Membership Class

Welcome to Membership Class at The Well. Below you will find the biblical meaning of membership, The Well Mission and Values, and what it means to be a member of The Well.

Introductions

Please share your name and how you discovered The Well.

Why The Well?

The Well launched weekly services on April 7, 2019 at Hancock Elementary School in Chandler, Arizona, just 11 months before the COVID-19 quarantine began. The congregation has steadily grown since that time and has more than tripled in size since returning to both in-person and online worship in July 2021.

A growing number of people feel like they no longer fit in the type of Christianity they see in 21st century America. It is often:

  • Too unlike Jesus, especially in relationship to the marginalized,
  • Too enmeshed with “culture war” partisan politics, and
  • Too closed to the questions ordinary people have about faith.

You are welcome here, and so are your questions and doubts. You don’t have to check your brain at the door, because if God created you with a brain, then it’s okay to use it in church. Some examples of what this means for us:

  • The Bible and science are not enemies.
  • Thinking people can take the Bible seriously, as we interpret the books of the Bible in the light of their historical context.
  • The Well is an open and affirming church.

Ultimately, Jesus stated that the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) is not ascribing to a particular creed but is about how you live and love.

Our Mission

To create a community where thinking, compassionate people can find a spiritual home and cultivate a Jesus-inspired life.

Our Values

The Well is a place where:

You are free to express both your faith and your doubts, so

You can spiritually grow to become your best self, and

You can partner with God to make a difference with your life.

Our Vision

We believe The Well should have a permanent home in the Southeast Valley, and because churches like The Well are needed in every metropolitan area in America, we believe God is calling us to build an online community of The Well, and to help new likeminded churches come into existence wherever we are able.

The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Membership Covenant

Members of The Well commit to giving of their Time, Talent, Treasure, and Trust:

1. Time- Commit to attending worship services every week unless you are sick.
2. Talent- Commit to serving in a Well ministry.
3. Treasure- Commit to giving financially to The Well in proportion to your income.
4. Trust- Commit to building healthy community with others in The Well.

Become A Member of The Well

I commit to giving my time, talent, treasure, and trust to fulfill the mission of The Well.