Month: September 2023

Going Into Prison

/ Steve Petch / Leave a comment

As a church, for over 15 years now, we’ve had a team going into Coldingley Men’s Prison. Coldingley is a men’s “category C training and resettlement prison”, holding mostly long-term prisoners, including some with life sentences.

The team, led by Neil Willis, hold Sunday morning services in the prison several times a year. This ministry is one of our ‘Welcome Works’ (the various social action ministries we do to serve people in need, both within and beyond our own church family).

As Jesus said in Matthew 25v36, “I was in prison and you came to visit me”

Another World

Neil says: “Coldingley Prison is like another world just up the road in Bisley, requiring rigorous security to get in (and out!) We go through an ‘airlock’ and multiple locked gates before we arrive in the chapel with its decorative bars at the windows. Usually around 30 prisoners attend, and often a couple of them will join the band that we take in ourselves, playing on the violin and guitar. We praise God with what sounds a bit like a Welsh male voice choir of baritones and basses, and we always feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place; it’s very special!

“As a church we’ve been going in for over 15 years, and sadly some of the regular attendees have been coming to our services all of that time; it’s hard to imagine what it must be like to be in there for so long. We do not discuss people’s offences, and do not judge in any way. Many are there because of a combination of appalling circumstances, and let’s be reminded that many of the Apostles knew what it was like to be imprisoned.

“Recently we’ve felt challenged to better serve the residents, to build on relationships, and to see more of God at work in the prison. We are having more requests for prayer after the service, and the men are really opening up to us in different ways. I recently prayed with a guy who was wracked with guilt at having let his mother down. Another very young man had just arrived too, and was obviously struggling, but he agreed to attend the Alpha Course that they run.

“The 30 or so men that come to the chapel each Sunday are God’s church in that place of over 500 men, and we try to encourage them to be a light to the others, which is no mean task as you might imagine. The prison Chaplin and his team seem to love it when we come in and we’re now talking about increasing our visit frequency to 8 or more times a year.

Running the prison services is both a privilege and a great opportunity, and it also blesses us as a team, although there’s always a sense of relief when we get out into the fresh air again – we appreciate our freedom that little bit more. It’s great to be doing God’s work in such a place, and it is very real!“

Why not get involved?

Beyond the Sunday Prison Services, there are several other aspects to what we do with our prisons work, and you can read about that on our Welcome Works web page by clicking here. If you want to get involved in these, or any of our other Welcome Works, do please let us know. You can do that by dropping us an email our by speaking to Neil or to Dub or to any of us in the offices. And, if it’s not for you, please pray for the work that’s going on, and please encourage the teams that go in.

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95 Days ‘Til Christmas

/ Steve Petch / Leave a comment

If you’re reading this on the day it comes out, it’s only 95 days ’til Christmas … and I’ve already seen Christmas decorations in the shops 🎅🏼!

Even more importantly it’s now only 80 days until our Carol Services. The reason I see that as ‘even more important’ is that they are the best and easiest event in the year for us to invite people to, since nearly everyone says yes to a Carol Service invitation!

Anyone who comes to our Carol Services will hear the good news of Jesus, and that’s the most important message they’ll ever get to hear; it’s a message that can change our eternal destiny. With this in mind, we want you to start thinking about the Carol Services NOW.

“A Carol Service For Woking”

Our Carol services this year are on Sunday 10th December, at 2pm, 4.30pm and 7pm, and they’re not just for our church, they’re for the whole town, and for all of the people we know. The first two services (at 2pm and 4.30pm) will include a kids party for younger children so you can drop them off and enjoy the service in peace with your friends.

Just like last year, these will be ticketed events. Tickets will be free for you and your friends to book, and we’ll let you know when the booking opens, but we want you to start thinking TODAY about WHO you’re going to invite, and also to tell you about a way to help make those invitations well.

Building Up To An Invitation

Last autumn we did a series of invitational events for people to invite their friends to in the run up to Christmas. We called it the ‘Hop, Skip, (Sing) and Jump’, naming it after the Olympic Event also known as the Triple Jump, which is a type of jump that enables athletes to jump further than they otherwise would:

  • The HOP was our September Fun Day
  • The SKIP was our November Fireworks event
  • The (SING) was our December Carol Services
  • The JUMP was our January Welcome Stories series

As people were invited to each successive event, and as relational links were formed, the numbers of guests grew and grew. In the end we were able to share Jesus with hundreds of people at each Carol Service – the largest Carol Services our church has ever seen. As a result, lots of new people joined us in January for our Welcome Stories series. Thanks to all who stepped up and invited people.

This autumn we want to encourage you to take part in …

… Your Own Personal Hop, Skip and Jump

We won’t be running the Fun Day or the Fireworks this year as a church, but we still believe in the power of relational momentum to help people connect with us as a church, and then go on to connect with Jesus. Introducing the people you know to other Christians from our church, builds a relational momentum that helps open the door for them to find Jesus for themselves.

So this year we want to encourage YOU to run a couple of ‘social events’ of your own – a HOP and a SKIP. Maybe you could do one in October and one in November, leading up to an invitation to the Carol Service (the JUMP). At the Carol Service we’ll talk about the amazing good news we have in Jesus, and we’ll invite people to connect with us in the New Year and even to join our next Alpha Course.

