Important and Urgent! PLEASE PRAY!

/ Steve Petch / 6 Comments

Hello Welcome Church. We have a very important prayer request and would ask you ALL to please pray, pray and pray again.

Yesterday Mike Deavin and myself, along with Darren Forsdyke and Dub Everitt, met with the representative of the owner of a significant building near to us in Woking. We had a look around the building and discussed how we might be able to get use of it for us as a church, perhaps by buying it.

After viewing the building I explained all that we do to serve our community and to help those in need around us. I explained how the church exists to bring hope to people. I explained how we need more space for all that God is doing through us. I explained our calling to be good news to our town and to serve the poor. I explained that we wanted this building to enable us to continue what we do and to enable us to do even more.

If we were able to take ownership, it would be a significant game changer for us as a church, enabling so many things we want to do to serve the poor and carry out our social action programme, including space for some new initiatives we are thinking of such as a community grocery. It might also release space for our children’s and youth work, preparing us for the day that the Annex (The Cube) is redeveloped.

It would not be right at this stage to say what or where this building is (so please don’t even ask) but all four of us all came away feeling that this could be something God is leading us into. The representative we met with is now going away to speak to the owner to see if there is a way forward, and if so at what cost.

Please pray:

  • That God would give us favour with the owner and his representative
  • That God would open this door to us so that we can bring even more salt and light to this town, and serve our community well, especially at this time of growing need
  • That we can take ownership of this building for a fair price
  • That finance would be released to make this possible

I will tell you more when I’m able to, but as you pray please be open to what God might say to you and please share that with us.

At this time of need I believe God has a big calling on us as a church to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God in all we do. Why not stop what you’re doing and pray right now?

Thank you in advance

Some Important Things To Pray About – July 2023

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Hello lovely Welcome Church people! We would value your prayers this month for the following key things:

1. Buildings

We’re keen to work out how to create more space for our growing kids and youth work. On Sunday mornings we’re currently relying on The Annex (THE CUBE!) for extra space. The Annex is great, but we don’t own it and it will be redeveloped at some point, so we need to either build or buy a more permanent solution.

Mike Deavin and I met with the architect of our current building recently, and he’s looking at what’s possible on our site. We want to find a solution that will serve the needs of our young people, and also serve the church and the wider community all week long.

We love and value our young people and want to serve them well, so please be praying for wisdom and a clear way forward. I’m excited to see what doors God will open for us.

2. Newday

At the end of July our youth will be heading off to the annual ‘Newday Youth Festival’ at the Norfolk Showground in Norwich 🎪. This year it runs from Monday 31st July to Friday 4th August. So far we have around 80 young people booked to attend. Each year Newday helps our youth to grow in their faith, building solid foundations for the future.

Please pray:

  • That our youth stay safe and have a great time
  • That they encounter God and grow in their faith
  • For the leaders and the many helpers who are taking them and serving them during the event (they need our prayers! 🙂)
  • For the practical arrangements (For example, just this week the coach company we booked announced that they’ve gone bankrupt … 🚌 … we’ve got time to solve that problem, but we’d love to avoid any more last minute headaches or unforeseen problems)

3. Commission Festival

Commission Festival is on the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August ⛺️⛺️⛺️

We’ll be joining with Commission churches from around the UK for times of worship and teaching, and a whole lot of other fun and games too. This event helps build our togetherness as a church and as family of churches. It connects us to our Apostolic mission around the world, and it also serves our children and young people well.

We currently have around 370 people from Welcome Church booked in, which is more than we’ve ever taken to an event like this before. For us it’s a bit like we’re running a festival within the festival!

It’s still not too late to book in and join us (click here for details) and don’t forget you can get a 40% discount if you sign up to serve.

A LOT of people from Welcome Church are either serving at the Festival, or serving our church site at the Festival in a range of different ways. I can’t possibly name them all, but each one is greatly appreciated.

