New Church – The Well
We’ve added a new church to our list of member’s emerging churches – The Well. This church is new, with its first services/gatherings kicking off on April 15. Those of you who were at the recent Emerging Women Gathering spent time in prayer with Sarah who is deeply involved with this community. They could use all of our prayers as they get started.
I love “The Story of the Well” they have posted on their site -
The Well Community
Albuquerque, New MexicoA farmer raises sheep. He has two ways to keep them in his pastures. The first option is to build a fence. This will keep his sheep inside, near home, and it will keep other animals out. His sheep are protected from all outside influences.
The second option is to dig a well. Yes, all of the animals in the region will water there, but the sheep will stay close.
People are rather like sheep–and our churches are rather like fenced pastures. But the Man we claim to follow, Jesus, claimed to be a spring of “living water”. I believe Jesus is a well. He doesn’t place fences around his believers, nor does he keep others at arm’s length. Instead, he welcomes everyone to drink freely.
April 5th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
This idea comes from The Shaping of Things To Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. This practice is common in New Zealand where fences are impossible to build for large 10,000 acre farms. It’s a great idea and very poetic. They drew the distinction.
April 6th, 2007 at 7:14 am
very cool – knew I should get around to reading that book.
April 7th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
That is a terrific book!
Sarah, you are in my prayers!