Practically speaking...
THE WELL IS A PENTECOSTAL/CHARISMATIC, INDEPENDENT, ELDER-RUN, MISSIONAL CHURCH...
Okay, now let's unpack that...
PENTECOSTAL/CHARISMATIC
THE WELL is NOT affiliated with any particular Pentecostal or Charismatic denomination but, truth be told, THE WELL 'feels' just like most Pentecostal or Charismatic churches you've been to, with a slight difference.
On the 'Pentecostal' side of things we tend to be a little more 'loose' than your average Denominationally-connected Pentecostal church (meaning we're a bit more casual and a bit more culturally left-of-center) and we're NOT interested in fighting about whether or not 'speaking in tongues' is THE initial evidence of the 'baptism' of the Holy Spirit. Please understand, many of us DO speak in tongues and we expect that, at some point, as you experience the life of the Spirit at work in our midst you probably will too, but it's not a 'distinctive' for us and that makes us a bit different from your average Pentecostal church. That said, if you grew up Pentecostal, THE WELL is going to look and feel very familiar to you.
We're charismatic, which literally means to be 'full of the Spirit'. Often charismatic churches get a bad rap and for good reason. You're thinking white suits and gold teeth and people falling over and people barking and women prophesying willy nilly and men spending too much time crying when they should be stepping up to love Jesus, love their wives, raise their kids, work their jobs and live lives for God's glory not their own ease or sense of personal fulfillment.
THE WELL 'aint 'crazy church' be we're definitely charistmatic. Simply put, THE WELL will probably feel a little more 'right-of-center' than most charismatic churches you've been to, and might be a little more strongly led (in terms of mission/vision) than some. Some charismatic churches tend to feel on the edge of 'out of control' and THE WELL is certainly not going to feel that way to you. But you will see hands raised and hear people singing and praying in tongues. You will see people dancing and going forward for ministry time. You will hear 'words of knowledge' properly shared and the Elder Team will work to minister in the power of the Spirit week in and week out, getting you to take small steps of faith in cooperation with what they 'feel' the Spirit is 'saying' to the church in that moment. You will see us lay hands on people to pray for healing or for an outpouring of the Spirit of God on a person. You may see people fall down from time to time or have some other physical reaction to the presence of God in the room, but we promise not to build a 'dogma' out of that. Straight up, we believe God is real and that He's alive and interested in connecting with His people so we EXPECT to see tangible signs of that connection each week.
So, if you grew up Charismatic, you'll probably feel right at home at THE WELL, but sadly, you won't have 'tambourine lady' to distract you (!)
How 'bout if you're NOT a church person?
Us being 'Pentecostal/Charismatic' means you're going to EXPERIENCE Jesus at THE WELL, and we figure that's exactly what you've been looking for anyway.
Simply put. We love Jesus and the story of Jesus is supernatural from start to finish.
The only reason Christianity exists at all is because this crazy story is true and can be experienced as people are saved by Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit enabling them to live a life that, until that point, would never have been possible for them.
Miraculous.
And, if God is alive, He's alive. That means we should be able to know Him, feel Him, hear from Him, sense Him, follow Him, love Him.
Supernatural.
At THE WELL we believe that singing in worship can be better than a Sting concert because the Holy Spirit tends to specially touch His people during corporate worship. We worship 'cause God is worthy of it and because--as we do it--we are reminded that God is, in fact, alive and that's a thing worth remembering that can change your whole life.
So come to THE WELL expecting to EXPERIENCE the actual life and presence of God in the worship.
Expect it to be loud. Expect it to put its emphasis not on making you comfortable but, rather, on calling you 'up' into an experience of the life of God in worship.
At THE WELL we believe that preaching isn't just some guy's opinion. We believe the Bible isn't just some collection of sayings. We believe that the whole book is true and is about Jesus. We believe that it is God's actual words to us and that it's relevant and applicable and life-changing today. We believe that Herman Melville (Moby Dick) was right when he said that 'the pulpit leads the world'. We believe real preaching can change your life because God is alive in it.
So come to THE WELL expecting the preaching to blow your socks off.
Expect it to be word for word from the Bible, loud, honest, totally practical and inspiring, in-your-face, and full of the power of the Holy Spirit such that you are convicted to repent and encouraged to live your life to its fullest potential, which means in the love, service and pursuit of Jesus.
