Bigger Breakfast


A friend got in touch today to tell me that his church is taking part in The Bigger Breakfast on Saturday, September 25. As it's their first time, he wanted to ensure it would be a good event. Any tips he asked. Well... 

Be the best
I've been to quite a few men's breakfasts in my time. The worst have been when every expense has been spared. Asking people for £6 for a cheap and cheerful sawdust filler banger and a few Safeway Saver baked beans with dry toast is a bit much. You wouldn't accept that when you dine out at a restaurant, so why should a church meal be any different?
Spend a little more on the ingredients - if you can support your local butcher and get some freshly made bangers in. Instead of serving up instant coffee, get some filter coffee in. Buy decent bread, not a cheap loaf. Make sure you get plenty of ketchup and brown sauce in too. Don't forget some people are vegetarians.
The Bigger Breakfast should be a treat, not a chore. 

Charge as little as possible - be brave and make it free
Some of those cheap breakfasts have cost me £6. I could have gone to BHS and spent 99p on a better meal. Why not be brave and ask for donations instead of charging a fee? What's left over can go to charity. 
In case you think the fee-free model wouldn't work, my wife has run ladies breakfasts on a donation only basis and been able to donate a good couple of hundred pounds to charity each time. People can be very generous if you give them the opportunity to do so. 
Not charging also makes it easier for non-Christians to come along, they're seeing grace in action. 

Keep the coffee coming
There's nothing worse than not having enough to eat or drink, especially if you have a speaker. If there's seconds left make sure people know they can come and get it. Ensure that drinks are freely available throughout the event - and there's plenty of milk and sugar too.

Be prepared
Over cater. Ensure you've got the milk and sugar in. Know where you can go to get last minute supplies if needed. Share the workload for the morning - buying food, sorting tickets, cooking, washing up, clearing away and talking/praying with people can all be divvied up between regular members of your church. 

Don't let the speaker go on for too long
It's early in the morning. My brain doesn't kick in until there's several cups of coffee in my caffeine stream. I don't really want an hour-long slide show. But an engaging speaker who talks for around 15 minutes is good enough for me. At my church's Bigger Breakfast, held in a pub, I spoke for three minutes and prayed. There's a lot you can say in three minutes! 

It's not another church meeting
We encourage people to invite their friends and family along to a Bigger Breakfast. Why? We want people to see that Christians are ordinary people. Getting together for a morning of good food and good chat is what it's about. Treating it as if Sunday morning has come 24 hours early is not a good idea. This is about the church fellowship, building friendships and discipling, not a hymn sandwich.  

It is another church meeting
At my first Bigger Breakfast, after the event had formally finished people stayed around. And chatted. And that chatter led to prayer for various situations. It was a privilege to be part of that and it reminded me of the church in Acts - ready to look out for each other's needs. So although your breakfast might not have any formal church input, it is still an act of worship. 

Be welcoming
People who have been looking for God have come along to Bigger Breakfasts and left as Christians. This is brilliant and we rejoice that men have been saved as a result of some bacon and eggs. A large part of that will be down to the message they heard but also the welcome they felt when they came along to the Breakfast. 
If you're talking to someone you don't know, don't talk about yourself - have a conversation! Find out what they're interested in, like spending time doing or are involved in. Don't let people come into your church family and feel that they had to be moulded in to shape or that they have to break into a clique - let them be welcome as they are.

Have fun
The Bigger Breakfast is a simple event aimed at getting men together for a good morning. So enjoy it! 

What Makes a Brilliant Bigger Breakfast? - September 2, 2010

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You can find the Baptist Men's Movement on Twitter - we're @baptistmen

Organising an event at your church for men? Just add the hashtag #baptistmen at the end of your tweet!

Join us for 40 days of prayer for men

 “Why not help us make a fresh start—a resurrection life? 
Then your people will laugh and sing! 
  Show us how much you love us, GOD! 
Give us the salvation we need!”
Psalm 85:6-7 (The Message)

DAVID knew that if his people were to turn back to God, they needed a revival – but he also knew that it would only come if the nation prayed. 
This is what we’d like your churches to do immediately after The Bigger Breakfast. 
The Breakfast is a simple idea that encourages men to get together for a time of friendship and fellowship. It’s deliberately low-key as we want to see men enjoy each other’s company and get to know each other better. 
But we want to go further than that and encourage every man who takes part in The Bigger Breakfast to spend 40 days praying for spiritual awakening in the UK. 
To this end, we’re joining the Southern Baptists in the United States to follow their programme of prayer. Every day for 40 days, we will have short Scripture passages to read and suggestions for prayer. These will be posted on our website and on our Twitter feed. 
The prayer plan invites men to pray simultaneously in unity for God to do a major work in the lives of the men in our nation, denomination and churches.
It can be used as part of your daily devotion and prayer time, and used in your regular men’s meetings. You can encourage one another in prayer – and we hope that God will indeed give us the salvation we need. 

