Welcome Church

Reading God’s Word in 2025

/ Steve Petch / 4 Comments

Hello Welcome Church!  

Chris here – Steve has kindly allowed me to take the Christmas reins of his blog this week in order to follow up my talk on Sunday about Jesus as the Word of God. If you didn’t hear the message you can catch up here.  

Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God”. We want to be a church in which the word of Christ dwells in us richly, and I’m sure many of you individually would want to aim to make 2025 a year where God’s Word takes greater prominence in your life.  

However, given that there are so many resources available, it can be difficult to know where to start, or difficult to know where to go next. So I’ve put some recommendations together to resource you in making plans for being in God’s Word more in 2025. This is in no way an exhaustive list, but hopefully a helpful starting place.  

“But I’m not much of a reader…” 

You’re in good company. Engaging with God’s Word and building your life upon it is not reliant on you being bookish, academic or studious. The Bible was predominantly heard, not read, for much of the church’s history. So if you’re not a big reader, don’t write yourself off, there are loads of resources that can help you, including an increasing number of audiobook versions of the Bible. It’s also important to remember that feeding on God’s Word is not all about the reading, just as eating involves more than just shoving food in your mouth! Memorising, reflecting, discussing with others, and most importantly, applying God’s Word to our lives are key to feeding on “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).     

Something for everyone 

Whether you’re someone who is new to reading the Bible, or you’ve never had a regular practice of reading the Bible, or you’re a seasoned reader looking for a restart or a fresh challenge, these resources might be a great place to start… 

Bible-in-a-Year & other reading plans 

A structured programme of reading can be an invaluable help to get going with the Bible. Reading the Bible in one year will take you roughly 10-15 minutes of reading per day, which is manageable for almost everyone. The most famous plan is the Robert Murray M’Cheyne reading plan, developed by the 19th Century Scottish Pastor. You can print the plan and use your own Bible, simples! You’ll read sections from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, which helps when reading through trickier sections of the Bible (hello Leviticus!).  

However, if you want a ‘one-stop-shop’ reading plan in a book, you can buy a Bible split up into the reading plan for each day of the year. The One Year Bible makes this very easy to follow, and it comes in various translations – more on that below!  

However, my personal preference is for a 5-day reading plan, rather than a 7-day reading plan. I’ve found it helpful to have the weekends to catch up any readings I’ve missed without feeling guilty or worried that I am ‘getting behind’! Five-Day Bible Reading is a free resource that structures this for you, and is one of the most popular plans around.  

If you know you can commit to reading for a bit longer, I thoroughly recommend a long-form reading plan. These lead you through the Bible in shorter timeframes, meaning you’ll read for between 30 mins – 1 hour a day. On a 5-day reading plan, 12 chapters a day will get you through the Old Testament in 90 days, and 6 chapters a day will get you through the New Testament in 60 days. The benefit with this approach is that you make rapid progress (which is encouraging!), but also that you read the Bible in bigger narrative units, enjoying the full scope of each book, and enabling you to pick up on the big picture themes of each book. You can find various plans online that take this approach, like this New Testament one here.  

Finally, if you fancy reading in your own time at your own speed, but would really like to track your progress through the Bible, this is a great resource to print out and keep inside your Bible cover.  

Which Bible translation is the right one? 

There is no one translation of the Bible that is ‘right’. The Bible was not written in English, and so we rely on Bible translators to be able to understand God’s Word in our mother tongue. However, translation is not straight forward, as anyone in our church who speaks multiple languages will tell you, especially when it comes to idioms, phrases, sayings, poetry and prophecy!!  

So what’s the difference? Mainly it’s in the approach each translation takes and what they are hoping to achieve. Some Bibles aim translate the original text on a word-for-word basis, like the English Standard Version (ESV). These are better if you are doing a close reading of a passage or book, but do tend to be harder to read, as they are aiming for a literal translation rather than a text that reads intuitively.  

Other Bibles aim to translate the meaning of the text on a thought-for-thought basis, like the New Living Translation (NLT). These sacrifice some accuracy on the individual words, but are much more fluent to read and are generally easier to understand, because the emphasis is on capturing the meaning of the text.  

Right in the middle of these two approaches sits the New International Version (NIV), which is the version we tend to use on a Sunday, as if offers you the best of both worlds. If you don’t know which one to read, just read the NIV! 

Everyone loves Eugene Peterson’s ‘The Message’, which I highly recommend, and consider a work of genius by a highly esteemed pastor and artist – but just remember that it’s not a ‘Bible translation’ in the strict sense, as Peterson allows himself a lot of freedom in communicating each text he transliterates.  