Please pray:

  • For the event to go really well and for God to move powerfully
  • For the weather – we’d like lots of sunshine please ☀️
  • For Darren, our Ops Director, who is leading the delivery of this brand new Festival for Commission, working with their staff team and an event management company. It’s been a massive undertaking and he’s gone above and beyond to get this done
  • For Richard who, along with an awesome team from our church, is leading the operational delivery of our Welcome Church site at the Festival
  • For Jo, who leads four worship team and is also leading the worship for the event (alongside Sean from City Gate Church, Bournemouth)
  • For Harriet who is co-leading ‘Unique’, a ministry for children at the Festival who have additional needs
  • For Dub, Meg, and Robin and Anna who are all responsible for various seminars
  • For myself – I’m responsible for anchoring the adult meetings and I’m also preaching on the Saturday evening

If you have any questions about the festival, please do ask. One more thing:

Do you want to go to the Festival for free?

If so, Compassion UK are looking for some outgoing, faith filled and friendly volunteers to help on the Compassion stand at the Festival. In return they will provide a free ticket for the event along with your food and any travel expenses. All you need to bring is yourself, your camping equipment, and faith in what God can do.

If you want to know more about this opportunity please let us know in the church office and we will put you in touch, but please don’t leave it too late!

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.

Some Suggested Summer Reading – 2023

/ Steve Petch / 4 Comments

Summer is here and the weather’s been amazing – long may it last 😎

If you’re anything like me, some of your summer break will be spent with your nose in a book so, alongside all the fun novels, I wanted to recommend some books that will do you good. Why not find space for one of them in your suitcase and give it a go?

Deeper by Dane Ortlund

This book answers the question: “How do Christians grow in their faith?”

We all know it’s meant to happen but we can be confused about HOW it’s meant to happen. Dane doesn’t give us a formula or technique, and he’s not calling us to “try harder and do more”. Instead, drawing from both the Bible and from some of the great examples set by believers from church history (with some great CS Lewis quotes 🙂) he points us back to Jesus and to the deep truths of the Christian faith,

If you only read one of my suggestions, read this one.

I recommended another book by Dane Ortlund on a past occasion, and you can read about that one here.

Gender Quality by Stefan Liston

What did God intend when he created both ‘male’ and ‘female’? What does the Bible teach us about the value and purpose of both men and women? What does God’s creation intention mean for us as Christians, as we try to faithfully live out God’s plan at home and in the church?

Stefan is an elder at Revelation Church in London, and a great preacher and communicator. This well researched and easy to read book explores two very different perspectives, and challenges us to think and act Biblically, seeking out the unity and the diversity that God intended for us.

Finding Your Best Identity by Andrew Bunt

At one point in Andrew’s childhood he thought he might be a girl in a boy’s body. As he grew older he discovered he was same-sex attracted. For many years he believed he was a freak and a weirdo. In this short book Andrew explores the different ways that we can seek our identity, blending his own story with cultural awareness and careful Bible teaching.

Andrew will be speaking on this theme at Commission Festival this year, both in the youth meeting and in a seminar open to all of us. It’s an issue we see being discussed in the media every day, so let’s make sure we understand it well and know God’s heart.

The Reason For God by Tim Keller

I was saddened to hear the news of Tim Keller’s death this year. I’ve always loved and appreciated his books so, in light of his death, I wanted to recommend a personal favourite. This is a book that you can share with anyone who’s interested in faith, whether they’re a Christian or not.

Tim addresses some big questions such as:

  • Why does God allow suffering?
  • How can a loving God send people to hell?
  • How can one religion be ‘right’ and the others ‘wrong’?
  • Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?

It was first published in 2008, so it’s not new but it’s still a great read.

Remember, you can 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.

An interview with Koffi Ahonon

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I recently spent time with Koffi Ahonon, country director for Compassion Togo. He’s an impressive guy, and deeply passionate about Jesus and the gospel. It turns out he knows personally one of the main projects where we’ve sponsored children, and it was great to hear about it first hand.

