The Core Project 2025

The Core Project is a Christian community and training programme that equips students with the core of what is needed to live a fully integrated life, laying a foundation for following Christ in all of life, for the good of the world.

This programme offers students the opportunity to enrol for a year of low-demand but high-impact discipleship and training, which is designed to enrich their studies, centre their faith, and equip them for a life of service and leadership.

Core is co-curricular and redemptive:

Co-curricular, not extra-curricular, because it is at the heart of one’s education and formation, as well as being integrated with one’s UCT-studies.
Redemptive because it is about embodying in ourselves and our vocations Christ’s mission to bring love, freedom, and goodness to the world through the gospel.

At the heart of The CORE Project is community. The project is a collective – an expression of the body of Christ, working together to better understand how we live faithfully as Christians in every sphere of society. This is not an individual endeavour but demands deep relational connections that will last a lifetime.

A co-curricular year of personal & spiritual development

R300 per term or R995 per year. Includes a set book, dinners, retreats and more.

The programme structure

The programme is composed of 3 tracks that run over two years. In each year, participants will engage in:

Core evenings: Fortnightly dinner (3 per term) & discussion of a key book.
Seminars: Holiday intensives or weekly electives (1 per track).
Retreats: One weekend away at the start of the year and one day-long retreat at the end of the year.
Mentorship: Monthly meetings with a mentor.
Service: Involvement in a service project (10 hours per year), i.e. volunteer at two allocated service days in the vacs.

The Three Tracks

Year 1 (Track 1): Understanding the Story of the Bible.
We study an overview of the biblical story and develop skills to understand and interpret the Bible.

Core evenings: The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama, by Bartholomew & Goheen.
Seminar: How to read the Bible

Year 2 (Tracks 2 and 3): Living the Good Life

Track 2 (in the first semester) focusses on best understanding how we integrate our Christianity with living in the modern world, and the contemporary issues that each of us faces. Track 3 then zooms into the specifics of each participant’s particular vocation, dealing with questions of how one discerns this, and what this practically looks like for each of us.

Track 2 (1st Semester):
- Core evenings: Christianity and our World Today.
- Seminar: Topical issue (e.g. The Rise of Tech/AI; Responding to the Climate Crisis, etc.)

Track 3 (2nd Semester):
- Core evenings: Living out your Vocation
- Seminar: Field-specific vocation seminar (e.g. Christianity and Law/Medicine/Commerce, etc.)

Programme cost

R300 paid at the start of each term, or R995 per year if paid in advance.

This fee is heavily subsidised and includes the cost of all the educational elements, the set book, twelve evening meals, a fully catered weekend away in Stellenbosch and a year-end retreat.

Numbers are limited, so sign up early to avoid disappointment. If cost is an obstacle, there are limited partial scholarships available.

Banking details

Please use the following details. Remember to include “Core” and your name in the reference, and please email a copy of the payment confirmation to the listed address.

Account Name: Students YMCA UCT Grotto Hill
Bank: Standard Bank (Branch Number 025009)
Account Number: 07 149 2186
Reference: CORE + your name

Email payment confirmation to: charissa@uct-y.org