At THE WELL we believe that the Holy Spirit can actually fill--and keep filling--you to the point that your life is overflowing with the life of God and a deep sense of peace and joy that is absolutely contagious and attractive to those around you. This deep infilling is not the work of moral teaching or wise reasoning, it is the work of God Himself and it happens person by person by person which is why we lead people in worship and preach for people and work to help people engage other people in their actual culture, because they (you) are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We also believe the Bible tells us to lay hands on people and pray for them, so we do.
So come to THE WELL expecting a space in the service EVERY WEEK where you can receive prayer.
Prayer for healing, prayer for encouragement, prayer for hope, prayer for an infilling of the Holy Spirit, prayer for repentance, prayer for salvation.
Every. Week.
So, we're Pentecostal/Charismatic, unapologetically so.
In-fact, it's our goal to grow THE WELL into one of the GREAT Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in North America, for God's glory, the joy of His people, and the good of the World, with a particular emphasis on the City of Burlington and its surrounding area.
So come to church expecting to meet with, sense, and experience the life of God at work in and around you and expect that to change absolutely everything.
INDEPENDENT
This simply means that we don't belong to any particular denomination or group of churches who have agreed on a certain way of 'doing business'. We are not bound by a list of things to do and things not to do that will determine who we are or how we do what we do. Another way to say this is to call us 'non-denominational'. In practical terms we have a constitution that's been vetted and approved by the Canadian Government and they have authorized us to do business as a charitable organization in Canada. That constitution governs how we do things. We are in deep relationship with several other churches and there are groups of churches who are a constant encouragement and inspiration to us but those ties are relational not denominational.
ELDER RUN
There are typically two kinds of churches. 'Congregational' churches and 'Elder Run' churches. Congregational churches are churches where the members of the congregation (and every church has a different set of 'hoops' you have to jump through to become a 'voting' member) nominate and vote into office the Elders of the congregation. This is a problem on two levels. 1) It's not the model we find in the Bible 2) anecdotally--in my experience and that of many of my peers who are abundantly wiser than I--most of the nasty problems you hear of in churches are because of the congregational model. When a church runs on the votes of the members, a church can become like our government with special interest groups lobbying to get their 'needs' met and electing leaders who will service their particular agenda. We all know how well our government works. Just ask any church kid you know. Most of their past church experience will be NASTY and that's because nasty people had the power to do nasty things in their churches because they were Congregationally governed.
Kind of like letting the lunatics run the asylum.
Biblically we see the Church run by Elders who were appointed by Jesus. If you want to look up the qualifications for Elders you can find them in the book of 1st Timothy 3:1-7 and in the book of Titus 1:5-9. In short here's what it takes and means to be an Elder in God's Church.
An Elder must be:
-Called. A man must 'desire' the office of Elder all by himself. This means that Jesus calls a man to be an Elder and that man 'self-nominates' going to his Elders and telling them that he's feeling called to be an Elder. The other Elders then decide if a) they affirm his call and, if they do, b) begin a process of training/approving him.
-Above reproach. This is a 'catch all' category meaning "Hey, if we missed something, the whole 'above reproach' thing ought to cover it." It is exemplary men, men you'd follow out of a bunker into battle, who are fit to lead God's Church.
-A man who loves his wife and adores her only. One wife for life. You love her, devote yourself to her, cultivate her. She's the apex, the one you chase. One woman. Everybody knows that that guy is nuts about his wife and he's shown himself faithful to her over the long term--or shows strong promise of it. That kind of guy is Elder material.
-Sober-minded. Not the kind of guy who's going to fly off the handle. A guy who's patient and hard to rattle.
-Self-controlled. Not a 'road rager' or a 'hater' or an addictive personality type. Literally, 'able to keep himself under control'.
-Respectable. Other men would follow him. Other families would respect his.
-Hospitable. Welcoming of strangers. This doesn't mean all the christians in his church get to go hang out at his house but that he and his wife welcome non-believers and people who are seeking spiritual answers into their home. A dude who knows and loves culture and hangs out with real people in the real world.
