Each Thursday, volunteers run a cooked breakfast in the Above Bar Church building, open to everyone. This is the Big Breakfast. In 18 months numbers have grown, and God has changed lives.

Sanjay and Kate introduce us to the Big Breakfast and its volunteers, and Andy and Wayne explain the impact the breakfast has had on them.

Sally, our pastoral coordinator, explains why pastoral care is such an important part of Above Bar Church.

If you'd like to get in touch with someone following this video, you can send an email to Sally or to Paul Allcock, or by phoning the church office on 023 8022 8275.

We have a look at what happened at Poppin Church this Easter. 

Poppin is for parents and toddlers, and happens every Tuesday during term time. Find out more about Poppin and Poppin Church.

Paul and Rebekka talk about two books that have helped them in their marriage.

Bryan Stonehouse talks to Gretel Robinson about her journey to faith in Jesus, and how the Chandler's Ford cluster was part of that. (Filmed in our 9.15am service in March 2012.)

Find out why we think the message of Christianity is good news for everyone »

Steve Loha talks to James about how he became a Christian, and about what God has been doing in his life.

Aaron Griffin tells us all about what's going on in The Box and Rooted this term at Above Bar Church. If you can help with fundraising for Spain, get in touch!

An update on the ways we are putting our vision into practice, looking at four key developments.

Paul Webber talks to John Risbridger about his reflections on baptising his daughter a few weeks ago. They also talk about bringing up children as Christian parents. How can we counter the assumption that Christians are brainwashing their children into faith?

Katy tells us what happened at Southampton University Christian Union's recent events week, and explains what's going on this week at Solent University.

Paul talks to his children about reading the Bible and what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross.

Paul answers Kate's questions about what he finds most annoying in church life: multiplication. He isn't talking about sums.

Tom Heasman, on the committee of Southampton University Christian Union, talks to James Musson about what's happening in their upcoming events week, 6–10 February. Find out how we can pray that God would do great things in this week. (Read more about student event weeks in this news article.)

Paul and Rebekka Webber get personal, talking about the challenges and the things they've learned as a family since becoming part of Above Bar Church.

Paul Webber talks to John Risbridger about Caleb, who trusted God when those around him lost faith. Why he is an example we can aspire to follow?

John explains why we have got excited about the Bible's promise that God has blessed us to make us a blessing. This is the same thing he promised Abraham in Genesis 12, and it forms the basis for what we believe is God's mission for the world today. Read our full statement of vision and values for a bit more about how we think this works out in Above Bar Church.

Tim Chester's You Can Change has had a big impact on the lives of lots of people in Above Bar Church. Andrew Page explains why he would recommend it to anyone.

Glo is a community of people aged 18 to 30. Come along to the launch event in the Top hall on Sunday 29 January, after the evening service, and find out more. Head over to the Glo page to read about the group.

Paul Allcock talks to John Risbridger about the Spring's morning sermon series in Deuteronomy.

Clusters are a central part of life in Above Bar Church. Paul explains their origins and how they have already been making an impact around the city, and helps us to look forward to some future developments.

Highlights of the Autumn term include the first Poppin Church, a training conference for youth and children's workers, as well as lots of learning in GSMA. Jane tells us about all of these things, and explains what we can pray for in the coming weeks.

This term lots has been happening in the youth groups (The Box and Rooted). Aaron talks to us about Bible studies, a weekend away, and tells us how the whole church can keep praying for the youth groups. 

On the evening of Tuesday 24 April, 115 people filled the Above Bar Church auditorium to hear Andy Tedder speak about how we evaluate ourselves and others.

Andy was born with a genetic condition called Treacher Collins syndrome, which causes facial disfigurement. He is a Christian and lives in Bournemouth, where he works as a landscape gardener. In 2011 he was featured in an episode of the Channel 4 documentary series Beauty & The Beast (still available to watch on 4oD).

Ruth Spradbery saw the programme and knew that Andy was a Christian. She decided to get in touch with him. (What did we do before Google?) They met up, and Andy agreed to come and do an event here.

