St Andrew's has changed its slogan. It was there on St Andrew's literature last Sunday, and people immediately asked, 'Ooh [yes, they did], is Wellfield no longer part of St Andrew's?' Well, the aim is to help clarify things for us. Now that Buckshaw Village Church exists, the idea is that St Andrew's is now '1 Church, 4 Congregations, and 2 Cousin Congregations'... but that's a bit of a mouthful. However, it is an opportunity to answer the question, What exactly is our relationship to St Andrew's?
[1] The terms 'Church' and 'Congregation' are, I think, a bit blurry - 'Church' is the gathering of God's people around God's Word (like the Israelites around Mount Sinai in Exodus). So we (Wellfield) aren't just part of something else - we are a church. (Hence the name of our website.) This is even more so given that we meet in a different place with a specific mission - to reach people who 'don't do church'.
[2] There are various ways of 'planting' churches. We are aiming to gradually gain independence. For the time being, we're dependent on St Andrew's financially, and accountable to the Church Council. We're grateful for the help and support. But the bigger the organisation, the more red tape, inevitably. For the sake of reaching people with the good news of Jesus we will need more and more to 'do our own thing'. (Of course, we'll always want to encourage them, and they us.)
[3] This 'moving away' is in no way saying we dislike St Andrew's, or anything they do! So, for example, the fact that we've not advertised any St Andrew's Christmas events this year does not mean we don't like them. But for the sake of our mission, we're saying we reach people through our ways. The more we throw ourselves into that, the more we'll need to pray, and own it, and the more we'll be excited about it.
