On Friday this week (29th November) there’s a vote in Parliament about legalising ‘Assisted Dying’, which, in summary, means allowing and helping people who are terminally ill to end their life ahead of time.

This is not about switching off life-support for someone who’s already brain dead, or about ceasing active medical treatment and allowing events to run their natural course; this is about active intervention to end someone’s life early. It’s a form of euthanasia, although calling it “Assisted Dying” makes it sound a little more palatable.

This is of course a deeply sensitive issue, and we must approach it with compassion and care. Many of us will have seen loved ones facing the challenges of illness and suffering. Some will have been in pain. At times like that, the idea of assisted dying could seem like a merciful option.

Your life has value

As Christians, we believe that every life has intrinsic value because it is a gift from God. Age, disability or illness do not diminish that value. Every life, no matter how frail or broken, is precious to God. He is the Creator, and He alone has authority over life and death.

Psalm 139 tells us that God made our bodies and that He knew us before we were even born. As v16 say, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be”. God has a purpose for our life, and He even has a purpose in our suffering.

As Christians we’re called to protect and care for those who are vulnerable, not to hasten their end. Whilst we understand the pain that leads to these debates, we must stand firm in our belief that life is valuable, even in suffering, and that we’re called to protect it. God’s Word reminds us in Deuteronomy 32v39, “There is no God besides me. I put to death and I bring to life”. It is not for us to choose to end our life, even when there’s pain.

The truth is, assisted dying is incompatible with a Biblical Christian world view

Take some action

The vote on Assisted Dying takes place this Friday. I want to encourage you to write to your Member of Parliament early this week (e-mail is easiest) asking them to vote against this bill. If you can, please pause and do it right now. Let’s clearly communicate the depth and the strength of feeling there is on this bill.

Our MP in Woking is called Will Forster. Lots of us know him. If you have a different MP please write to them instead. If you’re not sure how to go about doing that or what to say, there is guidance available by following this link here.

Remember as you write that our goal is not to condemn those who support the bill, but to stand up for a more compassionate, life-affirming approach. Let’s be a voice of love, dignity, and truth in this debate. Let’s appeal for better end of life care.

Some Real Concerns

This Bill was only published at 10pm on Monday 11 November, giving MPs barely two weeks to scrutinise this significant and complex change to legislation before it goes to a vote. Many believe this is a poorly drafted bill, lacking in safeguards for the vulnerable. It hasn’t even been given time for real debate, and will have had little more than 5 hours scrutiny in Parliament before MP’s vote.

Disability campaigners and those working with women in abusive relationships have highlighted the danger of unintended consequences should the law be changed.

The Health Secretary Wes Streeting has spoken out against it. He came under pressure for speaking up which, bearing in mind it’s supposed to be a free vote, is interesting.

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also spoken out calling it “a slippery slope to death on demand”.

The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also spoken out against it.

Senior figures representing Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs have warned in a joint letter that the assisted dying Bill will lead to people being pressured into ending their lives to avoid burdening families or the NHS. They say a change in law will turn a “right to die” into people thinking they have a “duty to die”.

Supporters of this bill say that safeguards are in place to protect the vulnerable, but everywhere in the world where this has been legalised the safeguards have soon crumbled. It starts as a Bill that just affects the terminally ill, but even in the UK there is already pressure that what is being proposed is too restrictive and that the safeguards should be moved.

In most countries the removal of safeguards usually happens not though the government but through the courts, as people appeal to laws on ‘human rights’ and ‘equality’. The slippery slope will be no different here in the UK if this bill is passed.

The pattern around the world has been similar in many places: first the terminally ill… then those who are suffering long term illness… then that’s expanded to included mental illness… then people with disabilities. In The Netherlands it has been extended to include children from 12 to 16 years of age with parental approval (Over 16’s need no such parental permission). In Canada they have even offered Assisted Dying to the Homeless and the Unemployed.

To help understand this better you could watch the BBC documentary, Better Off Dead, which is currently available to stream on I-player.

Life is worth living

We live in a world that often treats life as something we can control, and therefore something we can end when it no longer feels meaningful to us. It endorses the lie that some lives are not worth living, and that suffering or disability makes a person less valuable.

Last week, as we baptised 21 people at Welcome Church, one of them said this in their testimony: “Last year, when I was making another attempt to end my life, I heard a very strong voice coming through and saying: You did not bring yourself here. You found yourself here and you do not have the right to take yourself off here. After that I felt warmth around me, and I cried, not because of my misery but because I realised Jesus was there with me, saving me from myself”.

A life made in the image of God is a life worth living, even when there is suffering.

