In answer to a question....

....from Journeyman.

"I'm just curious, but back in your first post you said...

"We are both looking for a new church, as our old one has ceased to fulfill, so we are genuine and would be doing this anyhow."

How is the search for a new church going? It has been interesting reading your blog but I've been waiting for you to say that "We've found somewhere, OK it's not perfect, but it's good and we're happy so we're staying".

This is a blog that I'd love to see end, or move onto a new topic."

First of all, Hello Journeyman! Great to hear from you, it's nice to know we have some readers after all.

The search for a new church is going really well. As you can see on the sidebar, we have a list of churches that we've really liked so far. There's definately a shortlist of places that we'll go back to and mull over and pray about in more detail. However, we want to visit as many of the churches in Southampton as possible in case the church that's best for us is one we'd never consider otherwise. To be honest, it's also really fun, as we get to meet lots of interesting people and try out new ways of worshipping. It has also helped us work out what's not for us.

What has also been interesting is the feedback we've had from the churches we've visted. A lot of the churches have found it useful to see how their church appears to a visitor. One has published our review in the parish magazine! Dave Walker on the Church Times blog alerted us to this where people are paying for a mystery shopper type visit to their churches.

We'll be writing up the churches we've visited whilst the blog's been on hiatus next week and the reviews will continue as normal.

Normal Service....

... will be resumed shortly. We are currently extremely busy with things, but those things will be sorted in a fortnight. Coming soon to a Southampton Church Review blog near you, reviews of St Mark's Church, Archers Road, Avenue St Andrews URC, The Avenue, Swaythling Methodist Church, Burgess Road and many more, possibly including a shiny new feature, Guest blogging!

Promise.

We're off to Central Hall later.

Avenue St Andrews URC Church

Avenue St Andrew's URC Church, Southampton.

Avenue St Andrew's URC,
The Avenue (Opposite Northlands Road),
Southampton,
Hampshire,
SO17 1XQ

Communion lead by Rev. Cliff Bembridge. 1030am. Visited on 4th May 2008. 


From the Church website.
Believing worship to be central to our lives, we see our mission as continuing to grow, both as individuals and as a fellowship, to further our Christian service and witness within the community and the world.

The church has around 175 members with about 100 people attending morning services.

The Review

We arrived at the unmissable Avenue St Andrews church on the Avenue. This is a complex of victorian church, hall and modern glass extensions. The main entrance is through the modern foyer, but the church itself is another victorian barn once inside. It has pretty stained glass and some rather lovely wood carvings.

Once finding a seat amongst the interlocking padded wooden chairs, we were pleased to see NRSV bibles. Songs for this service were going to be taken from the Rejoice and Sing, the main URC songbook and Avenue Hymns and Songs, a songbook produced by the church. The songs and prayers were projected onto a screen by a data projector. All hymns were accompanied by the organ. Looking around the congregation, there were about 100 people of all ages present. 

The service opened with a call to worship lead by the minister, with said responses by the congregation and the first hymn was 261 At the Name of Jesus. We were surprised to find this sung to a different tune to the famous one.Next was a 'News for the Family' segment, with notices and the like. The highlight of this was the clever use of the pulpit to hide the flowers that were given as a thank you to the retiring church secretary. The next hymn was Be still for the presence of the Lord . The offering and dedication of gifts followed. We found this somewhat unnerving as it happenned in an interlude,  meaning that you could hear the money dropping in as people made their offerings. Interestingly, the offering was not going to the upkeep of the church, but to Set All Free, a charity set up to help end slavery. This along with the extensive buildings, the larger congregation and the number of activities advertised in the pewsheet and on noticeboards in the concourse suggest a growing and active church in a good financial situation. All speuclation of course.

After this, the children and young people left to go to their age appropriate activites, with them being sent on their way with a few words of liturgy from both the minister and the congregation. Next came two bible readings, both read by members of the congregation, one from Acts 1 v 6 - 14, and one from Luke 24 v 44 - 63. Prayers followed, and then hymn no. 601 Christ is the world's true light. Rev. Bembridge then began his sermon, interestingly using a different speaking style to the one he used when otherwise leading the service, one that was much more chatty and informal. He opened with a joke that was a variation on the famous "How many does it take to change a light bulb" routine, using different christian demnominations. Apparently it takes 10 Pentacostals, one to change it and nine to pray against the darkness, one Charismatic, as they've got their hands in the air already, and in the URC, changing the lightbulb can provoke dispute as "My grandmother gave me that lightbulb".  Rev. Bembridge spoke of how the church can be anxious about change. In Acts, after the acension, the disciples stood terrified and confused as Jesus left them with the Holy Spirit, something that would make huge changes in their lives, and ultimately in the world at large. It is easy for the church today to look with rose tinted glasses at the past, just as the disciples stood staring at the sky after Jesus ascended, looking for the past good. However the angels reminded them of what they were to do, their mission in the world. Rev. Bembridge guessed that it would only take 2 members of Avenue St. Andrews to change a lightbulb, one to change it and one to hold the ladder in the interest of health and safety. He then went on to ponder how many members of Avenue St. Andrews it would take to develop a strategy for mission and to implement that strategy, going God's work in the world with the Holy Spirit in order to change it. It is easy to be distracted by the minute trivia and details of life, and to wallow in the past, but God expects us to do both the practical and the spiritual work, with his Spirit leading us. The sermon was 11 minutes in total.

After the sermon, we sang 456 O bread to pilgrims given. This was followed by Communion, which was done in a completely new way to us. Small plates with cubes of bread were passed around the congregation, which were then eaten with suitable words all together as a congregation, before wine in the small shot glass - esque glasses was passed around and consumed much like the bread. The glasses were then placed in a little cut out in the back of the seat in front.  The final hymn was 600 Christ is the world's light.

After service, we had a very nice cup of tea and coffee in proper china from a tea service, but there were no biscuits or the like. We hung about looking lost for a bt, and were just about to leave when a lady came to speak to us.

Traditional/Modern:Fairly traditional. 
Formal/Informal:Middling wth robed minister.
Solemn/Lively:Fairly solemn.

Great: The way in which the work of the church secretary was clearly appreciated by church, the mix of ages in the larger congregation. 

Not so great: Only one person introducing themselves after the service. It seemed a little on the short side.

Access: Wheelchair friendly main doors.

This review was written by the Older