About Us
We are an evangelical church made up of people from very diverse backgrounds, covering six continents (we're missing Antarcticans).
As a church organisation, we are independently financed and we are registered and operated as a charity. We believe that the Bible is God's word, so we study it and try to apply it to all aspects of our lives. We believe in God the Father, His son Jesus, and in the Holy Spirit and we actively encourage spiritual gifts.
We work closely with churches in the city, particularly those within the Southampton Christian Network (SCN). We’ve had a strong historic link to the Icthus Christian Fellowship in London, and have adopted the Evangelical Alliance’s statement of faith.
WHO WE ARE
“I'd like to help others to connect with God who comforted me in my suffering.”
— James
meet the team
Simon joined King’s in 1992 and became Pastor in 2001. Ask Simon what the weather was on any day in the last 30 years and he can probably tell you, together with Ian Botham's batting and bowling averages.
Brian is a trustee of the church and together with Joy sits on the leadership team at King's. He leads the Personnel Team. Together, Brian and Joy have three adult children, and they are proud grandparents of 3 wonderful toddlers. Brian brings a balance to the leadership team, being the only clean shaven member of the group.
Ellen is our church administrator, being uniquely talented at plate spinning. In her spare time, Ellen makes up songs, such as 'Octopus (you are my Octopus)' and 'Get your socks on'. Future classics for sure.
Jif and Angie co-ordinate much of our outreach activities, having joined King's after doing an Alpha course in 1994. They have two boys and are based in North Baddesley.
Nathan and Miriam serve on the leadership team and have been with us at King's for over 10 years. They help to run our Sparklers group for parents and carers with toddlers. Nathan also leads our worship team and is responsible for our website and media. They live in Bassett with their four children, Reuben, Joanna, Malachi and Rosie. Their family is estimated to consume 288 freshly made waffles every year.
Martin and his wife Lisa have been at King’s Church since 1990. They have four children, Becky, Nathan, Lauren and Rachel, and live in Bassett. Martin serves as the chair of our trustees. it's a little known fact that Martin can juggle with 5 tennis balls.
KING'S - OUR STORY
Ministries
Kid's Ministry
As part of our Sunday get togethers, we normally run a range of kids groups. In lockdown, we're being creative about how the kids work runs, with separate kids get togethers happening on-line.
It's our goal that the children meet with God to the same extent as the adults. The programme is diverse and aims to build a caring, nurturing environment where the children can learn and have serious fun.
For more information, contact Heather
Youth Ministries
The Youth (11-16s) meet regularly to do life together - be it supporting each other, enjoying God's presence and asking His perspective in prayer, or working out what the Bible says about relevant issues to teenage life, expressing worship together, socials, cooking, outdoor activities, the list is seemingly endless. The aim of our youth ministry is to encourage our teenagers to relate to Jesus for themselves.
Stuff for Men
Every Friday morning, there’s a Men’s Prayer gathering, which currently runs online. This is complemented by a number of one-off events including men’s breakfasts, curry nights and an annual weekend away.
Women's Ministry
Ladies’ fellowship group 'Oasis' meets twice a week.
Beyond this, we run special events, including cheese & wine nights and craft evenings, and a weekend away in the springtime.
For more information contact Tania
Prayer is the essential ingredient in every aspect of church life - in fact, it's a key part of our calling as a church. Our vision is for everyone in our church to be encouraging others and being encouraged themselves. Getting along to prayer meetings is just a part of this. We run regular weekly and monthly prayer meetings, including early morning sessions, daytime and evening meetings.
We meet monthly to pray for our friends in China and the church there. We also have prayer meetings for France and for the Congo, where we have strong mission links as a church.
We're also searching out other ways to engage creatively in prayer. We have recently run a 48 hour prayer room.
Prayer
Pastoral Support
We aim to support everyone in our church through whatever trials they may be facing. We will often stand together with people, praying for them, reaching out with practical support when it helps. We have a network of pastoral helpers who we aim to equip and resource to serve the whole church.
Support networks range from individual discipleship groups, small home groups and the leadership team which regularly meets to pray for the church and any ongoing issues.
The pastoral support is overseen by Simon O.