There followed various e-mails and another planning meeting. Meanwhile, we advertised the event in various ways (our website, inView, Facebook, Southampton Christian Network’s website, a video clip in services) but had no idea how many might come. We had planned to hold the event in the top hall, set out in café style with small tables. The day before Beyond the mask, however, it was suggested that quite a few people seemed to be planning to come, and that the auditorium might be more suitable. Ruth and I were unsure — if only 30 people came, we’d rather rattle around!

What clinched it was that the top hall was booked for all of the Tuesday until 6pm, so we took a deep breath and relocated to the auditorium — a decision which kept me awake some of the night before the event!

We were so grateful to various members of the staff team for helping with the logistical implications of the relocation. It was an encouraging start when we saw people flocking in from 7.30pm onwards.

As I sat on the stage interviewing Andy, it was great to look out at such a crowd, and to see a wide range of people — male and female, from teenagers to the more mature, Above Bar Church people and visitors, Christians and some who are still considering the Christian faith.

We heard Andy’s stories and some of his views on the topics we were considering, we had small-group discussion and some thought-provoking (and sometimes amusing!) video clips. And we had jelly beans!

It was a great evening, from which we’ve had lots of positive feedback. If you missed it, you can listen on our Sermons and talks page.

Five years ago, we’d barely heard of social media, but now it’s a central part of day-to-day life for many of us. Whether or not it’s something you personally engage with, there’s no doubt that it is transforming the world.

However, misconceptions abound. The one I hear most is that it’s a time-waster. It certainly has potential for wasting time, but so do many other things: magazines, television, even chatting to others. Social media is not intrinsically time-wasting; the point is, it’s social – it’s about relationships, sharing ideas and experiences. It’s about communication. That’s no more a waste of time than conversations in the physical world. In fact, nurturing relationships is part of what it means to be fully human. Social media enable us to both maintain and develop relationships. It’s clearly not the same as face-to-face, but that doesn’t make it less genuine.

Some people imagine that Facebook and Twitter are about people with inflated egos telling the world what they had for breakfast. In fact, the vast majority of people share things which are challenging, inspiring, informative or helpful. That’s why people connect with them. The people I pay attention to are humble, generous and insightful. The few who just try to feed their vanity are quickly ignored. Social media interactions have made me think, laugh, cry, wonder, question, rejoice and worship.

Social media allows us to share both big and small aspects of life with each other, enabling us to journey together much more closely than we can by just chatting over coffee on a Sunday morning. Even if I’m not directly interacting with someone on a regular basis, the fact that we both know what’s happening in each other’s lives reinforces the bond between us, and it provides both reminders and fuel for our prayers.

The social media world is often more integrated than my face-to-face interactions – my friends who are not Christians see everything my Christian friends see. It creates an opportunity to let others see how faith affects all of life. And it’s very easy to share videos or other things which powerfully communicate aspects of the gospel. It’s best to share a mix of things which are not blatantly evangelistic, but which make people think, along with a few more direct things.

The key question is how to use it well.

Be selective: don’t be Facebook friends with everyone you’ve ever met; don’t ‘like’ every page you have a passing interest in; don’t follow blindly on Twitter. Instead, connect with people or organisations that matter to you, or have something valuable to say.

Be disciplined: limit the time you spend on social media, and keep your engagement to a few times a day.

Be humble: others really don’t want to be told how great (or how awful) you are.

Be open: share what’s going on in your life, including some of the ups and downs (but please don’t over-share).

Be generous: pass on the online gems you come across that will make others think or smile too, and be generous with your encouragement of others – even the simple act of liking someone’s status update can bring a smile to their face.

We had a great launch of First Impressions on Sunday and I thought it would be good to share some of the encouragements we have had—and we have had a lot!

The first team meeting at 8.30am with those who served on Sunday morning was an amazing start. All who had signed up were there and we had our new red lanyards with shiny badges, coffee, tea and pastries. Paul Allcock encouraged us with a few thoughts on Philippians 2:1–4, we prayed and went to our serving stations feeling we were a team.

So many have commented that there was no getting away from a friendly and warm welcome by a volunteer wearing a red lanyard on Sunday! Paul Webber thought it was the best Sunday morning he has been part of at Above Bar Church (admittedly not all on account of First Impressions but we have certainly played our part in this!).