Devotionals 

A different way of engaging with the Bible is to use a devotional, which gives you a Bible verse each day, as well as a short reflection written by a pastor or author, that helps you reflect on the verse. A devotional resource is really a ‘jumping off point’, that helps you get going before the coffee has hit your bloodstream!

Me and Sarah have enjoyed dipping in and out of The Way of Wisdom by Tim & Kathy Keller, which is a highly insightful way to read, discuss and pray through the Wisdom writings. The Kellers also wrote a devotional called My Rock, My Refuge which walks through the Psalms. A classic devotional is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, as is The Promises of God by Charles Spurgeon, or you could look at Everyday Gospel, by Paul David Tripp, which tracks alongside a Bible-in-a-Year reading plan. The very talented and inspiring Jackie Hill Perry has recently published a 60-day devotional called Upon Waking. I’m sure there are hundreds more that others could recommend, so please don’t be offended that I haven’t mentioned them all! 

A devotional is no substitute for reading the Bible yourself (don’t outsource – you can do it!), but it can be a really helpful tool for reflection and applying the Bible to your life. God wants us to live by his Word, and to grow closer to him through his Word, not just become more knowledgeable of his Word. 

Bible Studies  

If you’re looking go deeper into one book of the Bible (rather than further through the scope of the Bible), you’ll probably want to pick a book and read a more in-depth commentary on it, to help you see beneath the surface. We should not expect the Bible to be simple to understand all the time – it is the most profound book ever written! Many of its riches are buried beyond what first meets the eye and a skilled pastor or author can help you see what you’re not already seeing. 

I’ve found these two series of study books enjoyable, readable and helpful in going deeper, as well as applying the Bible to everyday life.  

The ‘For You’ series, e.g. 1 Corinthians For You 

The Bible Speaks Today (BST), e.g. The Message of Luke 

If you’re looking for a different global perspective on the Bible, I would highly recommend Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey, who brings together Middle Eastern interpretation and insights that are eye-opening.   

Memorisation, Q&A and AudioBibles 

I have found memorising Scripture to be a game-changer for how God’s Word comes alive in me. I first came across the Topical Memory System many years ago, which I inherited from someone, somewhere, in a tatty old version of the book. The idea is simple: you are given 2 verses each week that are connected thematically (e.g. 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 2:20), and you are helped to memorise those verses with tear-out cue cards.

Once memorised, you can then spend time reflecting on the verses, and gradually over the weeks you build up your own internal library of Bible verses. Here’s the irony: I’ve never got very far into the weekly plan! Maybe 2025 will be my year?! However, what I can confidently say is that all of the verses that I memorised years ago I can still remember now, and they are still benefitting my walk with God. Once you’ve really learnt a verse, you’ve got it for life. There are other versions of this book, and other books about the science of memorisation, but if you want to keep it simple, stick a verse on your fridge/bathroom mirror/child’s forehead, and try to memorise it through the week! 

Alternatively… There is a different kind of memorisation approach that the church has used historically to teach Bible beliefs, (rather than Bible verses), called ‘catechesis’, an odd word which simply means ‘question and answer’ teaching. A ‘catechesis’ is a set of 50-150 questions and answers that cover the key teachings of the Bible as a whole. Here’s an example from the very famous Westminster Shorter Catechism: 

Q: What is man’s chief end in life? 

A:   Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever 

You learn the question, and the answer, and then reflect/discuss the content.  

Because these catechisms come from a different era, their language can be an obstacle for a lot of people, but there has been a renaissance of this memorisation approach recently and this year I’ve dipped into the New City Catechism Devotional, which is highly accessible and superbly put together, with a Q&A for each day, and some devotional writings, ancient and modern, alongside. Lovely stuff! 

Finally there are an increasing number of superbly produced audiobook versions of the Bible. The ESV online platform is truly impressive, offering not just one audiobook, but your choice of a range of different readers, including Michael Reeves, Ray Ortland, Kristyn Getty and Jackie Hill Perry. It’s like the old days of sat nav where you could choose your voice! David Suchet has done a version of the NIV on audio, which comes as both a whole bible, or in the Bible-in-a-Year format. You can access this on Audible, Spotify, Apple Music or buy it hard copy online.  

Mobile-Bible or Phoning it in? 

On Sunday I was a bit disparaging of Bible resources that are available on your smart phone! I’m aware that for some people they really enjoy and rely on excellent resources that they access on their phone. The YouVersion Bible App is completely free and has been downloaded by a bazillion people, and has all kinds of reading plans to help you make progress. Personally, I use the Logos Bible App, because it syncs well with other digital study resources that I use. 

However, my pastoral concern about smart phone resources is a fairly obvious one. Smart Phones are distraction centres and highly addictive, and our society is gradually waking up to this reality, especially in managing young people’s use and access. Wisdom therefore should tell us that if we want to spend more quality time with God in his Word, we will put the phone out of reach and pick up a hard copy Bible that will not notify us of anything else that is going on in the world!

Research has shown that to stop your brain thinking about your phone it needs to be put away, in a drawer or a bag. It’s insights like this that make me highly skeptical of a Bible reading plan that relies on me using my phone a lot. I just don’t trust myself! That’s not to set any kind of rule for anyone else – perhaps you’re a commuter and you find using your phone the best way to remember your reading for the day – crack on I say! But let’s be wise and remember our aim is not simply convenience or ticking a box, it’s communing with the Living God! 

Reading with Kids 

Lastly, I just wanted to add a section here for those who are raising children and might want to think about doing something new as a family, or 1-on-1 with a child.  

Kids Bibles come in different forms. Some are Bibles i.e. they are fully translated versions of the whole Bible. Others are Storybooks, where they tell the stories of the Bible in contemporary English that is child-friendly. Both of these approaches are excellent resource for young readers.  

For a Kids Bible, I would highly recommend the NIrV version, where the ‘r’ stands for ‘readers’. It’s the NIV translation, but rendered in such a way for young readers or those for whom English is a second language. It’s highly readable for children, and comes in various forms. You can buy the plain text like this, or a far more exciting illustrated version like this.  

For a Storybook Bible, I love the Jesus Storybook Bible, which is also available on audiobook, read by the marvellous David Suchet – a ‘classic’ in my house, find it on Spotify, Audible etc. Then there’s Kevin DeYoung & Don Clark’s The Biggest Story which is stunningly written and illustrated, and I’ve heard people enjoy the Action Storybook Bible which is laid out like a comic strip.  

For memorisation and Q&A, there is the Topical Memory System for Kids, and there is also a New City Catechism for Kids, which comes in a tiny little book and is about £2! These would definitely require more parental involvement, but that can be a great source of fun and a challenge to do together. 

May God bless you as you read his Word in 2025, and remember that God really wants to speak to you – you don’t need to twist his arm! God has spoken to us through Jesus, let’s be eager to listen to him this year. 

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Assisted Suicide – Time To Take Action

/ Steve Petch / 4 Comments

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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New This Year: Watchnight Celebration

/ Steve Petch / Leave a comment

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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Have You Seen Our Welcome Church Mural?

/ Steve Petch / 1 Comment

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 Yellow Brick Road

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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Greetings from Brazil

/ Steve Petch / 1 Comment

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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EAT, PRAY, LOVE: A Simple Strategy for Impacting Lives This Autumn

/ Steve Petch / Leave a comment

Hi everyone! This is Dub Everitt, Outreach Pastor at Welcome Church. I’m jumping in on Steve’s blog this week to share our exciting Autumn outreach strategy:

We’re currently in the middle of a powerful preaching series titled “Loving People Towards Jesus.” Throughout this series, we’ve been reminded that Jesus is passionate about reaching people who don’t yet know Him—and He calls each of us to play a part in that mission. We are called to reach out in love, on His behalf, to the people around us.

In previous years, our church has hosted incredible invitational events like Fun Days, Firework Nights, Carol Services, and our special Invite Sundays. These “Hop, Skip & Jump” events connected hundreds of people to Welcome Church, with many deciding to explore faith further through Alpha or by attending our Sunday services.

This year, however, we’re shifting gears. Instead of large invitational events, we’re focusing on empowering each one of you to engage personally with the people in your world through a simple and memorable approach:

EAT, PRAY, LOVE

No, we’re not talking about the book or the movie! These three memorable words are designed to help us all focus on a clear, three-step outreach strategy for this term.

1. EAT…

… at A Taste of Alpha and during our Autumn Alpha Course
This year, we’re inviting everyone at Welcome Church to experience Alpha for themselves at a special event called A Taste of Alpha. It’s a fantastic opportunity to enjoy a mocktail, watch an episode from the new Alpha Film Series, and discuss it over a delicious two-course meal.

