcripts of all 14 talks all make running the course less daunting and much more do-able.

6. If the thought of giving a series of talks – even if you have the transcripts – scares either you or your diary, then we’ve produced a two-disc DVD (which includes nearly four hours of material) in which Rico Tice delivers them for you! Filmed on location around the UK, the DVD set features subtitles, a trailer, a preview and a 40-page guide to using the series. We’ve also found that course participants are far more likely to challenge and openly discuss what has been said having watched the DVD, rather than disagreeing directly with the course leader.

7. We have a specially designed selection of promotional material that makes it really easy for you to promote your CE course both inside and outside church. From postcards (which can be run through inkjet and LaserJet printers), to an eye-catching 15ft x 3ft weatherproof banner (and everything in between), we’ve got all you need to make your course unmissable! (okay, so this one isn't really a reason to run CE (and it's quite a shameless plug for our posters), but hopefully if you've got this far in the post, you'll realise advertising the course is pretty important if you want people to come!)