The Abundant Life Church is a large Pentecostal Christian establishment based in Bradford, England. It is led by Senior Pastor Paul Scanlon, who has written a number of books on the Christian lifestyle. Services each Sunday regularly draw 2,500 attendees. The church was formerly a part of Covenant Ministries , but it withdrew from the organisation in 1997 during a period to which it now refers as "crossing over". The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... This article discusses the city Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... Main article: Minister of religion A pastor is the head minister or priest of a Christian church. ... Paul Scanlon (1958- ), is the senior pastor of the Abundant Life Church, Bradford in the United Kingdom. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Mission statement

The four-part mission of the church is to "reach the lost, establish the church, equip the saints, and disciple the nations".

Belfast

In September 2005, the church opened a second location in Belfast under the title of "One church, two locations".

Social work

The church is well known in West Yorkshire for its social action work. Its Community Action Teams (known for short as C.A.T.) work with under-privileged families in Bradford. Another outreach division of the church, Mercy Ministries UK, works with women from the red light districts of Bradford. West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England, corresponding roughly to the core of the West Riding of the traditional county of Yorkshire. ...

Music

The Abundant Life Church have produced several music albums with the name Abundant Life Ministries, released by Christian label Kingsway Music. The music of worship leaders Lara Martin and Mark Stevens, the latter originally from Hillsong Church in Australia, is well known in the Christian music industry. Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates also attended the church and sang on the album Divine Exchange. Abundant Life Ministries (ALM) is the record label of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford, England. ... Kingsway Communications is a prominent UK based literature and music publisher of Christian material. ... Lara Martin is the worship pastor of the Christian Abundant Life Church in Bradford, England. ... This article is about the Christian singer/song-writer. ... The Hillsong Church Logo Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal and evangelical Christian church. ... Pop Idol was a British television series shown on ITV1; the show was a talent contest to find the best new young singer or pop idol in the UK. The Idol series has spun off dozens of successes such as American Idol, Canadian Idol, Indian Idol, Australian Idol, Polish Idol... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Leadership Academy

In addition to the services and social work, the church also runs a highly rated leadership academy. The church describes it as "...a one-year full time course constructed around the three core values which form the primary emphases of the Leadership Academy. We cover a wide range of subjects, all of which dovetail together to empower you to live a purpose driven, God centred life." Although many wanting to train as pastors take part on the course, other Christians take part too. The academy is led by Associate Pastor Steve Matthew and students choose one of two electives - Worship, music and creative arts or Pastoral leadership.

Rocknations

Rocknations is the thriving youth ministry of the church. It was founded in 1999 by youth pastor Steve Gambill under the name of Rock the Nations, which was later shortened to simply Rocknations. The ministry has a band named RPM, who play at all youth events as well as some special church events as well. In early 2005 they released their first album - RPM:Live, which made it to number one in the UK Christian Music Charts in October of that year. A second album was recorded in late 2005 and was released in the church shop and on the church website in March 2006, although the general release for other shops isn't until June.

Conferences

Every year the church runs five conferences. Devoted (worship and creative arts conference), Cherish (women's conference), Rocknations (youth conference), Stronger (conference for the whole church) and Xcel (men's conference). Delegates travel from across the world to attend the conferences, which consistently feature some of the best speakers and Christian bands from across the planet. Speakers that have appeared at conferences in the past include Brian Houston, Bobbie Houston, Tommy Barnett, Frank Damazio and Casey Treat. Brian and Bobbie Houston Brian Houston is the Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. ... Categories: Stub | Charismatic and Pentecostal Topics ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ...

External links

• Official Abundant Life Church Site
• Abundant Life Church Belfast Site
• Rocknations Site