Month: November 2025

Four Amazing Job Opportunities At Welcome Church

/ Steve Petch / 1 Comment

In June and July, I preached a series at Welcome Church called “The Generous Life”. Together we explored how we can steward our finances with faith, grow in generosity, and reflect the generosity God has shown to us.

During that series, we shared that although our church has doubled in size over the last five years, our staff team had actually shrunk—a significant challenge for a growing church.

We asked you to step out in faith with your giving, and you did. The number of people giving regularly has grown by 27%, and for us that is a game changer.

Please remember: Welcome Church is a charity. Everything we do—both for those who are part of our church and for those who are not—is funded by your generosity. There’s nowhere better to invest your money than into God’s church!

A Huge “Thank You”

Some of you…

  • Increased your giving – thank you
  • Are new and jumped straight into giving – thank you
  • Moved from giving occasionally to giving regularly – thank you

Between April and October this year, our giving increased by 18% compared to the same period last year. Praise God for His provision, and thank you for standing with us in faith.

Because of your generosity, we are now able to move ahead with expanding our staff team, and are delighted to announce four new employed roles:

1. Operations Manager — 3 days per week

This key role supports the full range of our operational activities, with overall responsibility for the management and support of all food-related ministries—especially our Community Grocery and our kitchens.

Closing date: 4th January 2026

2. Finance Manager — 3 days per week

This role ensures the accurate, transparent, and compliant management of our finances. You’ll help our leadership steward our resources wisely, meet charity regulations, and provide clear reporting to the Senior Leadership Team and Trustees.

Closing date: 4th January 2026

3. Children’s Ministry Lead— 3 days per week

This role leads our Children’s Ministry across all age groups from birth to Year 6. We’re looking for someone who can shape excellent children’s ministry, build strong teams, create safe and welcoming environments, and help our children to encounter Jesus, grow in their faith, and feel at home in church. This is a role for a leader of leaders.

Closing date: 5th December 2026 (Please note the earlier date)

Youth and Young Adults Pastor — Full Time

This role carries responsibility for the leadership and discipleship of our youth and our fast-growing 18–30s community. We’re looking for a strong, dynamic leader to help shape how we engage, pastor, and disciple the next generation. This will be a significant leadership role for our church.

Closing date: 4th January 2026

How do I apply?

Please click this link for full details on each role and how to apply. You’re also welcome to get in touch for an informal chat, or to come and visit the church if you’d like to find out more.

A Few Encouragements for Those in Welcome Church

There are four things I’d love us all to do:

1. Continue stepping out in faith in your giving
Your generosity makes all of this possible.

2. Share these opportunities
Spread the word to anyone you think would be a great fit, and share the roles on your social media.

3. If you apply, hold it lightly
There may be many applicants but only one position for each role. If you’re not successful, please don’t allow that to affect how you feel about your church or cause you to withdraw.

4. Pray with us
Ask God to bring the right people into each of these roles.

Stay connected with everything happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog for weekly updates sent straight to your inbox

        Welcome Church Community Grocery – Latest News!

        / Steve Petch / 3 Comments

        Hi, I’m Dub Everitt, Outreach Pastor at Welcome Church, guest-writing Steve’s blog this week to share an exciting update on a project that’s very close to our hearts: the opening of the Woking Community Grocery — a social supermarket designed to serve and strengthen some of the most vulnerable families in our town.

        This will be a place where hungry families find food, dignity, and hope. That’s the vision behind Welcome Church’s upcoming Community Grocery, and we believe it will genuinely change lives.

        The Community Grocery – a Big Vision with a Big Impact

        We are launching the Woking Community Grocery in partnership with The Message Trust, an incredible, passionate Christian organisation based in Manchester. Across the UK, they have already opened 33 Community Groceries, serving over 70,000 members with low-cost, reliable food and wrap-around support.

        Our Grocery will be open to everyone in Woking — of all faiths and none. Membership will be just £5 per year, and families can choose a weekly shop costing between £5 and £12.50, saving up to £50 per week (that’s £2,500 a year!) on their shopping bills.

        We forecast that 1,000 families from across Woking will use the Grocery in the first year alone. Every member will also be able to access our Welcome Works services—debt support, money coaching, mental health & wellbeing help, job clubs and more. It’s a powerful, dignifying “hand up, not handout” model that helps people take real steps forward in life.

        Building Work Update

        Following our purchase of Church Gate, the office block next door to our church, renovation work is now full steam ahead. The scaffolding is up, the roof is repaired, the rooms have been stripped back, and we’re on track for completion in March 2026.

        After a meeting with our architect yesterday, I came away buzzing. The designs for the Grocery, the community spaces, and the upstairs rooms are looking amazing, and here are a couple of images to whet your appetite at this stage.

