To learn more about The City read the FAQ’s below:

What is The City?

The City is Redeemer Centrals private online network – a little bit like a Facebook for the church. However,  the purpose of The City is not only a social one but it is a tool to help us improve our communication and organisation as a church. It will of course also help enhance real life community within the church and becoming the hub of Redeemer life.

Why do we need The City?

The City will help us improve our communication and organisation as a church now and as we grow. We realise that we have grown a lot recently and we expect to continue to grow. The City will help us communicate and organise well as we grow.

Ultimately, we believe The City will play help us grow as a church and stay on the mission we have as a church to reach Belfast and beyond.

How will we use it?

Initially, The City will be used by City:Group facilitators to organise City:Group gatherings, share prayer requests and news. It will also be used for any Redeemer wide events and to communicate things you need to know.

Additionally, The City will provide a great way for new people in Redeemer to get connected.  Over time, the use of The City will grow and it will be used in other ways to benefit us as a church.

Who is The City for?

The City is for everyone in Redeemer Central. It is for those who are part of our community and call Redeemer Central home but it is also for those who are new and exploring life in Redeemer Central.

Why not use Facebook or the Redeemer website?

Although we love Facebook, Twitter and our current Redeemer Central website, they serve as more outward facing communication channels for us as a church and we will continue to use them in that way. The City will enable us to communicate family stuff to each other and keep our other channels free to more general communications.

What happens if someone doesn’t sign up?

The City will become the hub of communication at Redeemer so if someone don’t sign up the likelihood is that you will miss out on important communication and knowing what it happening in the life of Redeemer. Let us ask you to encourage others at Redeemer to sign up.

What about people are who can’t use a computer?

This is a great question to ask. We have thought about this and realise that no matter what means of communication you use someone may be missed out. We feel convinced that 99.9% of people now use computers, mobile devices, email and the internet and so we feel that using a tool like The City with email notifications is going to reach most people and be most efficient in doing so.

We are happy to train people or help them get setup. We will also continue to communicate at our gatherings and use other means like printed materials for the major things.

What if I don’t have time to check The City everyday for updates?

That is ok, you don’t have to check it everyday or at all. As long as you have setup an account and set your email preferences correctly you will receive everything in your email inbox as a notification without having to go and login to The City website.

Is there a mobile website or mobile app for The City?

There are no current native mobile apps for iPhone or Android but there are plans for them to be developed in 2012. This will be a great addition to The City when it arrives.

However, in the mean time there is a great mobile web app, which you can access by going to Redeemer’s The City URL (redeemercentral.onthecity.org) on your mobile device’s web browser.

How do I sign up for The City?

If you are part of a regional City:Group in Redeemer speak to your City:Group facilitator and they will take your details and get you signed up.

If you are new to Redeemer or are not yet part of a City:Group speak to one of the welcome team on a Sunday and they will help you sign up for The City at our Info desk.

Once signed up the URL for the City is redeemercentral.onthecity.org

Once I am signed up what should I do?

1. Setup your profile on The City including your profile pic and details.
2. Find your City:Group and join it if you are not already in it. (You can do this by click ‘Groups on the left hand side of the screen and then ’Group Search’
3. Explore the Calendar and events and respond to any you are going to. (You can also get an iCal feed and subscribe to your events on your Calendar software on your computer or mobile device.)
4. Explore and add people as friends.

Who should I contact if I have a technical problem with The City?

If logged on to the City you can click ‘Help’ at the top of the screen. Alternatively email .

To learn more about The City visit www.redeemercentral.com/thecity

The first band up were called Lanterns on the Lake, and at first it must be admitted their somewhat monotonous yet atmospheric music didn’t do much for me, however somewhere between the wailing violin made to sound like a synth and the zane lowe look a like playing guitar in the corner they did something that colin mcalinden, looking more youthful and less bearded than usual, described as “quite beautiful.” I was still glad the “beauty” lasted under an hour though.

Next up were the headlining act themselves, and after a brief break between setting up, Explosions in the Sky graced the stage. The hour and a half or so that followed was labelled as “a weaving tapestry of guitar magic” by a certain Dave Armstrong but i was content with just calling it awesome; i think it even managed to leave me speechless, that definitely isn’t a frequent occurrence. If you’ve never listened because instrumental music might not be your thing you should give them a go because you often find yourself thinking they manage to create a sound that almost makes you feel like there are vocals despite lacking them. Between songs off the new album “Take Care, Take Care, Take Care” and some classics off “Earth is not a cold dead place” the band kept the audience firmly transfixed on their guitar trickery as they moved from song to song with a wall of noise in between that whilst not totally pleasant certainly did keep you intrigued as to why you felt like a small grenade had gone off beside your ear and distracted you from their need to tune up their instruments.

That aside, and the fact my ears are still ringing slightly, it was an awesome gig and if you haven’t listened to explosions yet you probably should, actually you definitely should; more than anything else they might be the easiest karaoke songs to learn ever.

IN THE CITY is a weekly article written by
Luke Williams that looks at city life, culture,
music and events in Belfast

You will find us from 10:00am at 101 Donegal Street Belfast.

Sunday 18th December 2011 // Last Sunday Gathering of 2011 // Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast // 10:30am

This is our last Sunday gathering of the year and our last ever gathering in the Crescent Arts Centre. We have enjoyed using that space this year but are excited for our move in January. We will be starting a new series this year entitled “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to announce that we have not yet reached our destination”. Click here for more details

Wednesday 21st December 2011 // Redeemer Christmas Party // McHughs Bar, Belfast // from 8pm

It’s that time of year again and we’re throwing a party. This will be one fun night so book it in the diary and get practicing those dance moves. Click here for more details and to reply

Monday 2nd - Wednesday 4th January 2012 // Volunteer Week // 101 Donegall Street, Belfast

To make the move to our new venue possible we are having a volunteer work week on 2nd-5th January 2012 and we need you. We have some big tasks involving cleaning, painting and general helps in order to make the venue ready for us. If you are on The City you can find out more here.

Sunday 8th January 2012 // First Sunday Gathering of 2012 // 101 Donegall Street, Belfast // 10:30am

This is our first Sunday gathering of the year and our first gathering in our new venue at 101 Donegall Street. Tea/Coffee from 10am. Kids activities provided. Click here for more details

In this series we will be journeying through the life of Gideon and looking at some of the vital ingredients that go into making Redeemer Central who we are.

Join us we celebrate our last Sunday gathering of the year and our last time in our current venue before we take up residence in our new home!

Sunday Gathering

Our Sunday gathering is when the whole of Redeemer Central comes together for worship.

Where: The Crescent Arts Centre, 2 University Rd, Belfast
When: 10:30am (Coffee and Tea served from 10am).

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We will be attending a special service at Donegall Street Congregational Church. If you are part of Redeemer check out The City for more information. If you are hoping to visit us please come and join us at Donegall Street Congregational Church at 10:45am.

For anything else contact us by email:

Map:

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This is my story.

A story of liberation. A story of freedom. A story of grace.

For too long I was a prisoner of religious striving and religious slavery. Where I once looked to Christ as the complete hope and source of my salvation, I now placed a mirror in front of me. I blocked Him out. I now looked to myself. I thought I had to be some sort of saviour. I thought I had to save myself with my works, my thoughts, my efforts, my regulations, my performance, my deeds. I became a slave to the reflective “gospel”. I was trapped.

But something happened.

Jesus smashed the mirror of the reflective “gospel”.

He lifted my eyes.

I saw His story.

A story of liberation. A story of freedom. A story of grace.

A story that He invited me into.

I gazed upon Him once more.

I was free.

_For freedom Christ has set us free.