I spent some of our time together interviewing him about life in Togo and the impact of our child sponsorships, so if you’ve ever wondered …

  • What difference does my sponsorship make?
  • What is the real impact of sending a letter?
  • What are the challenges of poverty the children face day by day?

… check out this video for the answers to these questions and a whole lot more

Updates: Italy, Newcomers Lunch and Training

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Thanks to all who prayed about the various things I highlighted in my last blog post. Here are a few updates:

Insieme

Insieme (Italian for ‘together’) was the Commission Italy conference I spoke at last weekend, along with Chris Kilby from Life Church Southampton. We were connecting with two churches in Ladispoli, near Rome, who are looking into Commission.

It was a joy to connect with these Italian Churches and spend time with them in worship, prayer and teaching, and also to get time to talk with the Italian leaders about the future. Our teaching on the grace of God was well received and impacted people’s lives and faith. Thankfully there were good people on hand to translate as we went along. We also got the chance for a (brief) visit to Rome on one day to take some selfies and also to enjoy some great food.

Some of the Italian leaders are now hoping to join us at Commission Festival this summer as a next step in our developing relationships.

Newcomers Lunch

Our Newcomers Lunch on Sunday went really well. It was attended by 63 adult guests (!) in addition to the table hosts and a number of children. Like Woking as a town, the guests represented a wide variety of nationalities and backgrounds, which we always love to see.

Dub led the event through brilliantly and the majority of those who attended will now come to our Belong, Believe, Become course too. It’s good to see new people joining us each week, so please be on the front foot to befriend them. Why not make it a personal goal to meet at least one new person at church every Sunday morning?

Training Scholarships

Recently we promoted the Commission training courses, which enrol each September and are a superb way to grow in your faith, and connect more widely with our Commission family of churches. Lots of people have expressed interest, however we’re aware that, for a few, the course fees might be a barrier, so we’re delighted to launch our Welcome Church training scholarships 😀

We’re offering a limited number of scholarships for those who otherwise would not be able to participate in a Commission training course for financial reasons. Most of the scholarships will cover 50% of the course fees, although there may be exceptions where we can offer a larger scholarship. Sadly, it’s unlikely that we will be able to fund every application.

To be eligible for a scholarship you must:

  • Belong to Welcome Church
  • Be serving in one of our teams
  • Be in need of financial support to attend the training course
  • Commit to attending all the training sessions for the course you’re applying for and to submitting all assignments as required

If you’d like to put yourself forward for a scholarship, please apply here.

Applications will be reviewed on a ‘rolling’ basis, and decisions will be made by a panel. If you have any questions regarding scholarships or training, Christopher Hawes would be happy to chat to you.

We hope this means that everyone who wants to, has the opportunity to participate in these excellent courses. 

And finally …

I know that parking on a Sunday can sometimes be tight, but let’s at least try not to imitate this unfortunate driver who accidentally left their vehicle at Welcome Church over the weekend 😃.

Apparently no one was hurt, but sadly we do have a bit of a repair job to do now! Police are aware and the vehicle should be recovered soon.

Remember, you can 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.

Things To Pray About – June 2023

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Here are some important items of Welcome Church news that we’d love you to know and to pray about – including a trip to Italy 🇮🇹.

Alpha

We currently have 30 guests attending Alpha on Wednesday evenings, and a further 6 guests attending a daytime Welcome Tots mums’ Alpha course. The topic this week is “How Can I Have Faith?”

The Holy Spirit Day, which we run as part of the Alpha course, will take place on Saturday 1st July. Please pray for every guest to encounter Jesus and start a journey of faith

Newcomers Lunch

Our Newcomers Lunch is on this Sunday, and currently more than 40 guests have signed up to attend. Big thanks go to Hazel and her team who will be cooking the meal. Please pray for Dub as he leads this event and for our guests to grow in their sense of connection to Welcome Church and to start to feel like ‘Welcome Church is their church’.

The Big Summer Picnic

Plans for the Welcome Church Big Summer Picnic on Sunday 9th July are coming together well (click here to sign up). Please pray for good weather on the day and that we have a lot of fun. Everyone is welcome to attend, but do please sign up on the link above so we know you’re coming.

Welcome Works

Welcome Works are the various ministries that we run as a church, to help people in need in all sorts of different ways. Three of these to particularly pray for this month are:

  1. JOB CLUB: Our Job Club team is led by Neil Willis. Those in attendance are taught the key skills they need to handle job interviews and job applications so they can find and keep employment, often for the first time. The current course has 16 guests
  2. FRESH START: Our Fresh Start team is led by Dawn Wallace. It helps people overcome low level addiction and make a fresh start. The current course has 4 guests
  3. GET ONLINE: This is a brand new service for us, and starts this month. The team will be led by Steve Barter. Get Online helps people to learn basic computer skills, and learn how to access the internet safely, including such things as shopping and paying bills online – something many of us take for granted and rely on every day

Please pray for each of these courses, including all those who are in attendance and the teams who are running them. The goal of all of our Welcome Works is not only to help people in need – which is a great reflection of Jesus’ heart as revealed to us in Luke 4v16-21 – but also for them to encounter Jesus through us.

Office Team Wellbeing

We have had a couple of challenging incidents over recent weeks with members of the public acting in unhelpful ways towards our office team. I won’t go into details, and we do have sensible procedures in place, but please do pray for God’s loving protection over our office team day by day.

Italy: Insieme 2023

On Thursday this week (the day this blog comes out) I will be flying off to Ladispoli in Italy to speak at a conference called ‘Insieme’ (which is Italian for ‘Together’). The conference is for some Italian churches who are in the process of getting to know and perhaps join our Commission family of churches.

The theme of the conference is ‘Enjoying The Grace Of God’. I will also get to enjoy the company of Norman and Jane Bave, formerly of Welcome Church, who now live in Italy and will be in attendance at Insieme.

Please pray for me while I’m away, and also for Jo who is speaking at a Conference at Kings Church Epsom on Saturday. Please pray for Chris Kilby from Life Church Southampton who is leading the Insieme conference, and also pray that we would all be able to discern together what the future might look like in terms of these churches and their growing link to Commission.

I’ll be flying back on Monday, and remember, you can 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.

News From Welcome Kids

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In January, due to growing numbers of children attending Welcome Kids each Sunday, we launched “Welcome Kids Seniors” (WKS), a new group aimed specifically at children in school years 5 and 6. They meet at The Cube each Sunday morning and are seeing God do some amazing things.

The group is led by Harriet Code and her awesome team. I wanted to share what’s been going on since then, in their own words.

What Harriet says:

“Since we started WKS, we’ve seen our year 5 and 6 children grow in confidence, in friendships and in their own relationship with God. The numbers attending each week have grown too.

“It’s a really exciting time opening the Bible every week, immersing ourselves in God’s word, and asking questions about what it means for us today, as well as what it tells us about God. We’ve been trying to encourage the children to ask questions and consider their own thoughts and opinions in relation to what we’ve been discussing, and it’s been great to see them come to church with their own questions. They are an amazing group of children and it’s a really exciting ministry! “

What the kids say:

  • “I feel really valued – everyone has an opportunity to share something”
  • “It’s a mix of things: we have fun games, we go more in depth and there are comfy seats!”
  • “I like that the questions are more complex”
  • “We get to have more open conversations”
  • “I can share my own thoughts and everyone’s ideas are listened to”
  • “The leaders are amazing”
  • “I know the people in seniors much better now and our friendships have become much stronger”

What some of the WKS team say:

  • “I love the games, and seeing the kids relate to each other and enjoy being at church”
  • “It’s great seeing the relationships that are building with the kids from different schools in a Christian environment”
  • “I like the breakout groups where the children think of ways they can be kind to kids at school and outside of church”
  • “I love the ‘eureka’ moments when a part of the gospel becomes so clear to the kids that they take over with their own explanations and answers”

Some final words from Harriet:

“When I think about what we’re trying to do in WKS, we want to encourage the children to be confident in their thoughts and opinions, to have a safe space to question their ideas, and to independently think about God’s word. It’s really exciting to think that we’re on this road, and this became evident during the recent Welcome Kids Weekend Away.

“During the Sunday meeting at the weekend away we shared (with permission!) how some of the children were going through a tough time with health issues, bereavement and more. They all showed real emotional maturity as they poured out their support, respect and concern for one another and then surrounded the affected children and prayed for them. For me this was a moment of awe, pride and genuine thanks to God. They really are an amazing group of kids! 

Encouraged? I certainly am

You can 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.

Some Great Opportunities To Grow

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We have some great opportunities, starting in September, for people who want to grow in their walk with God and explore their future calling:

Welcome Church Internship Program

This year we’re offering a one year internship program at Welcome Church, starting in September and running through to Commission Festival in 2024. This is a fantastic opportunity to LEARN about yourself and about God’s plan for your life, to SERVE the church and our local community, and to GROW in your character, faith, skills and gifting.

Our Internship year is aimed primarily at Christians who are in the 18-25 age bracket (though we’re happy to chat with anyone) and is linked with the Commission Internship Program. It includes a mix of practical experience and theological training.

We have up to three places available, based in our Welcome Church offices, focussing on one of the following three areas (although other areas of interest could be discussed):

  1. Children’s and/or Youth Work
  2. Comms and Social Media
  3. Outreach and Social Action

If this sounds like something for you or for someone you know (perhaps even someone in another church), please get in touch with Christopher Hawes by email to express an interest (click here)

Commission Theology Training

In addition to the Internship Program there are also some great opportunities, for everyone who wants to, to receive some theological training. Commission, the group of churches we belong to, offers 4 levels of Theological Training:

Level 1: Theology For Life – this runs once a month on 11 Saturdays across the Calendar year at Hope Church, Winchester. Whether you’re a brand new Christian wanting to learn as much as you can about Christianity, or a well established Christian wanting to deepen your theological understanding, this course is an excellent place to start.

Level 2: Training for Leadership & Ministry (TLM) – this runs once a month on Saturdays from September to July, over a two year period. The course aims to do more than simply ‘teach’ theology; it is also intended to train and equip you to lead others. TLM is Commission’s core programme for equipping and coaching new and emerging leaders in our church family and helping people grasp our shared vision.

Level 3: Graduate Diploma In Theology – Partnering with Union School of Theology, this course facilitates rigorous theological study at a graduate level, alongside a cohort of other leaders from Commission Churches. The Diploma is accredited by The Open University, and is designed for people stepping into formal ministry, as well as for leaders already in ministry who missed out on formal theological education.

Level 4: Masters Degree In Theology – Partnering with Union School of Theology, this course provides advanced theological study, at a Masters level, alongside a cohort of other leaders from Commission churches. This course is validated by The Open University, and is aimed at current leaders who want to grow through serious theological and applied study. 

For most people in Welcome Church levels 1 and 2 would be the best place to start, but we wanted you to know about all the options. If you want to know more about any of these, please check out the details via the various links above, and please also get in touch with Christopher Hawes by email to express your interest (click here)

Scholarships

We know that some of these courses can be expensive and, whilst this will not be an issue for many, please be aware that if funding is a challenge you can apply for a limited number of ‘scholarships’, funded by Welcome Church, for Levels 1 and 2, that will help towards the course fees. Please contact Christopher Hawes for more details about this.

Summoned To The House of Lords!

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Christopher and I spent yesterday evening at the House of Lords. To be fair we were invited rather than summoned, but what were we doing there???

Read on to find out:

Big Ben Suit Selfie

It was great to have Tim Robertson from Compassion UK speaking at Welcome Church a couple of Sundays ago. Between us, as a church, we sponsor 265 children through Compassion – mostly in Togo. You can read more about that amazing work by clicking this link. If you want to sponsor a child please let me know; we have a few child profiles from Togo available, so please just ask.