We have had a number of emails from the leadership team. Here is one example: "We just wanted to say how good we thought your FI launch was last Sunday. We were at the 11am and both before and after, but especially after as coffee had never happened then before, there was a very good 'buzz' about the place. Quite a few conversations were happening with visitors, newer attendees and older lags who'd stayed for refreshments at 12.20pm and the arrangements and the new aspects of the general ambience all seemed excellent to us."

When I handed out the service sheet at the entrance to the auditorium a young member of our congregation passed me with a filled paper cup and beamed at me saying "This is sooo cool!"

After the service I had a hug from someone thanking me for the changes in the lounge saying: "This is wonderful".

Someone passed on to me that an older member of our congregation really liked the way we did communion: "Much less formal but still reverent".

One member of our Fi team helped two older ladies to fix a cup of coffee. Later on they saw him again in the auditorium and asked him if he could help them once more. So he went out into the lounge got two drinks and took them to the ladies. They were very impressed!

This is the First Impressions team in action. We are going the extra mile and are creating environment that help people experience God.

I am sure that many of you have more stories to share about our launch on Sunday 15th April. Please email them to us (gerhildhaitchi@abovebarchurch.org.uk) so that we can share them with all of you. We should all really be encouraged and looking forward to more exciting kingdom work next Sunday.

It's now over almost three months since we launched our new website.

How have you found it? And what do you think about the Newsroom? We want the Newsroom to help you find out what’s happening across church life. So the more interactive it is, the better.

I’d like to explain a bit more about that.

Building our community

If you’re anything like me (a dangerous place to start), there are probably lots of things happening in the church that you don’t know a great deal about. Just hover your mouse over the engage menu above, and you’ll see that there are loads of things happening. And that’s great!

But how much do you know about our different groups? Wouldn’t it be encouraging to hear about what God has been doing in our youth groups this term, or in Cameo, or in something else?

That’s the first thing the Newsroom is about: keeping the whole church in touch with as much of the rest of the church as we can. This helps us to praise God and pray to him for lots of different areas of church life.

This includes things you do too! Since we launched the website, my aim has been to give an idea of the kinds of things that could be in the Blog. But – and I’m sure you’ll have noticed – there are things I have missed.

This is where you come in. The Blog works best with short videos (no more than three minutes) and short written pieces (no more than 400 words), which give us an insight into a particular thing that’s happened recently.

By thing I mean, well, anything: a youth group weekend away, a music group training day with a great band, a walk in the forest, a particularly nice pizza you ate. (Actually, probably not that last one.)

I’ll keep asking people to send articles and videos in so the Newsroom always has something new to read or watch each week, but don’t let that restrain your creativity! Get in touch with me if you come up with something you’d like to tell the whole church about.

Stretching our thinking

There’s another reason I think it’s a good idea for a church to have a blog. To contribute to the noise.

What do I mean by that? There is a great deal of information, opinion and debate on the internet. Some might even contend that the internet has become the primary place people discuss the issues that matter.

Christians need to have a presence in this debate, for two reasons.

• First, to try and contribute some signal in the noise, to make sure the place of public discussion is not empty of Christian input.
• Second, to give us as Christians a place online that can nurture and encourage us in our love of Jesus, to use the internet as another tool that helps us to get to know him better.

Of course, I’m not saying there aren’t sites out there that do this already. But if part of Above Bar Church’s vision is to bless the church, this is something we can join in with.

That’s why you’ll be seeing articles and videos in the next few months that try to grapple with these issues. And that’s why I am very happy for you to send me an email with something you’d like someone to write about.

A fun project for me

It's been great for me to work to build a website that serves the church. And I hope it will be fun for all of us. We have the opportunity to use technology to build up our church and reach out to others with the good news of Jesus.

Please pray with me that God would use it for his glory. And maybe to brighten someone’s day with a video about a kitten.

Photo (top): Paper Boy. Some rights reserved by Dr EG.

This past week I have constantly been listening and singing loudly to the new Phatfish album, Higher, in the car, at home and humming it at work. Not only because they are great songs, but because I heard them live at Above Bar Church on Saturday 17 March and worshipped alongside 330 others, enthusiastically singing out praise to our amazing God.

