I’m Dreaming Of A Welcome Church Covid-19 Christmas …

… but it won’t be much like the ones we used to know! The pandemic has made a huge difference to what we can do this year, but we’ve still got some great events planned. Hopefully you’re enjoying our Welcome Church Video Advent Calendar; please make sure you also put these events in the diary so you don’t miss out:

On December 20th in the morning we have a Baptism Meeting

We may not be together in person to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we can certainly celebrate some of the new Christian births we’ve seen this year. God has been at work despite all the restrictions 😃

There was quite a long time when we couldn’t do baptisms at all due to the Covid regulations, but we’re now allowed to go ahead and we’ve waited long enough! Join us at 9am or 11am at WelcomeChurch.online where we’ll witness 13 people ‘taking the plunge’. Our last preaching series was all about being fruitful, and this is some of our fruit as a church; don’t miss it!

On December 20th in the evening we have our Carol Service with Compassion UK

We love partnering with Compassion UK, and as a church we’ve sponsored over 140 children with them in a certain part of Togo in Africa. We’ve also provided funding for a Child Survival Programme which was raised during our final Building Fund Gift Day in 2019. Through this partnership with Compassion we’re helping to release children from extreme poverty in Jesus name.

Rather than try to pull together our own Carol service in this unusual and difficult time, we’re delighted to partner with Compassion. Join us at 6.30pm at WelcomeChurch.online, bring the whole family and let’s be ready to sing along at home!

On December 24th we have our Christmas Eve online communion

Our online communion meetings are very precious, and what better way to kick off your Christmas than to gather with your family and church to remember Jesus and all he’s done for us? It starts at 6.30pm on Zoom and lasts for about an hour. All the details are in the picture below. Let’s intentionally put Jesus at the heart of our Christmas celebrations this year.

Finally, on Christmas Day we have a Christmas Day Family Meeting

It starts at 10am prompt at WelcomeChurch.online and will last for about 30 minutes. It will be lots of fun for all the family and a great way to remember what Christmas is all about. Don’t be late or you’ll miss it 😃.

After that we’ll be back with a Sunday meeting to kick off the New Year, on Sunday January 3rd at WelcomeChurch.online.

Whatever you’re up to this year, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

A Carol Service For Woking

On Sunday we had our annual Welcome Church Carol Service for Woking at the HG Wells Conference Centre in the heart of Woking.

Carols-e-Invite-2019.jpg

This year we partnered with the Cobham Brass Band who provided the music as we sang traditional carols and heard the Christmas story in several readings. We saw a powerful new Welcome Story from Sue, I talked about Jesus being God With Us (click here to listen), and we finished up with mince pies and mulled wine.

While this took place, at the 4pm service, the kids had an exciting Christmas Party of their own upstairs.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who was involved in serving, and to everyone who gave up their time to attend.

Some highlights for me included:

  • A reading by the newly elected MP for Woking, Jonathan Lord, at the 4pm service
  • A solo rendition of Away In A Manger by Romilly, aged 8
  • Readings at both services by Councillor Beryl Hunwicks, the Mayor of Woking
  • Hearing Cobham Brass Band play some fantastic Christmas numbers before and after each service

If you missed it then you really missed out, but A Carol Service For Woking will be back again next year, and this time we will be in our own new building.

Here are some pics to highlight the event: