At The Well, Our Mission & Vision is to be a gospel centered church family of gospel communities that grow disciples who glorify God by following Jesus, leading families, making disciples, equipping missionaries and planting churches. – Matt. 28:18 – 20
How Are We Going To Do This? We will help our church family grow towards embodying this mission and vision by focusing on 3 key areas of growth over the next 12 months…
Gospel Depth… We want to focus on gospel depth because the gospel is the message of salvation & transformation; therefore it is of first importance in the life & work of the church. – Rom. 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:1-11
Even though Hastings, NE has a deep religious heritage of Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal & non-denominational churches, there is still roughly 70% of our population who are not engaged in a local church. There is a great opportunity for many to hear, believe & grow in the gospel.
Family Health… We want to focus on family health because the church is to be a family that gathers regularly to serve & encourage one another through the relational & verbal proclamation of the gospel. – Acts 2:42-47; Heb. 10:23-25
Our community in Hastings, NE is deeply committed to cultivating a sense of family among our population through the development of the downtown community, city parks for recreation & annual festivals for entertainment. There is an awesome opportunity for many people to join a church family.
Missional Diversity… We want to focus on missional diversity because the church is the visible agent of God’s mission to redeem a diverse group of lost people by “running a rescue mission within a yard of hell” through the message of the gospel. – Matt. 16:18; Acts 1:8; 2:38-41 & Rom. 10:13-15
Hastings is a caring community where we love to invest in other people through various addictions recovery programs, a homeless person’s shelter & youth centers. There is a great opportunity to invest in the proclamation of the gospel relationally through our words & actions.
Gospel Communities… are small groups that gather weekly to help you grow in the gospel, engage relationally with the church family and participate in mission by sharing life with one another, praying for each other and discovering God together. – Acts 2:42 – 47; Heb. 10:23 – 25
The Gospel DNA Class… helps you wrestle with what it means to be a genuine Christian who is growing as a gospel-saturated follower of Jesus. This class will also help you understand what we believe & how we do ministry at The Well. Rom. 1:16-17 & 1Cor. 15:1-11
The Family Jesus Builds Study… will help you understand what it means to become a member of The Well who continues growing as a healthy follower of Christ that believes and proclaims the gospel. Ephesians 4:1-16 & 1Pet. 2:9-12
Your Divine Design Assessment… helps you to identify your unique mix of personality, temperament & spiritual gifts so that you can serve God by serving others. Rom. 12:3-8 & 1Cor. 12
Porterbrook Discipleship Groups… help you to grow as a disciple of Jesus by engaging you in specific study content, group discussion and seminar days that will deepen your understanding of what it means to be a part of a gospel centered church family that grows disciples who glorify God. – 2Tim. 2:1-7; 14:26; 3:14-17; 4:1-5
Some Practical Pastoral Goals For 2016 – 2017
- Strengthen our Care & Shepherding Teams
- Strengthen our benevolence & follow up policies
- Strengthen our quarterly members meetings
- Develop a GC assessment tool
- Strategically resource the study content of our GC’s
- Launch “in house” Porterbrook Study groups