This has really affected me this week. It was a great evening of great music, with a focus on how great God is. I think that's what made it a great thing to organise.

I remember turning and looking around the auditorium during the song, There is a day, and feeling thankful for the song, its meaningful lyrics and for the people singing so loudly. All the hard work organising the event was worth it.

I was thinking how deeply our worship is felt and heard in heaven. I was moved. God was being glorified and His name was being lifted high. What amazing privilege and freedom we have.

The day started quite early for the team at the church building. The band arrived at 8am with three vans full of gear, and there were excited people lifting, cooking, panicking (me!). After a fast set up, a practice and lunch, the six-piece Brighton-based band were ready to train our music team.

45 musicians and vocalists gathered to pray for the event and eat lunch together. Then we had a time of sung worship with Phatfish, a talk from Nathan Fellingham (songwriter and drummer) about the principles of worship and then we split into groups for different seminars.

There were workshops for keyboard players, guitarists, vocalists, PA, drums and bass players, and principles of leading worship and songwriting. All with the aim to encourage and develop us in the area we serve at Above Bar Church and to challenge us in ways we can improve.

The band's passion for what they do and their heart for glorifying God was very clear and we felt blessed to have spent that time thinking about on the part we play at Above Bar Church. It was also great to gather as many of the musicians together as was possible from across the three different services to worship, learn and grow.

The evening concert was attended by such a range of ages, which was wonderful. There were people from Above Bar Church and other churches across the city and there were also those who weren't (yet!) Christians. They were all gathering on a Saturday night to hear and sing the praises of Him who deserves them. A brilliant use of time and well worth it!

Watch this space for more encouraging musical events!

I'd like to leave you with a link to a project supported by Phatfish: Turn on the Tap. Their single Thirsty is available exclusively on this website today; you can donate and get the download for free in return. 100% of the donation goes to the charity. UPDATE: You can also purchase the single on iTunes.

Visit the Phatfish website to find out more about the band. You can also follow them on Facebook.

In 2011, the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of the Bible, John Risbridger took the opportunity to answer these questions and give us a fresh perspective on our core value to be Bible-centred. (Previously published in InVision, issue 1.) We'll cover all four of our church values in this mini-series.

Doesn't being Bible-centred end up meaning we worship the Bible rather than Jesus

Haven't Christians today largely given up on regular Bible reading because of the pressures of life?

Aren't we in danger of spending so much time reading the Bible that we don't have time to do anything for God?

In 2010 the Evangelical Alliance (to which we are affiliated as a church) conducted a major survey of about seventeen thousand Christians in the UK attending evangelical churches and conferences. Some of their findings are quite striking:

• 93% strongly agree that the Bible is the inspired word of God.
• 82% read (or listen) to the Bible several times each week, though the practice of daily Bible reading is less common in under 45s.
• The research clearly shows that those people who spend more time reading the Bible each week are more active in other areas of their faith. They are more likely to volunteer, to give money, to pray frequently and talk about their faith.

James Catford, CEO of the Bible Society, shared this story as a response to the survey:

“I once challenged a senior Communist government official in China that he should encourage more people to become Christians.

‘Why?’ he asked.

‘Because’, I responded, ‘Christians do more volunteering, give more money to charity and care more about the welfare of society.’”

He concludes,

“This research shows how true this is for Britain. We shouldn't be surprised. The more we hear God speak to us through the Bible, the more vibrant our life will become.”

So if we want to be an active, vibrant church it is crucial that we are committed to being a Bible-centred church.

As we have seen recently, God does want to bless us and the Bible is one of the main ways he uses to bring that blessing into our lives. Christians who know God is blessing them tend to be those who reach out to become a blessing to others.

But doesn't being Bible-centred mean we end up worshipping the Bible?

Well, if it does it's because we're not really being Bible-centred, because the Bible itself is Jesus-centred! The Old Testament promises him; the gospels announce his coming; the rest of the New Testament unpacks his person and work and teaches us to live as his people. The Bible doesn't point to itself, it points beyond itself to Jesus, revealing to us God's ultimate purpose that ‘in everything he should have the supremacy’ (Colossians 1:18). Therefore being truly Bible-centred is not about worshipping the Bible as an end in itself, but rather about worshipping the Christ whom the Bible reveals and lining up our lives with his mission in the world.

