FAITH Christian Group was started in 1990 as a response to a need which its founder, Jim McConnell, saw on the streets of Reading. Initially FAITH consisted of Jim walking around the streets of Reading with some blankets and a flask of soup, serving those whom he met, and offering them friendship. In the beginning, the FAITH office was based in the front room of his house and both we and Reading owe him a debt of gratitude for pioneering this work.

Following those beginnings, a small van was purchased, and a drop in centre opened running every Sunday at St Andrew's Church hall near the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. This was open for around seven years and served anything from 30 to 60 people each time it opened.

FAITH then went mobile with the purchase of what was to become the Candle Tea Bar. This has been out in Reading Town Centre on Sunday afternoons since the closure of the St Andrew's drop-in.

It has also been used at events such as the Reading Rock Festival, the West Reading Carnival, and for children's outreach on some of the local housing estates.