How have things changed at Wellfield in the past 18th months or so?
It's important to ask the question. We don't want to become stale in the way we do things, in our membership, or in our individual lives. Our church was set up by St Andrew's to reach harder-to-reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So how are we doing?
I want to say that I am hugely encouraged. It's been amazing to see a few people with very complex lives come to faith in Christ from the first time (people who wouldn't have heard the good news without Wellfield), and all sorts of people have come into contact with us and the message of Jesus who are further away from being saved at the moment.
This is great!
I remember times when the Wellfield Sunday meeting has felt a bit pointless (even though it is NEVER pointless to meet around God's word to hear from him!)... It never feels pointless now. It feels like a real community and our Sunday meetings are the highlight of the week. Our music may be naff (singing to a CD is a just a tad hilarious...but at least we can all stay in our seats for it...) but it is always great. Our monthly lunch gatherings after church are a high point for our children, certainly. And there are some great cooks at Wellfield!
I think "doing our own thing" on a number of occasions instead of running back to our "parent" church St Andrew's for all the big celebrations (Christmas- see picture-, and holiday club) has really served to make us feel like a family. And that draws people in. It might seem small, but it is hugely significant in eternity.
When I was still involved at St Andrew's, I longed to make spreading the gospel to people outside church a greater priority. But when life is so busy with church activities, it just doesn't happen so easily. The people who are drawn into a big church like that are totally different to the sort of people who are drawn into a little church like ours. Our new people would perhaps have sat on the sidelines of a big church and left after a while without anyone noticing. At our church they are at the heart of things.
So let's keep on changing and growing. Not getting stagnant and boring. Let's be excited about the best news in the world, which is ours to share with Leyland.