Invitation from an MP

Because of our church’s connection with Compassion in Togo, Christopher and I received an invitation from Tim Farron MP (no politics on here please 😉) to attend an event at the House of Lords in celebration of all that has been achieved through the ‘Different Path’ appeal. The event was to mark the three year point of this initiative, and reflect on all that’s been achieved. It was also a chance to visit the House of Lords, which is an impressive place.

Different Path

‘Different Path’ was a UK Government “matched funding” appeal to support child survival in Togo through Compassion UK. As a church we raised £40,000 pounds for this in 2019 as part of our building project. This money was matched by UK Government Aid to make it up to £80,000.

Overall the appeal raised more than £2.2m and has saved and improved many lives by providing vulnerable mums with medical support, health screenings, hygiene supplies, nutritional supplements and education. This all helps to protect women during pregnancy and ensure that their babies have a healthy start in life. The Different Path appeal has now exceeded all of its targets, which is an amazing result; I’m glad we were able to be part of it.

Some Highlights

Some highlights of our visit:

  • We met Koffi Ahonon, the National Director of Compassion Togo, who is both a really nice guy and an impressive leader
  • We saw The Speaker’s State Coach, which was made in the 1600s but appears to be in better condition than my car
  • We watched a live debate from the Strangers Gallery in the House of Lords (not as lively as one might hope … 😉)

We also took a selfie or two along the way 😀😀

Meeting Koffi Ahonon
My next car?
“No photos to be taken in here please Sir”

You can 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.

What Really Happened At The Welcome Kids Weekend Away?

/ Steve Petch / 2 Comments

Welcome Kids had a great time away at Walton Firs Activity Centre in Cobham last weekend … and I know some parents enjoyed the extra peace and quiet at home too 😃

60 kids from school years 3 to 6 attended the weekend. They were blessed by dry weather, which was a big answer to prayer at the end of a very wet April! The kids had a packed schedule from 8am to 9pm each day, staying in ‘sleeping pods’ in the forest overnight (see pic)

During the weekend they took part in a lot of fun activities including high ropes, crafts, buggy building, capture the flag, rounders, silent disco, a very popular tuck shop, a bonfire with toasted marshmallows & hot chocolate and lots more.

Some highlights included:

  • Caving: hunting for “fossils” and things that were hidden in an underground cave structure
  • Nightline: a blindfolded obstacle course completed as a team, learning to work together and help each other
  • Challenge the leaders: leaders completed various challenges that usually involved getting extremely messy

The weekend had some excellent spiritual content too

There were three main teaching times which looked at:

  • Getting to know God the Father (by looking at the story of the Prodigal Son)
  • Getting to know Jesus (by looking at Jesus as The Good Shepherd)
  • Getting to know the Holy Spirit (by looking at some Bible stories revealing what happens when people are empowered by the Holy Spirit)

Some of the Welcome Church Worship Team were at the weekend, leading times of praise and worship that engaged all the kids in singing, dancing, contributing and praying for one another. The year 6’s were able to spend time with some of the Welcome Youth leadership on Saturday evening, who came to join for the evening, in preparation for this age group moving up to Welcome Youth from September.

Some comments from the kids

  • “I feel like the worship was really good and we got to know people more”
  • “The activities were really fun and we got to spend some time getting to know each other”
  • “The talks were really good because they explained parts of the Bible really well and I feel like they helped me get closer to God”
  • ”The talks were really touching and helped me understand God’s love a bit better”

A Big Thank You

25 helpers were involved in putting the weekend on and I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to them all, most especially to the dream team of Harriet Code, Crispy and Darren Forsdyke who pulled it all together.

If you had a child at the weekend away, why not ask them about what they learnt and what they enjoyed? If you missed out this year, remember to put the dates for next year in your diary now (3rd to 5th May 2024), and make sure to book as soon as the event is advertised; it’s likely to sell out fast again.

You can 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