But doesn't regular Bible reading feel more like a legalistic duty than a grace-receiving blessing?

Well it can do, but it doesn't have to. If I want a great friendship to grow I need to have a certain amount of determination to give time to invest in that relationship. I don't do it out of legalistic duty; I do it because I value the friendship and want to bring that person more deeply into my life. Regular Bible reading is similar: treat it as a legalistic duty and it will probably leave you cold but see it as an opportunity to welcome the life-giving, Christ-revealing, grace-affirming word of God into your life and it will be a blessing to you. But it still takes some effort and determination.

The Evangelical Alliance survey's finding that the practice of daily Bible reading is less common among the under 45s should make us think. Without doubt, pressures on many in that age group are very intense today and we need to be realistic. Perhaps it is more important that we read the Bible regularly than that we only value the daily ‘quiet time’ approach. However, it would doubtless encourage and motivate those who struggle in this area to hear more about the way in which God is using regular Bible reading to bring his blessing into our lives. Why not share your own experiences of God blessing you through his word in you home group or cluster meeting? Surely being a Bible-centred church means encouraging each other to keep reading the Bible.

So what does it mean in practice for us to be a Bible-centred church?

It means seeking to let the Bible govern and lead us in the way we develop our relationships with each other and the way we develop our church's life and direction.

It means speaking the Bible into each other's lives as we develop relationships with each other in which God is ‘on the agenda’ and within which we want to help each other grow.

It means taking the Bible's message into our communities through our clusters, small groups and city-centre ministries.

It means letting the Bible shape our engagement with global mission, so that we come together as a whole church to play our part in bringing the whole of the gospel message to the whole of the world.

It means teaching our children and young people to read the Bible and see its relevance for their lives.

It means continuing our commitment to ‘letting the Bible say what the Bible says’ through systematic teaching in our Sunday services.

It means helping each other see how the Bible speaks into the issues of our workplace, our homes and our wider community.

It means that we want the Bible to set a Christ-centred agenda for us in our worship and praise.

It means playing our part in Bible translation so that all peoples can read or hear the Bible in their own language.

Biblefresh – a celebration and a challenge

In 2011 we celebrate the publication of the King James Version of the Bible and the ‘Biblefresh’ initiative is helping us make the most of this significant anniversary both within our culture and within the church. However, most of us would find it difficult to read regularly from the King James Version of the Bible – our language and culture have changed so much since it was written. So what does this anniversary mean for us?

For me the most powerful answer to that question lies in what I recently experienced in Ghana. It was my immense privilege to stand with Keir and Gillian Hansford and their team of local translators and literacy workers, as they publicly dedicated the Chumburung Bible and began to give it to the people.

I was deeply moved as I stood and watched Chumburung people holding a copy of the Bible in their own language for the first time in their history. As I reflected on that experience later on, it struck me that the equivalent moment in the history of the English-speaking world was the publication of the King James Versions – a Bible in the language of the people, made available on a large scale.

So for us the 400th anniversary of the publication is not just a cultural celebration, neither must it be about trying to force today's church to express itself in the cultural form of the 17th century. We should see it rather as a fresh opportunity and challenge to welcome the word of God into our lives and into the life of our church community, just as the Chumburung people are welcoming the Bible into their lives and community. It's also a time to pray that our society more widely will hear the message of the Bible again and give it a new welcome in 21st century Britain.

In January 2011 we came together with Christians from churches across our city to pray in exactly that way. It was a wonderful evening and much of our prayer focused on Colossians 3:16–17:

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

The word of Christ dwelling richly in our teaching, our worship and our whole lives: I can't think of a more inspiring vision of what it means for us to be a Bible-centred church! And surely it is only such a church, in which the word of Christ is dwelling richly, that is able to take that word into our society today.

An interactive evening with Andy Tedder.

Tuesday 24 April, 7.45pm at the Above Bar Church building. (Please use the side entrance on Ogle Road.)

