We knew it was coming in the near future but, like most people, I was surprised this week when the Prime Minister revealed the date of the next UK General Election as Thursday 4th July. Here are a few thoughts and pointers for us as a church:

1. Welcome Church Will Be A Polling Station

I’m delighted that Welcome Church will be used as a polling station for this election; it means that lots of local people who have not yet been into our building will see it for the first time. (It also means there will be no entry at all to the chapel that day, except for those designated to vote there!) Let’s pray that, as well as voting in our building, some will feel inspired to come back and join us on a Sunday.

2. Unity Is Key

Unity is key for any church; disunity, gossip and division do profound damage. If we disagree with someone’s political viewpoint we are still allowed to love them. We don’t have to win every argument and we don’t always have to tell people when we disagree with them.

Ephesians 4v2-3 says,

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

With this in mind:

3. We Are Politically Neutral As A Church

Although there are issues we may speak about or take action on, both through what we say and through our social action ministries, we are not allied to any one political party, either nationally or locally, nor will we tell people how they should vote, though we encourage everyone who is allowed to vote to do so. I’ll be voting myself, but I won’t be telling you who for.

People from our church have stood for election to local government, at both town and county level, for all three of the main political parties, and also as independent candidates. Others have been engaged with various political parties or campaigned on other social issues. To me that’s a good sign that we can have a range of views amongst us, and still walk in unity together.

Let’s make sure that we all act in love towards one another over these coming weeks, including on social media. That’s not to say no one should ever express an opinion but, as it says in 1 Thess 4v11, “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” – I think that’s a great verse for Christians to apply to their social media accounts!

And be warned: if anything political appears in any of our Welcome Church Facebook groups, or in the comments on our other social media posts, it will be deleted and the poster may get blocked.

4. A Helpful Resource

Today CARE UK have launched an excellent website for Christians, to help us consider all the issues in the run up to the general election – it’s called engaGE24.

It has information about policies, video interviews with Christian MPs, a blog, a podcast and a 40-day prayer resource. One fun feature is their election quiz, where you can find out which party’s policies you most align with by answering a list of questions – I tried it out this morning 😃.

CARE, who are strictly politically neutral say:

“Our aim is to equip the UK Church to engage effectively with this election. Research tells us that Christians will vote. The question before all of us is who will we vote for? I pray our resources will help you as you come to your decision. I think this election is a golden opportunity for the Church to engage and make our voice heard.“

To take the survey, click here.

5. Finally, Let’s Pray

We are told in 1 Timothy 2v1-3,

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour …”

The outcome of this election will shape our lives and our country in all sorts of ways for years to come. Let’s pray for God’s will to be done and for our country to increasingly be a place where Christian truth can be proclaimed, and we can worship freely and share the gospel without fear of repercussions.

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It took a little longer than we’d hoped, and there were some tricky twists and turns along the way, but on Monday this week we exchanged contracts with the sellers of Church Gate. Praise God!

Completion is set for Friday 17th May, at which point we will have the keys for Church Gate, along with planning permission to turn it from an office block into a multi-use building for our church. If you’re unsure what Church Gate is all about then please click here to read about our plans or click here to find out about the costs and challenges involved.

Of course, owning the building is just the start to our Church Gate adventure – we now have lots of work to do to make the building useable, and turn our plans into reality.

What happens now?

There are several steps ahead for us once we get the keys:

First: we will be holding various ‘stakeholder’ meetings inside Church Gate, with each of the different user groups, to talk about our plans for inside and outside the building. It’s currently something of a blank canvas but, to quote Proverbs 11v14, “victory is won through many advisers.”

Second: in June this year we will hold open days for people from Welcome Church to come and look around Church Gate and see what we’ve taken on, and also to give opportunity for more people to comment on the plans. For reasons of safety you will need to book a time slot to attend an open day, and they will be for adults (16 years+) only. Details for booking a slot will be available soon. I hope you’re as excited to look around as I was.

Third: we will consult with professional advisors to help us plan how to turn our ideas into reality. Ideally we hope to use some of the same people who worked with us on the last building project and did such a great job.

Fourth: we will hold Gift Days at the end of June and the start of July to help us towards our financial goal of raising at least £2 million for the project over two years. So far £1.3m has been given or pledged so we are well on the way but we still have some more ground to cover together.

More information

During May we will be giving out a new booklet about Church Gate with all the details people need to know, so do be on the look out for this (it’s currently with the printers). When you get your copy please read it carefully and prayerfully and, if you have any questions, please just ask.

Philippians 1v4-6 says,

“I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

It’s a great thing for us to be in partnership together for the gospel as a church and, like Paul, I’m confident that He who began this good work in us will now carry it on to completion. So, as we come to look around the building, let’s look around it prayerfully, with our spiritual eyes and ears open to what God wants to do in the lives of children and young people through Church Gate, and also what He will do through us to help those in need in our town – not least through our planned Community Grocery.

Our big goal in all of this is to see many lives transformed through Jesus; this is all about the gospel. It’s now time to press forward into this adventure together!

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