We will make the resources available to download shortly. If you want to get cracking, you can download them from the Southern Baptists' website, here. 

The Bigger Balti date announced
The Bigger Balti 2011
The second Bigger Balti will take place on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - and we want you to be hot stuff by taking part. 
All you have to do is organise a curry night for the men in your church and get them to invite their mates. You could go to your local curry restaurant, get a takeaway in, make your own or cook something completely different!
The idea behind the evening is simply to get men together for a great evening. Who knows what God will cook up through your meeting?
We'll get more information about the day up soon, but we wanted to make you aware of the date now.
Bigger Breakfast logo

We're delighted to learn that churches from the American Baptist Men of New York State are joining in The Bigger Breakfast this year. They join churches from the Southern Baptists in the United States, Africa and across Europe. 

It's not too late for your church to sign up for this year's Bigger Breakfast. It's free and all you have to do is invite the men in your church to join you for breakfast. And get them to invite their friends along too! It's really easy and a great morning.

You can find out more information at www.biggerbreakfast.co.uk. 
Breakfast and Match sites are ready!
Posted on 02 May 2010 20:15
by Decode Studios Support Team
Bigger Breakfast Site

It's hard to believe that this year's BMM Bigger Weekend was nearly two months ago now. It was a brilliant weekend - the Holy Spirit was there, challenging us and renewing us. Men who came along left with a renewed sense of calling to men's ministry and helping disciple and encourage the men in their home churches. 

It was a privilege to have organised it and made the weekend happen. 

Since then, it's been back down to earth with a bump. This past week has been the first since the Bigger Weekend where I've done a full five-day working week in my day job, but because of the bank holiday tomorrow, I've been busy getting ready for this week's deadlines so it doesn't feel like a 'normal' week, should such a thing exist.

I can't complain because those few weeks have included a day with the Daleks in Sheffield for a preview of the new Doctor Who computer game that comes out in June, a holiday (although, thanks to a volcano, not to the intended destination) and a chance to catch up with family and friends. 

However, it's also been incredibly busy getting ready for this year's Bigger Breakfast and Bigger Match. We've got the websites for both ready and are now live. They're packed with advice and tips to help you run these great events and they will help you encourage the men in your church and encourage men outside of it. 

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have planned for your breakfasts this year!

Every blessing

Phil Creighton

BMM President


A healthy breakfast
Posted on 02 May 2010 15:32
by Adam Brown
Burgh Baptist Church recently held a Men’s healthy breakfast. This comprised of scrambled egg, grilled bacon, beans and mushrooms (not fried) plus brown and white toast. Burgh Baptist organised three successful breakfasts in 2009 and has scheduled four breakfasts in 2010. We have run a successful contact club for 2 years inviting non Christian friends along to such events as clay pigeon shooting, bowls, scalextric, quiz night at the local pub, ten pin bowling etc. The Healthy breakfast was the idea of the Parish Nurse which is a Christian ministry run at the church, and last year different health topics were covered, but it has been decided that in 2010, the healthy breakfast should now be a level 2 event where by a talk would be given to the men about faith or testimony’ shared. The first one was on March 20th when the minister Colin Bowden gave a talk about his calling into ministry.
Colin Bowden, the minister of Burgh Baptist Church said “Four of us recently attended the BMM conference at Bosworth Hall Hotel, and came away fired up and passionate about men’s outreach ministry we were really inspired by all the speakers and enjoyed the fellowship of like minded men. We really feel the BMM is going places and has a vision to win men for Christ.” Following the inspirational conference Burgh Baptist now intend to screen the first 3 England matches in the world cup at the church and then gauge response, but crucial quarter final, semi final and final dated have already been pencilled in.


News from Burgh Baptist Church:

Burgh Baptist Church recently held a Men’s healthy breakfast. This comprised scrambled egg, grilled bacon, beans and mushrooms (not fried) plus brown and white toast. Burgh Baptist organised three successful breakfasts in 2009 and has scheduled four breakfasts in 2010. We have run a successful contact club for 2 years inviting non Christian friends along to such events as clay pigeon shooting, bowls, scalextric, quiz night at the local pub, ten pin bowling etc.