-Able to teach. This doesn't necessarily mean he has to be a barn-stormer of a preacher but it does mean that only Elders can preach the Bible with authority in God's Church (ie: 'This is what it says and this is how you must respond...' kind of authority and the kind of authority that sets doctrine and right practice in the Church) and it means an Elder must be 'able' to teach. The pulpit ministry in a Church is Elder work. Elders must also be able to teach classes, or kids, or even dogs how to roll over. If the dude can't get 'Rover' to listen to him he's not going to stand a chance with some of the people you meet in church. You've got to be a guy who has something to say that's worth listening to and learning. Most of this 'wisdom' comes out of the wealth of your life lived in friendship with Jesus.
-Not a drunkard. Habitual drunkenness is not Elder behavior. Can an Elder drink or have a good time with his friends? Sure. Can he be a drunkard? No.
-Not violent but gentle. Pretty clear.
-Not quarrelsome. An Elder shouldn't be a persistent pessimist or always be seeking to pick a fight or point out someone's weaknesses just for the sake of it. An Elder should be a guy who makes for good friendship material.
-Not a lover of money. Money should have no hold on him. He should love Jesus, his wife, his kids, then his job. He should see all money as God's money and look to use it as a tool and be generous with it.
-Manage his household well. If his house is always messy and his lawn is never cut and his kids are out of control and his wife is a problem and he's letting himself go and he doesn't earn a living that supports his family--within their means--he's not an Elder. Elders should be guys whose manner of life you could (and would) imitate. "Gee, I could learn some things from that guy..." is what we want you thinking of your Elders.
-Dignified. You know a leader when you see/meet him. Your Elders should be that kind of guy.
-Keeping his children submissive. If he can't discipline and teach and lead the lunatics in his own household how can we expect him to do the same with the 'lunatics' in our church?
-Not a recent convert. Elder work is serious work. Man's work. It's serious business and it takes some history with Jesus and some years lived as His follower to be the kind of guy who won't let power go to his head or fall into temptation.
-Well thought of by outsiders. Is he respected in the community or by his co-workers? Do the other parents at soccer like him? Are the neighbors impressed with him or do they think he's a loafer? Elders are well thought of. This doesn't mean everyone 'likes' them but that they're worthy or respect.
-A 'Bible Guy'. He must love the Bible and believe it and know Jesus through it and be able to teach the Bible about Jesus to his people in such a way that his people's lives are changed through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in his teaching. He must also not be fearful of people's opinion so that he is able to rebuke people who contradict the clear teachings of Scripture.
If you're this kind of guy and you feel God calling you to be an Elder please email Pastor Todd. todd@wellchurch.ca
MISSIONAL
THE WELL exists to introduce as many people as possible to Jesus so that they begin living for and glorifying Him and loving life life a result. Once that happens we figure they'll start loving the people around them, at home, at work, in their neighborhood, in our city and--ultimately--in our World, which we figure is what the story of Jesus is all about anyway...
'Missional' is a 'buzz word' but we think it still has clarifying value.
Simply put, Jesus came into the World as a missionary on a mission. He--God the Son in-flesh--came to offer Himself as a substitute for us. He gave Himself to die in our place, for our sin. He rose again from death to defeat the power of satan, sin and death once and for all. He did all this in the context of a specific culture, time and space.
We ought to do the same.
THE WELL doesn't exist to serve you. THE WELL exists to love Jesus and obey Him by continuing His mission. THE WELL exists to inspire you (through preaching, teaching, worship, and equipping you to do what God has made you to do) to live a life that demonstrates Jesus in the context of your actual life. That means that at home and at work, at hockey and at Starbucks, Tims, or the pub you love Jesus, live for Jesus, worship Jesus, revel in Jesus, celebrate Jesus and serve Jesus--giving Him your time, your talents, your money, your devotion, your whole life--because He is your Living King and because He is the Answer people are looking for.
Everything comes down to Jesus. THE WELL is in the business of spreading that word to as many people as possible.
We're on a mission, loving Jesus in our actual culture, with our actual lives.
That's missional.
THE WELL IS A PENTECOSTAL/CHARISMATIC, INDEPENDENT, ELDER-RUN, MISSIONAL CHURCH...
We hope some of the above is helpful and clarifying for you.
Send your questions to info@wellchurch.ca
Peace.
TW