Waiting to hear back

I have written to Will Forster to express my concern. I have not yet heard back from him but I will let you know when and if I do, and I’ll let you know how he votes on this issue. As Christians we should certainly remember these kinds of issues when it’s our turn to vote again.

I encourage you again to consider writing to your MP right now today, asking them to vote against this Bill. This is an important issue. It directly affects the most vulnerable in our society.

Let’s take action in love and truth, to affirm the value God places on every human being. And let’s remember, Jesus never dismissed suffering as unimportant. In fact, Jesus walked through the ultimate form of suffering, on the cross, experiencing the pain and brokenness of our world, in order to give us hope, healing, and eternal life.

And now we’re are called to be agents of mercy, walking alongside people in their suffering, and pointing them to a hope that transcends all the struggles of this life.

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As a church we’re starting something new this year: on December 31st, New Year’s Eve, we will hold a ‘Watchnight Celebration’ at Welcome Church.

This is an event we’ve been asked to consider for a couple of years now, especially by those among us from African or South American backgrounds. This year – to much excitement – it’s happening.

The aim of the evening is to celebrate together, to thank God for the year we’ve just had, and to submit the New Year ahead to Him.

The evening will include a mix of vibrant worship, testimony, prayer, celebration and more as we see in the New Year together. It’s open to all people of all ages – anyone who is happy to stay up late and join in as we celebrate.

After too many years spent watching the fireworks on TV and half-heartedly singing Olde Lang Syne, I’m ready for something new. Bring it on!

The event will start with refreshments as we arrive from 10pm onwards, and will finish at about 12.30am. Watch this space for full details of timings, but for now please be encouraged to put the event in your diary and dig out your dancing shoes.

I can’t think anything more valuable to be doing as we kick off 2025 together!

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You may have spotted it already, but if not please take a moment, perhaps on Sunday, to check out our new Welcome Church mural:

The mural was created by Sophie, a brilliant local artist, who is both an art teacher and a key part of our Welcome Church worship team. She was ably assisted by Claire, by Owen and by some others at various points along the way. The mural is located on the fence outside the Welcome Lounge.

The thinking behind the mural was to help point us towards Church Gate, where we look forward to having lots of new space for our children’s and young people’s work soon.

At the right moment the fence between the two properties will be gone, and a way through will be created. In the meantime Sophie has created this ‘Yellow Brick Road’ that shows the way whilst we wait for the work on Church Gate to be done.

Below are a few pics of the mural in progress, followed by a 45 second time lapse video that shows the whole job being done from start to finish.

On behalf of us all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to Sophie, who gave her time and creativity for free this summer to serve our church in this way. It’s a lovely result and to me it speaks deeply of our Welcome Church values of ‘Belong, Believe Become’ and ‘It Matters That You’re Here’. It also speaks of the value that we ascribe to our ever growing work with children and young people.

Make sure you take a really good look at it soon. Enjoy!

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I’m writing this blog post from Rio de Janeiro where I’m currently visiting Casa Cruzeiro, a discipleship house based in one of the favelas above the city. I’m here with Andrew Shore from the Commission church in Porto, Portugal who helpfully also speaks Portuguese and has been here several times before.

The team at Casa Cruzeiro is led by Luke Simone, who is part of the Welcome Church family, but has been living in this favela for the last 10 years founding and leading this ministry. Luke has built a great team here with a mix of local people, some of whom have come to faith through this ministry, and others who have felt called by God from other nations to live and serve here in various ways.

Life in a slum

There are many great churches in Brazil, including in Rio, but reaching into the favelas requires a completely different kind of approach. A ‘normal’ style of church ministry is simply not able to come here, and 99% of Brazilians would not want to come here either. These parts of the city are quite literally outside of the law. They are run by drug gangs who watch very closely who comes and goes, and will fiercely guard their territory. You can’t just come in here and start knocking on doors or giving out invitations to Alpha.

On my first day here three different members of the local drug gang, each of them armed, came to the door of the house to talk to Luke about various matters. It’s by the miraculous grace of God that Luke has been given a unique permission to carry out this ministry, by the drug gang who run the favela, and he could be told to leave at any time.

Of course, most of the people who live here are regular Brazilians trying to live as normal a life as possible, but forced to do it at a level that is sadly just one step removed from being homeless and living on the street. The houses in the favela are illegally built on land they do not own. Some are not much more than shacks, although others are better than that. Water and electricity are sourced by illegally connecting to the mains where you can. Rubbish is piled in a heap down the mountain side. The smells are certainly interesting!

This is a place where the police do not usually come, and crime here is not investigated or the law upheld. It’s certainly the first place I’ve been where you can see people who are not the police openly walking around with a machine gun strapped to their chest.

The mission of Casa Cruzeiro

At its most basic level, Casa Cruzeiro is a discipleship house where Luke and the team are trying to share the gospel and live out the life of Jesus – being a light in a dark place. Fundamentally, Luke is a missionary trying to share Jesus and make disciples in a place where planting what we might usually recognise as a church, is simply not realistic or even possible, but where the fundamentals of what the church should be are being lived out in a different way.

Luke says that what he is doing here is long term missionary work, working with ‘the least, the last and the lost’, with a goal to make disciples who will then go on to make disciples who will make disciples. It’s slow progress, worked out through incarnational living in a place where few dare to tread but where God has opened a door that everyone had said was impossible to open.

Working in partnership

Beyond our own connections, it’s great to see some partnerships with other agencies starting to form here too, not least with The Message Trust who are now starting a work here in Rio De Janeiro. It was a privilege to chat with Andy Hawthorne, who leads the Message Trust internationally, at one of the house lunches this week. He was out here launching their new work in this city. The Message Trust are the people behind the initiation of Community Groceries in the UK, so as a church we are already in regular conversation with them about our planned Community Grocery.

Another growing partnership is being formed with Christ Church, an HTB church based in the centre of Rio. A group couple from that church, with two young children, will soon be moving into the house to add their support and gifting into the mix. They will be the first family to live within Casa Cruzeiro.

Life transformed through Jesus

At Welcome Church, our vision is to see life transformed through Jesus. I’m very excited to see someone who is part of our church family bringing that vision into being in a place like this. I’ve heard some incredible stories here and met some amazing people, with transformed lives, who have encountered Jesus through this ministry and are now being discipled.

Many of the people they serve here day by day are children and young people. One key aspect of what they do is to create a ‘safe space’ away from the streets of the favela, and away from home situations that are often difficult or abusive.

Another part of what they do is giving the kind of care and advice that loving parents ought to be bringing, but is routinely absent. Building relationships of trust also enables faith based discipleship conversations to begin and for the gospel to be shared. Some of the young people have even gone from living in difficult situations in the favela, to living here in this house where disciples are being made.

The team have also now built a three story ‘school’ next door, with a classroom on each level. In this ‘school’ some local Brazilian teachers are employed to teach the children, in after school sessions, to fill in the gaps of what is often a missed or poor education. They are looking to instil hope, and a potential future beyond the slum, in young people who might otherwise grow up without it and live to repeat the cycle of the generation before.

Christian discipleship here is itself a very slow process with regular setbacks and challenges along the way. Despite this the work continues to go forward day by day, and some of the seed has been sown in very fruitful soil!

I look forward to talking about more of what I’ve seen when I get home. In the meantime, do pray for the safety and blessing of everyone here. Please pray for God‘s ongoing provision for this work too – provision of finance, of people, of Holy Spirit power, of protection and of God’s grace.

I’ll post a few photos at the end of this blog, though sadly they will not do justice to what’s going on here.

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Last week we went out for a meal with both our Welcome Church staff team and many of our regular office volunteers. We went out to celebrate the end of another church year, and also to say a sad goodbye to Uti, who has now finished her employment with the church.

Uti joined our Welcome Church staff team as an Operations Manager in 2021, just as we were reopening the offices after the pandemic. She has served us very faithfully over three years, and we’re going to miss her smiling face, and her detailed & thorough approach to everything she does. We do want to honour Uti and say a big THANK YOU for everything she has done.

We had a whole plan for a public ‘thank you’ during our Sunday morning meetings last week but, after a last minute change of their family plans, Uti ended up being away! We’ll make up for that after the summer now.

Of course it’s only a ‘sort of’ goodbye we’re saying, because Uti and the family are still a much loved and valued part of Welcome Church, and Nnamdi (Uti’s husband) continues to be a key member of our eldership team. It’s a case of, “Goodbye… and see you next Sunday”.

Future opportunities

Uti does leave a gap in our staff team, which is already a bit smaller than is ideal for a church of our size. At some point in the autumn we will be re-recruiting, albeit we are pausing first to decide exactly what role or roles we want to fill. We may not recruit a like for like replacement, because our needs have changed since 2021. Watch this space for more information about exciting job opportunities at some point in the future!

Have a great summer

Summer is now here (despite the changeable weather 😊) and the schools have finished until September… and so has my blog.

Many of our staff team and our office volunteers will be away for various periods across the summer, which means there will be less of us around day to day. That said we still have a lot to do with all the preparations for Newday, the Commission Festival and the autumn term, alongside our continued focus on Church Gate. This means there will always be a few people in the office every day across the summer, so do still get in touch with the office team if you need to.

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