WHAT ARE WELLSPRING’S FIVE ROCKS?
Over the last few years, Wellspring has prioritized international missions, college outreach, and foster and adoption support. These ministries will continue to be a priority; however, we are sharing with you “Five Rocks” that will be points of emphasis, impacting all ministries at Wellspring on some level. We believe this is how the Holy Spirit is leading us to become a more biblical church that is growing deeper together as disciples of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:14-21). Join us as we all seek to honor God and follow His leadership in these five areas over the next couple of years.
CLICK EACH ROCK TO FIND OUT MORE
PRAYER
STEWARDSHIP
ROOTED
CARE & COUNSELING
CHURCH PLANT
ROCK #1: PRAYER
Goal: for Wellspring Church to grow in the area of prayer
We need prayer! Prayer is how we speak to God and one way God speaks to us. As a church, we want to grow in the spiritual discipline of prayer. Through sermons and prayer nights, teaching resources, prayer emphasis in life groups, and the Sunday prayer team, the intention is to call upon the Holy Spirit and seek the Lord in all things.
READ: EPHESIANS 3:14-21, JOHN 15:4-8, JAMES 1:5
WHAT WE HAVE DONE
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting preceding Easter 2024
Launched a Sunday morning prayer team
Increased prayer emphasis during worship services
Two summer prayer services
Prayer teaching at a recent Women’s Bible Study
WHAT WE ARE DOING
The Care Team and pastoral staff are working on creating better systems for cataloging prayer requests and follow ups moving forward
We have opportunities to pray with our Sunday morning prayer team
There is opportunity to pray together for the Sunday services every Sunday upstairs
Staff pray weekly over various needs of the congregation
WHAT WE ARE PLANNING
We have prayer meetings planned for this coming fall 2024 (second Wednesdays of the month in the evening)
Utilizing the new Rooted curriculum to grow our people in prayer (2 weeks are dedicated to prayer)
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Talk with Pastor Michael about how to get involved with prayer at Wellspring.
ROCK #2: STEWARDSHIP
Goal: FOR wellspring church TO GROW in the area of financial stewardship and specifiCALLY TO significantly reduce our DEBT burden BY april of 2026.
WHAT WE HAVE DONE
Increased emphasis on giving during Sunday morning services, especially offertory
3-week summer sermon series on stewardship
Begun a Stewardship Advisory Team to help increase our stewardship and lower barriers to giving
WHAT WE ARE DOING
Brainstorming and beginning to implement ideas for increasing biblical teaching on stewardship
Lowering barriers to giving
WHAT WE ARE PLANNING
Book study on “The Treasure Principle” by Randy Alcorn in December
Keeping the church more up-to-date on our finances in our email newsletter
A “Giving Station/Corner” as a part of the Connection Center to help people navigate their giving
Increasing text-to-give awareness and opportunities
Another “Financial Peace University” class
A special night on increasing awareness of effective giving strategies for retirees
ROCK #3: ROOTED
Rooted is a 10-week discipleship journey where you get to connect with God, the church, and your purpose for the sake of being radically transformed. Rooted is built on seven biblical rhythms from Acts 2 that will get you into God’s word and allow you to discuss the life change you are experiencing. Rooted seeks to foster openness, vulnerability, and compassion for one another as we talk about strongholds and the realities of life. This is not another program or a class where we will simply learn more about God, rather, Rooted is about experiencing God through daily devotion, weekly conversation, and spiritual experiences like prayer and serving others. Rooted will be offered to all current life groups. Through Rooted, we are hoping to transform our hearts so that we can better glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ.
READ: HEBREWS 10:24-25, ACTS 2:42-47
WHAT ARE THE 7 RHYTHMS OF ROOTED?
Daily Devotion
Prayer
Repentance
Serve the Community
Sacrificial Generosity
Share your story
Worship
HOW IS ROOTED STRUCTURED?
Those who sign up are broken into Small groups of 10-15 people
Each group is led by 1-2 facilitators
People commit to 10 weeks of weekly group discussions – 1.5-2 hours long
5 daily devotionals to be completed each week
3 large group gatherings over the 10 weeks (Kick-off week 1, Generosity week 8, and Celebration Event after week 10)
3 Rooted group experiences (prayer, serve, and sharing your story)
WHY USE ROOTED?
To introduce new believers to God, the Church, and their purpose
To better engage believers/new members in the life of the church
To have a clear entry point for all people to begin spiritual conversations and engaging in regular spiritual disciplines
To help us discover and develop leaders in the church
To help launch new life groups that can go on to have great effectiveness
ROCK #4: CARE & COUNSELING
There has been a growing need for congregational care and counseling. The Care Team is a group of leaders who serve the Lord together by communicating and collaborating in order to better care for the people of Wellspring. Our goal is to be a church who cares for its members biblically, meeting needs holistically through the body of believers.
READ: ACTS 20:28, GALATIANS 6:2, 9-10
WHY A BIBLICAL COUNSELING EMPHASIS?
As the secular and professional approach to mental health deviates further from biblical truth, the need for biblically based counseling grows.
As the church learns and grows in its capacity to apply biblical truth to our daily lives, it will enrich our church body and help protect against the brokenness represented in the world.
The Word is trustworthy, has unique authority and relevance to our daily lives, and should be the foundation of any care or counseling given.
GOALS/DESIRED OUTCOMES:
To increase Wellspring’s ability to care for and counsel its membership from a biblical perspective.
To work together with current ministry leads and the elder board to create a culture and community of effective care and counseling at Wellspring.
Increase communication and collaboration between Care Team members to give holistic care.
Plan and implement systems that allow for preventative and proactive care with our members.
NEXT STEPS:
Create clear lines of communication between those needing care and the appropriate ministry lead.
Develop a documentation system to ensure needs are being met and appropriate follow up is being implemented.
Establish other care systems as needed in collaboration with the elder board.
Establish and develop partnerships with both state-licensed and unlicensed professionals in the area to ensure beneficial and safe handoffs in the case of escalating care.
ROCK #5: CHURCH PLANT
LAST UPDATED: 7.26.24
OVERVIEW
For over a decade, Pastor Michael has felt called by God to plant a church. However, over the past few months (in communication with the Wellspring Elders) God has led Michael to work alongside the Great Commission Collective (GCC) church planting network (gccollective.org) among multiple church-planting support partners, including Wellspring. His church planter training began in September, and Wellspring has established a church plant advisory team to help with oversight of Michael and the plant. This advisory team will also lead in helping Wellspring discern how to best partner with and support the church plant. For now, Michael will remain the Executive Pastor at Wellspring until the timing of his transition is further clarified in the months ahead. While we are saddened that the Swindells will be moving on, we are thrilled that they are following Jesus and that God is continuing to advance his work in West Michigan through church planting, and we are excited to be part of it!
READ: MATTHEW 26:18-20, PHILIPPIANS 1:1-3