Refreshments served from 7.45pm, for an 8pm start.

Talk and discussion with Andy Tedder (featured in the 2011 Channel 4 documentary Beauty and the Beast) about how we often evaluate ourselves and others based on outward appearances.

Andy is a landscape gardener from Bournemouth who was born with a genetic condition that has left his face requiring reconstructive surgery. Come along for a chance to hear Andy’s story and how his Christian faith shapes how he sees himself. Andy will also help us to think about how our view of ourselves and others often differs from God’s view.

Poppin Church is a great way to have fun on a Saturday afternoon, a great opportunity to meet other parents. We'll be talking about why Easter gives Christians hope. For more information, contact Jane Watkins.

This is the trailer for What happened to the baby? by Sam Lenton, part of Above Bar Church's series of events leading up to Easter. (Read about the full programme here.)

In this humorous and gripping sequel to Sam's Christmas play, Who's the baby?, we find out what happened to the baby born at Christmas! It will be performed in the Above Bar Church building on Maundy Thursday, 5 April, at 7.30pm.

For more information on Sam Lenton's plays and monologues, visit his website, where you can watch clips of Who's the baby?, listen to monologues from his collection It was the tree's fault (available on Amazon now!) and download a number of free resources to use in church services and Christian events.

This will be the second meeting of Southampton Torch fellowship group, and it happens at Central Baptist Church from 3pm.

What happens at Torch

It's an exciting venture. Lorraine Low, from Above Bar Church, is involved with leading the group, which engages with isolated people who generally have little mainstream contact with Church. Several others from Above Bar Church support this ministry, helping with music and sound, washing the dishes and giving lifts to people who want to come along. It's an ideal opportunity to share the gospel in deed and conversation.

How Above Bar Church are involved

2012 marks a significant change in the leadership of the group. After many years of service the former chair of the group retired and Lorraine has been appointed its new leader and chair. In her new role Lorraine aims to develop the group’s ministry in co-operation with the national partner, Torch (formerly Torch Trust for the Blind). She will help to develop their national partnership agreement with the many Torch fellowship groups across the country.

In Southampton, Lorraine will lead a committee and a network of helpers from a variety of evangelical churches across the city. This includes Les Sivyour, Stephen Low, Sean Kennedy, Kate Laver and Chris Matheson from Above Bar Church. In addition, the regular monthly meetings have been blessed by the ministry of guest preachers from Above Bar Church, including David Abernethie, John Barnes, Richard Blake, James Musson, and Keir Hansford, who is speaking again on 18 February 2012.

How you can get involved

To find out more about the work of Southampton Torch contact Lorraine or Stephen Low through the church office.

Find out how Yazz came from fame to find freedom in Jesus.

On Saturday 18 February, 7.30pm, Yazz comes to Above Bar Church to sing and talk about the impact God has made in her life.

This is an excellent opportunity to invite friends for a relaxed evening of singing and hearing what God has done in Yazz's life.

Tickets: £5. Available from the information desk on Sundays, or contact the church office. You can also buy tickets at the door. (Doors open at 7pm.)

"Here is Love"

Southampton University Christian Union's events week is 6–10 February with the theme "Here is Love."

Adrian Holloway will be doing talks to provide students with opportunities to come and hear about Jesus.

"Jesus and..."

Solent University Christian Union's events week is 20–24 February.

Please pray

• that Christian students would be bold in inviting their friends
• that God would work in the hearts of those invited
• that people would hear the message of grace and become Christians

Tthe Mark Drama will be performed over five successive weekends by teams throughout Southampton, starting on 3 March and running through to 1 April. It's every incident from Mark's Gospel performed as theatre-in-the-round, which makes it feel like you're in the middle of the action. It's a powerful experience.

For full dates and venues, visit the Mark Drama website »

Who could you invite? Why not come along to one performance to find out what it's like? Then you can bring your friends the next weekend!

We're also looking for team members for the Above Bar Church production on 17 and 18 March. It doesn't matter whether you've been in Mark Drama before or never been in Mark Drama. Find out more at the information evening on Sunday 22 January in the church building.

Please pray about whether God is calling you to receive blessing and be blessed in this exciting way in 2012.