        First an aerial view of the grocery lay out:

        Second, a view of the Meet & Greet area:

        The doorway shown is the new entrance we are adding to Church Gate, which will open onto our front area, linking it all our buildings as one campus. Please continue to pray for the renovation and planning work over the coming months!

        And now for the date we’ve all been waiting for… (drumroll please!):

        Our planned launch date is: Thursday 16th April 2026!

        We’ll share more details closer to the time, but it’s going to be a huge celebration as we cut the ribbon and welcome our first customers.

        And Now, Introducing Our Grocery Manager: Darren Green

        On Sunday 16th November, we were thrilled to announce Darren Green as our new Community Grocery Manager — and the church’s response said it all.

        The cheering, the applause, the warmth… it was a beautiful moment that showed how much this project means to our church family.

        We also loved officially giving Darren his new double-barrelled surname: 

        Darren Green-Grocer (A prophetic sign? We think so!)

        Darren will begin his role on 1st February 2026, giving plenty of time to prepare for the launch.

        Over 250 People Saying, “Count Me In!”

        Over two Sundays, we invited people to fill in a “Count me in!” card to get involved in all things Grocery and Welcome Works. We were hoping for 75 sign-ups… instead, we’ve seen over 250 people step forward!

        We’re genuinely blown away! God is clearly stirring us as a church not only to give sacrificially – over £2 million so far – but also to give our time, skills, and hearts to serve our town. What a response. What a church. What a God.

        Workshops for everyone who signed up will be held across five different days over the next few weeks to help each person find the right place to serve. If you signed up, we will be in touch with you about that soon.

        Do You Want Us to “Count You In” Too?

        I know many people at Welcome Church may still want to get involved but, for various reasons, haven’t yet filled out a “Count me in” card.

        It’s not too late! Here’s how you can register your interest:

        1. Fill in the digital “Count me in” card via this link: Count Me In
        2. Or if you prefer you can E-mail Helen, our Grocery Project Manager

        Through our powerful autumn preaching series, “True Religion,” we’ve been stirred by God’s heart for the poor — and by His call for His people to step into the gap with hope, compassion, and practical love. That’s exactly what the Community Grocery is all about.

        What a calling!
        What a privilege!
        And what a joy to step into it together        !

        Stay connected with everything happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog for weekly updates sent straight to your inbox

        Christmas At Welcome Church

        / Steve Petch / 1 Comment

        Christmas is just over a month away now, and bookings for our “Carol Service For Woking” opened last Sunday morning. The tickets (which are free!) are going very fast— even faster than last year—so please don’t leave it too long to book, or you may miss out on your first choice of when to attend.

        Here’s a summary of our plans as a church over Christmas and New Year 2025/26:

        Sundays 23rd & 30th November and 7th December: Our Christmas Preaching Series

        Our Christmas Preaching Series starts this Sunday at our 9am and 11am meetings. I’ll be kicking the series off myself. I won’t be giving any spoilers here, but we’re going to have some fun together, so make sure you don’t miss what will be this year’s number-one series!

        Sunday 14th December: A Carol Service For Woking

        We’re holding four services across the day at 11am, 2pm, 4.30pm, and 7pm. Come and enjoy singing your favourite carols, followed by free mulled wine and mince pies.

        Children up to school year 4 are invited to join our free Kids’ Christmas Parties, which will run alongside the 11am, 2pm, and 4.30pm services.

        Booking is essential for all adults’ and children’s tickets, and be warned that we are likely to be sold out again this year. Don’t delay— – Click here to book

        Remember: this is a great opportunity to invite your friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues—there is no easier invitation to church than to our Carol Services.

        Sunday 21st December: An All Age Christmas Celebration

        We’ll be meeting at 9am and 11am for an all-age celebration of Christmas. Instead of our usual Welcome Kids and Welcome Youth groups, we’ll all be meeting together for a whole lot of noisy fun and games as we celebrate Christmas as a church family and worship Jesus together.

        Each meeting will be roughly one hour long, and we’ll start and finish with refreshments as usual.

        Thursday 25th December: Christmas Day Online

        This year, to make sure there’s room for everyone who wants to attend, we’ll be taking Christmas Day online. (Don’t forget, the 21st December is our in person all age celebration)

        Join us on Christmas Day at 10am, at WelcomeChurch.Online, for a short time together with Christmas carols and an accessible Christmas message. It will be a great way to mark Jesus’ birthday together as a church, and we’ll all be able to join in and connect via the online chat feature.

        Sunday 28th December: No Meeting!

