Worship

Worship Gatherings at The Well - The Well is not bound to a particular style or form except to say that it is eclectic. We are called to embrace forms and methods that connect with younger adults including contemplative (non-performance) music in worship, liturgy, creeds of the ancient Church, multi-sensory worship, prayer stations, and such. The next generation calls this Vintage Worship – merging ancient traditions of the Church into contemporary musical styles, making worship more accessible to everyone. Some of the ways we will practice (do church) follow:

Ancient and New (vintage worship, sacred spaces) – Our worship services will be rooted in the Great Tradition of the church which is over 2000 years old. We want to combine elements that are both old and new. The goal is to take the best of the tradition and breathe new life into it for this generation. We will use both set prayers from history and new extemporaneous prayers. The Lord’s Supper and other interactive forms of worship will be part of the regular experience at The Well.
Biblical Drama – We believe that the Protestant movement has lost something extremely meaningful when it lost touch with some of its Roman Catholic roots. The celebration of the Mass in a Roman Catholic service has several distinct movements that play out the drama of our faith. At The Well we want to recapture some of the drama. We see essentially five movements that will be a part of our worship gatherings: 1) a call to worship; 2) a time of confession where we realize our need; 3) a time of deep teaching where we hear God’s Word and are challenged by it; 4) a time of sacrament where we connect and are drawn closer to the Well, and 5) we are sent out to love God and serve others. Shortened it becomes; call, confession, challenge, connect and commission. Each movement will be dramatized by such things as singing, meaningful prayer, art, dance, storytelling, and drama.
Joy and Reverence in worship - Each week we want our worship service to balance both the joy we find in the Lord and at the same time approach him with the reverence that he deserves. We don’t want to be a pep rally church, nor do we want to be a funeral either. There will be certain times where we will stress one or the other; a Good Friday service for example may be more reverent and contemplative, while Easter Sunday may be focused on the joy of our new salvation through the resurrection. However most of the time balance will be our goal.
Priesthood of all Believers – We believe that everyone should be involved in worship not just the people up front. Our worship gatherings are not a lecture or a concert. As priests we are all required to be involved. Thus we will strive for an order of worship that is as interactive as possible. It is to be a dialog between us (the people) and God. God speaks to us through his word and then we respond. Throughout the service, God engages us in the call to worship, multiple scripture readings, the sermon and the words of blessing and each time we respond in prayer, song or action.
The Children – Since family and community are an important part of who we are at The Well children will always be welcomed and encouraged to attend worship gatherings with their parents. But we also understand the reality that for some families this will be difficult. We want to provide a time for children to be children and also receive special attention through a worship gathering of their own. We will strive to provide both opportunities for our children and their parents. A typical order would have the children present through the call and confession movements and then they would be called up front to hear a story. The children would then be allowed to leave and they would spend time in a Bible lesson relating to the story, while the adults would do the same through the sermon. The children would then return to participate in the connect and commission movements of the service.