This event gives you firsthand experience of what your friends will encounter if you invite them to Alpha. We’ve already seen hundreds attend, and if you missed it, there are limited spots available for Wednesday, October 2nd. Click here to book your place for 2nd October

Once you’ve experienced A Taste of Alpha, we’d love for you to invite a friend to Try Alpha on Wednesday, October 16th—the first week of our eight-week Alpha Course. Your friend can check it out and, if they enjoy it, they’re welcome to continue for the remaining weeks! Click here to book for Try Alpha

2. PRAY…

… for your friends
Many of us have already made a list of three or more people we’re praying for daily. If you haven’t done so yet, take a moment now—ask God to bring to mind three people He wants you to pray for daily, and write their names down.

It’s a powerful thing to remember that God not only hears our prayers but also moves in the lives of the people we lift up to Him. Before you speak to your friends about God, speak to God about your friends!

3. LOVE…

… your friends towards Jesus
Sometimes, sharing Jesus with others can feel like a daunting task. But perhaps a better way to think about it is this: Jesus has given us people to love towards Him.

During His time on earth, Jesus poured out love, kindness, mercy, and compassion to everyone He encountered. Now, He asks us to reflect that same love to those around us, showing them what His love looks like in action.

In fact, He’s equipped us for this! As Romans 5v5 reminds us,

“God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us“

This promise is true for each one of us who follows Jesus—including you!

So, let’s live lives of compassionate love and kindness towards the friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and anyone else God places in our path. Let’s trust that through us, they will experience Jesus’ love—and that this love will be a step toward their own encounter with Him.

Jesus is deeply passionate about our town and the people around us. He’s placed you and me in their lives to be a blessing and a signpost toward Him.

Let’s all commit to EAT, PRAY & LOVE this autumn, and watch as God does amazing things!

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Getting A Taste Of Alpha

/ Steve Petch / Leave a comment

As part of our Autumn programme this year, we’re inviting everyone in Welcome Church to attend one of our ‘Taste Of Alpha’ evenings.

I attended the first one last night 🙂

These evenings are a chance for us all to experience what the first evening of an Alpha course is like, building our confidence to make invitations to our Autumn Alpha course which starts with ‘Try Alpha’ on October 16th. (In case anyone is unsure, Alpha is an 8 week course that we run, and is intended for people who want to explore what the Christian faith is all about)

What I experienced

On arrival the front hall was packed with people from Welcome Church who’d signed up for the first Taste of Alpha experience. We were greeted with ‘Mocktails’, before being seated on pre-arranged tables, finding our name on a wedding style seating plan. Dub then welcomed us all and introduced Nnamdi, who led us through the full experience of the first night of an Alpha course.

The evening consisted of:

  • A excellent two course meal, with every table hosted by friendly table leaders who quickly got us chatting (my thanks to Edward and NG on my table)
  • A game of ‘Kahoot!’ – an interactive quiz, which our table sadly didn’t win
  • Some contemporary live music from Steve B on guitar and vocals
  • A screening of the new style week 1 Alpha video
  • Some table discussions built around two thought provoking questions

We then finished with a short chat from Dub about what we’d just experienced, and the chance to pray together on our tables and to provide feedback on the evening.

My observations

As someone who’s been very familiar with Alpha over a number of years, and who’s even spoken on several past courses, I wondered if I really needed to be there – after all, I already know all about Alpha, right???

Wrong!

I came away with three key observations:

First: I’m incredibly proud of our team. The evening was well run and brilliantly organised in every aspect. There was high quality food, the seating had been well thought through and the whole ‘production’ was great. Everything was designed to put you at ease. I want to say well done to everyone involved in making it happen. If you’d brought a friend along, you really would be proud to say that this was your church.

Second: The Alpha videos have changed A LOT, and all for the better. They were always good, but no longer is it Nicky Gumble preaching at you for 30 minutes. The videos are bright, clear and well put together with a variety of people (including Nicky) communicating the message in different ways, with regular pauses for discussion on key questions. I found myself quickly drawn in and would have been comfortable for any friend I’d invited to watch them. This change of the style to the Alpha course’s content is the biggest thing I spotted, and it’s very positive change.

Third: It actually made we want to do Alpha again! It made me feel like, if I wasn’t a Christian already, I’d definitely have wanted to book in for the actual course. I even found the questions and discussion times to be personally thought provoking again, and I went home with a few things to think about – I really didn’t expect that!

In summary, any friends that we bring along to the ‘Try Alpha’ evening on October 16th are almost certainly going to want to sign up for the whole course. In fact, the biggest takeaway for me was this:

we can safely invite people to our church’s Alpha Course with confidence that they will have a positive experience and we won’t regret bringing them

To be honest, I think I knew that anyway, but now I’ve seen it and experienced it for myself.

What’s next?