        There is no meeting planned for Sunday 28th December, but instead…

        Wednesday 31st December: Crossover ’26

        After an amazing Crossover Night from 2024 into 2025, we are coming together again on 31st December to celebrate all that God has done and all He’s going to do in 2026.

        Join us as we celebrate God’s faithfulness over the last year and ask for God’s favour as we Crossover into 2026! Together we will praise, pray, and party! It’s a lot of fun—so don’t miss it.

        We’ll be joined by a brilliant guest speaker this year, Pastor Chris Kimbangi from Hope Church, Guildford. (I knew him back when he was just a student in Chichester…)

        This event is likely to fill up fast, so please book your FREE ticket to reserve your place, and let’s welcome in the New Year in faith and in style! Click here to book

        Anything Else?

        A few other things you may want to be aware of:

        • The church offices will be closed from Wednesday 24th December through to Thursday 1st January
        • Welcome Youth have their final meeting before Christmas on Friday 12th December, returning on Friday 16th January
        • Our Welcome Tots groups finish on Wednesday 10th and Friday 12th December, returning on 7th and 9th January respectively
        • Welcome Café will open for the last time this year on Monday 15th December, returning on Monday 5th January
        • Our Sunday meetings will return to their usual pattern from Sunday 4th January, and we have a great new series lined up for the New Year too
        • 21 Days of Prayer kicks off on Monday 5th January—more details will follow in a separate blog nearer the time

        Stay connected with everything happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog for weekly updates sent straight to your inbox

        Church Gate: News About Our Grant Applications

        / Steve Petch / Leave a comment

        The redevelopment work on Church Gate continues day by day with roofers and electricians making great progress. I’ve found myself singing along to their radio a few times in the office!

        We wanted to share an update on some of our grant applications, much of which Dub shared in his talk last Sunday called, “Why Love Must Fight For Justice” – if you missed it, do have a listen.

        To date we’ve received the following grants:

        • Benefact Trust: £80,000
        • Garfield Weston: £30,000
        • Laing Family Trust: £20,000
        • Woking Healthy Communities Board: £8,000

        Total: £138,000

        We’ve been so blessed by each of these grants, and we’re deeply thankful — both to our incredible grants team, and to the organisations who have believed in this vision.

        £138,000 is a remarkable provision!

        Our Application to Your Fund Surrey

        Many of you will know that we also applied to Your Fund Surrey (YFS) for support towards the Community Grocery, which will serve families in need across Woking. Our team worked incredibly hard with the YFS grants team and submitted a truly excellent application — originally for £497,000, later revised to £350,000 at their request.

        The application met all the criteria, and the YFS grant team themselves recommended it for approval. However, despite that, the advisory panel — made up of nine Surrey County Councillors — decided not to award us the grant.

        Their reason? 

        On a video call with Dub and Mike D (our Chair of Trustees) on Monday 6th October, a senior employee of Surrey County Council told us that the panel felt that the giving of Welcome Church — £2 million raised in just ten months for this project — was raised “too easily” and that we could therefore raise the rest ourselves.

        That was hard to hear! Not because we doubt God’s ability to provide — we’ve seen Him do amazing things — but because this project is forecast to directly help around 1,000 local families struggling to afford food. We had hoped Your Fund Surrey would chip in towards helping us meet that need.

        We also know that the £2 million given by our church family was raised quickly, but it was not raised easily. It came through deeply sacrificial giving — every pound representing someone’s personal generosity and faith.

        We’re left to ask: Has justice been served here? 

        Our response: Faith and Resolve

        Whilst the decision is disappointing, our response is simple: when others step back, we will step forward. We are a people of faith, and we serve a God who provides. Our confidence isn’t in any council or grant provider, but in Him — the One who never fails.

        So we’re going to do what we’ve always done: trust God, give generously, and continue to serve our town. We’ll fund this project ourselves, because it’s what we’re called to do. Families will be helped, lives will be transformed, and Jesus will be glorified.

        So, let’s continue to give faithfully and generously to the church and to the Church Gate project. Please don’t wait for a special Gift Day — let’s keep being generous all the time, just as God is generous towards us.

        By the way, if you’d like to share your thoughts about the decision you can contact your Surrey County Councillor – but please do so graciously. (And please note: this is nothing to do with Woking Borough Council , or our local MP who has actually been very supportive)

        Our Motivation

        Ultimately, this project isn’t about funding or fairness, it’s about Jesus’ call to love and serve those in need.

        And when the Community Grocery opens, when families are fed, and when lives are changed, the glory won’t go to us – and it certainly won’t go to YFS or the council – it will go to Jesus, the One who is worthy of it all.

        Stay connected with everything happening at Welcome Church by subscribing to this blog for weekly updates sent straight to your inbox