There are lots of Hop and Skip events you could do: a quiz night, a cheese and wine evening, a meal, a BBQ (weather permitting), a board games night, a pub night, an afternoon tea, a walk, a sporting event, a shared fireworks night and more. The key thing is that you don’t do it alone! Invite your friends who you’d like to see at the Carol Service to each event you do, and use it as a chance to introduce them to some of your friends from church.

There are lots of contexts you could do this in: you could do it as Life Group, or with just a few people from your Life Group, or with a group of friends from church, or as a couple of families together – whatever works for you and your friends at the life stage you’re currently in.

We’d love you to go for one event in October, and one in November, and then to invite those same people to a Carol Service on Sunday 10th December. And don’t just invite them to the service, why not also open your home? “All round ours for mulled wine and Christmas cake afterwards” or “Come for lunch with the kids and then we’ll all go on to the Carol Service together” – whatever works best for you.

The Greatest Christmas Gift Ever

The greatest gift God ever gave us is Jesus. This Christmas is your best opportunity to share that gift with the people in your life who don’t yet know Him. Let’s go for it together!

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Commission UK: Changing My Role

/ Steve Petch / 4 Comments

As a church we’re part of an international family of churches called Commission, and it’s a good family to belong to. 

We’ve been blessed at Welcome Church over the last year by some excellent visiting speakers from various parts of our Commission family, including Simon Argent, John Groves, and Tim Blaber (all from the UK), and Sydney Nevis, Vinu Paul and Wellington Gomes (all from India). 

A good number of people from Welcome Church are booked into various Commission training programmes that are running this year too, and I know they’ll be great (I’m even speaking on one of them myself 😉)

This summer we were blessed by the Commission Festival, and lots of us were involved in helping to make that event happen. The bookings for next year’s festival are open and a good number have booked in already – don’t miss it!

What’s Changing?

Most of you will know that, for several years, I’ve been part of the Commission UK Leadership Team. I’ve had a range of responsibilities and have taken the lead on several events and initiatives, as well as helping to give oversight to other churches. The role has taken a growing portion of my time and focus, and it’s been a joy to do, not least anchoring the adult meetings at the recent Festival and preaching in one too (what a huge privilege that was!)

At Welcome Church we’ve also been increasingly busy over the last couple of years, and we’ve seen significant growth in numbers. We’re praying this continues.

I’m very excited about what’s ahead for us as a church, and there are a number of new opportunities and initiatives on the horizon that will require my energy and commitment for us to continue to thrive and to flourish.

With this in mind I wanted to let you know that, in July this year, I made a decision to step aside from the Commission UK Leadership Team for the next season of life and ministry. This will free up some much needed time to prioritise Welcome Church, and my family. 

I chose not to say anything publicly about this decision before the Commission Festival, in order to avoid any confusion around the role I was playing there, and also to allow some clear space to reflect on the decision and discuss it with the right people, and for God to speak into the decision too, which He has most definitely done (and that’s another story!)

The future

As a church we remain part of Commission, and are committed to the vision of seeing 1000’s of lives transformed through 100’s of churches in 10’s of nations. We will continue to build our connections with India – we’re really excited about those and have been connecting well with the Commission India team 🇮🇳. We will still be involved in many Commission events and activities going forwards. We will still be going to the Festival in the summer. Jo is still part of the leadership of the Commission Collective who lead worship at the Festival. There may also be some areas where I continue to serve our wider church family too.

I do feel some sadness about my decision to step aside from the team, but I also feel a deep sense of peace that it’s the right call to make, as well as a growing excitement about our future together at Welcome Church.

Hopefully I’ll see you on Sunday morning for the launch of our brand new Autumn Preaching Series, and then again at 7pm for our Prayer and Vision evening where we’ll be reflecting on the last year together and talking about the year ahead.

Stay up to date with what’s happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog to get it straight to your inbox each week.

Welcome Back!

/ Steve Petch / Leave a comment

It’s September, the sun is out at last and kids are back to school, which means it’s also the start of another church year. I’m excited for everything God has in store for us as at Welcome Church in the year ahead – bring it on!

I hope you had a good summer and, whether you got to go away and enjoy some sunshine or were stuck in the UK with the cold and rain, I hope you at least got some time to relax.

One of the highlights for us as a church this year was of course …

The Commission Festival

Over 400 from Welcome Church attended the Festival this year, along with thousands from other Commission churches across the UK and further afield. We had a lot of fun and were well looked after, as well as enjoying some great teaching and ministry.

Huge thanks are due to a lot of people who served, cooked, cleaned, entertained us and set up and set set down, but a special mention goes to Richard and Audrey, Hannah, Crispy, Mark, Uti and Christopher who all went the extra mile to make our church site safe, welcoming, fun and a great place to be. Big thanks also go to all of Richard’s set up and clear up teams – you know who you are!

Here are some photos to show just a little of the fun we had:

There were same great talks and seminars at the Festival, and we’ll publicise links to those as soon as they are available (early next week I’ve been told). Don’t forget we’ll be going again as a church next year, and the sooner you book the cheaper it is. At the moment you can even sign up to pay monthly and spread the cost. Here’s a link to the booking page.

The Year Ahead

There’s a lot to look forward to as a church in the year ahead, starting with Terry Virgo, the founder of Newfrontiers, preaching for us this Sunday (10th September).

On Sunday 17th September we’ll have a Prayer and Vision Evening at 7pm at our building to talk about what’s coming up and the plans we have. Please put it in your diary now – you won’t want to miss it.

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