There are 3 more chances to experience A Taste Of Alpha, on each of the next three Wednesdays. If you haven’t signed up yet, please follow this link to do so. One quick warning, the final evening is almost full.

And let’s keep on praying for our friends so that we’re ready to make lots of invitations to the actual Alpha course which starts with ‘Try Alpha’ on Wednesday 16th October.

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    What Did You Read This Summer?

    / Steve Petch / Leave a comment

    The new term is well under way, our prayer week is almost over and the summer holidays are starting to feel like a distant memory, especially with this recent cold snap. Before I forget I wanted to mention three books I read this summer that I would recommend to us all:

    1. “Jesus Through The Eyes of Women” by Rebecca McLaughlin

    In this book Rebecca explores some of the life-changing accounts of women in the Bible who met Jesus, and what we can learn about Jesus from them. It’s easy to read, very encouraging and the chapters have great discussion questions at the end. This could actually work well for a Life Group to read chapter by chapter and discuss the questions together, or just read it yourself like I did.

    2. “Tis Mercy All” by Natalie Williams

    Natalie runs Jubilee Plus and is based in Hastings UK. She is well known to some of us at Welcome Church. Her latest book is on the topic of God’s outrageous mercy and what it means for us to love mercy and to be mercy bringers in a world that lacks it. It’s thoughtful, practical and very applicable to our daily lives and our work places. When I’d finished this one, Jo read it too and she also loved it. I’m hoping Natalie will come and preach for us at some point in 2025.

    3. “Born Again This Way” by Rachel Gilson

    In this powerful and personal book, Rachel describes her own unexpected journey of first ‘coming out’ and of then coming to faith in Jesus, and what came next. She addresses the questions this raises for every Christian, but most especially for Christians who live with same sex attraction. Christopher and I heard Rachel speak recently at an event we attended and, to be honest, her session was the highlight for us both.

    Don’t forget you can get all of these from Origin Books in Woking.

    Happy reading!

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    Welcome Back

    / Steve Petch / 1 Comment

    September is here and a new church year has begun – WELCOME BACK!

    Despite it being a quieter time overall, lots of fun things happened over the summer including Newday (for the youth) and Commission Festival (for us all), and of course the final parts of our preaching series on the book of Exodus. I also heard about Life Groups having fun with BBQ’s and various trip to beaches and parks. Whatever you got up to I hope you had some time to relax.

    Most of what’s coming up at church this term can be found in the new purple book that you can pick up on a Sunday morning, and it’s also all in the online diary on the website and in the ChurchSuite app, but I wanted to highlight three things as the new term begins:

    1. Commission Festival

    We had a fantastic time as a church this summer at Commission Festival. The weather was kind to us overall, and it was great chance to hang out together and spend time with people we often only see in passing on a Sunday. We cooked and ate together as a church this year, and the food was truly amazing, so I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make it happen. I loved the Karaoke and the Silent Disco and, although my team didn’t win this year, the Quiz Night was a lot of fun too.

    On the more ‘spiritual’ side of things there were several helpful messages preached at the Festival, most especially by Ranjit from India, but for me the outstanding element of it all was the worship times, led in large part by our very own Jo and featuring a few other familiar faces too.

    I want to say thank you to everyone who was there and, for those who couldn’t attend in person, I hope the live stream was useful.

    At the end of the Festival we discovered that it won’t now be back until 2026 so, with that in mind, in 2025 we will be holding our very own…

    … Welcome Church Big Weekend Away!

    It will be held over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August so do put that weekend in your diary now. We’ve already booked a venue for this event, in The New Forest, and details on how to book your place will follow soon – watch this space.

    2. Prayer Week

    Next week will be our prayer week to kick off the new term, and all the details for getting involved with that are in the pictures below. Do join us for as much as you can – there’s no better way to start the new church year.

    The week will culminate in a Prayer and Vision evening at 7pm next Sunday (15th September) so do join us if you can. We’ll be talking about all that’s coming up in the year ahead and sharing our hopes and aspirations for Welcome Church, all in a context of worship and prayer.

    3. Loving People Towards Jesus

    Our new preaching series is now also underway, and I’m looking forward to preaching part 2 this coming Sunday. To tie in with our prayer week I’ll be talking about The Power Of Prayer – so make sure you don’t miss it.

    Outreach and evangelism is going to be a focus this term as we run up towards our Carol Services on Dec 15th. Let’s all get on board with what God is doing at Welcome Church – I’m looking forward to another great year together.

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    Saying Goodbye To Uti (sort of)

    / Steve Petch / Leave a comment

    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.

    (with a few missing faces…)

    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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