Our faith in Jesus doesn't just relate to us, it's good news for everyone. Looking around our city, we're very aware that there are lots of us in real need. The Hazel Project has been established over a number of years in direct response to seeing a need to reflect love, value and respect to people living on our streets. We support this as a whole church, being motivated to pray, volunteer to help and to support financially.
You can find out more about the Hazel Project here.
The Hazel Project
Local Community
As a church, we are committed to serving our community with the same passion that Jesus did.
For us, that involves putting on events to engage with those living locally, setting up and running charitable organisations to support specific needs, and supporting other charities working with all kinds of groups in our area.
“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor
and helpless…”
(Psalm 82:3-4)
Cafe 153
We live together in community - it's a priviledge to share in the lives of those around us. Our community cafe exists to serve people by providing a warm, welcoming place to eat and drink and a place to develop friendships and meet others.
Our Cafe is currently closed due to the lockdown
International Community
France
We have long standing links with two churches in Northern France, in Douai and Arras, extending back several decades. Le Flambeau was established by our great friends Paul and Irene, who continue to support the church from the UK. You can find out more on the Le Flembeau website here www.le-flambeau.fr (in French).
We have regular get togethers to share the good news of Jesus in both England and France.
China
We support Vision for China, a charity founded by two members of our church family, Cyril and Gabrielle. Originally set up in the 1980s with a view to providing English teachers for educational establishments in China, it has diversified to provide residential care for abandoned children, healthcare, training and rehabilitation for children and young people with special needs.
Pakistan
Jean is another member of our church family currently living in Pakistan, where she runs courses to teach church leaders how to provide counselling for people in their communities. These services are particularly needed in a country where poverty and violence are for some people a norm. We support her in prayer and with finance.
Congo
OneHeart is a ministry of King's Church, set up to support people in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
We are partnering with the ASDIG charity, supporting them as they outwork their passion and vision for the poor in Goma. This in the context of a country that was the poorest in the world with a GDP of $394 per year (75p a day) between 2009 and 2013.
The ASDIG projects focus on women and children, running 2 schools, a tailoring school which has provided more than a thousand women to date. Agricultural and micro finance projects also empower women towards independence.
A team from King's has visited Goma and we regularly welcome our friends from Congo to the UK.
(Image: Hope School)
Ireland
We have been supporting Cyril and Gabrielle in their work in Ireland for some years. We have a developing relationship with churches on the West Coast, particularly in Listowel. We have sent teams for short trips to support the work there, and have enjoyed visits from the churches to us in Southampton.
DISABLED CHILD INDIA
Disabled Child India works in the field of childhood disabilities and was co-founded by our friends Benny and Kumar from King's. The main aim currently of Disabled Child India is to support a day centre in southern India which is helping autistic children and taking opportunities to help other children with special needs. In addition Benny and Kumar are involved in a range of activities in the fields of healthcare and therapy in several locations.
We support the work of Disabled Child India and members of our church help to facilitate the work of the UK based charity.
Friends International
We support Friends International (www.fisuk.org), a Christian charity that reaches out to international students in the UK. Over 6,500 international students from more than 135 countries choose to study at the University of Southampton each year. The aim is to give as many as of these students a great time in the UK, chances to experience real British culture and opportunities to hear about the Christian faith. This is done through engaging with international students in a wide range of activities and events including the iexplore course which provides an introduction to the Christian faith.
Ellen and Graham are church representatives for King's and Jan W is on the Board of Trustees. Ellen, Graham and Jan W including others from time to time help out with the iexplore course and other activities when they can.
CCD Thailand
King’s Church supports The Christian Care Foundation for Children with Disabilities (CCD) in Thailand.
CCD provides care and support to children with disabilities and their families, seeking to demonstrate Jesus' love by helping disabled children achieve their highest potential and become fully integrated into mainstream society. They run Rainbow House, a residential home for up to 40 children, two independent living homes for older boys, and Day-care Centres in Pakkred, a suburb of Bangkok. They also have community-based rehabilitation projects in three provinces.
Teresa and Jan from King’s Church joined others from Ichthus in visiting CCD and Rainbow Church, and we continue to regularly support the work and actively partner in prayer.