The Well – Feasterville, PA » Redemption Church FAQ » a Church in Bucks County, Feasterville, PA

Redemption Church FAQ

Why church planting?

Our mission as a community dictates this direction. We have always been a community that focuses on shaping and sending. Sending happens every week when we disperse to go into our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, etc.

But, sending also takes on two external/outward forms: Sending individuals. We constantly have people who are moving and changing their life situations. We realize that this is more of a “blessing” than a literal sending. But, because this is a reality we celebrate the opportunity for someone to take their experience at The Well and bring it to new churches and towns. Sending groups of people passionate about a specific locality is also a way we express this. This is intentional sending through community planting (i.e. church planting)

Also, our values and community life call for it. As a small church we have a lot of things going for us. We have closeness of community, the ability to be locally focused, high participation in important parts of the church’s mission, high interaction between community and pastors, a lean budget and a community driven church rather than a staff driven church. But, while we find value in being a smaller community we also are very passionate about seeing new people introduced to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

If we are going to be a community that benefits from being a smaller congregation as well as reaching new people for the gospel (i.e. growth) than the way forward is for us to “grow out” through church planting instead of simply getting bigger and losing some of the best things we have going for us.

How does this fit in with the overall mission of The Well?

First, from early in our inception The Well has found an identity in being a sending community. We are also passionate about being a congregation that invests its time in the local area we live and worship. This church plant is an expression of this desire to send a group of people out to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in an area which we are not currently able to heavily invest.

What will the relationship be like between Feasterville & Bristol?

While the two communities will eventually be separate entities (over the next year, the Bristol team will be working hard on incorporating and becoming an official organization) there will always be a familial connection between these two communities. We will be having corporate worship events, cooperating in mission work, sharing resources and intentionally finding ways to be on mission together.

Who is leading this new church?

The church plant has their own Leadership Team. This team is comprised of: Gary Alloway, Dorie Morgan, Alex Alb and Evan Curry. Gary will be serving in the role of Lead Pastor.

Does this mean Gary will no longer be pastoring at The Well in Feasterville?

Yes. We have set up a transition period where Gary will split his time between the two communities. During this time, we will be working together to find people who are gifted and able to fill in Gary’s current roles and responsibilities.

The timeline of Gary’s transition goes as follows:
- October 2009 – February 2010: Half of Gary’s time will be in Feasterville and half of Gary’s time will be in Bristol. During this time, the focus will be on transitioning Gary’s leadership roles and responsibilities. He will still be participating in the Leaderhip Team meetings and he will be part of the preacing team during this time as well.

- February 2010 and following: Gary will be spending all his pastoral time in Bristol.

Doesn’t it stink that Gary won’t be part of The Well in Feasterville anymore?

Franky, yes! But, it also stinks that the others who are part of the Bristol Team won’t be in Feasterville anymore either. We have talked for years about being a generous community and by sending this team to Bristol we have an awesome opportunity to live that out. It’s one thing to talk about being generous with our time, our money or our talents. But, this endevour provides us an opportunity to be generous with our congregation’s most valuable asset: our people. So yes, it will be sad that we won’t see Gary and the rest of this team each week in Feasterville. But, speaking in as much humility as possible, we believe the community of Bristol is getting an amazing group of people. Therefore, while we mourn our loss, we rejoice in Bristol’s gain and we thank God for allowing us the opportunity to bless others in this way.

How will we replace Gary’s Leadership?

On some level, replacing Gary just isn’t possible. Gary has brought a very unique and special set of gifts to The Well in the five years that he has been serving this community. While we have loved having Gary as a pastor, The Well does not live and die on his leadership. Five years ago when Brad Jackson left (our founding pastor), there were people (inside and outside of our community) predicted that losing his leadership would be too significant a loss for The Well. And, while Brad, like Gary, was a gifted and valuable leader in our community, people forgot about the people who were still here. They didn’t know about the gifted people that were ready to step into significant areas of leadership in his absence. We believe the same thing is true for us today. There are amazing people inside our community who have gifts that will blossom as Gary moves on. These next six months will be important for us as we all discover how our gifts serve our mission together.

Will we be hiring someone to replace Gary?

Most likely. We have found great value in the last few years in having multiple pastors on staff. This allow for us to have a more a diversely gifted pastoral team. This also allows us to set aside those who we believe are gifted and called to lead our community to have the time they need live out that calling. Over the next six months we will be carefully evaluating what shape our pastoral staff needs to take as Gary moves on. Any decisions we make on staffing would likely not happen before February 2010.

Will we financially be supporting the church plant?

Yes. We will be supporting the Bristol Church plant financially. This financial support will reduce every six months for a year and a half.

Here is how the break down works from October 2009 – February 2011:
- October 2010 – February 2010: $1816/mo
- March 2010 – Aug 2010: $908/month
- Sept 2010 – Feb 2011: $454/month

After February 2011 we will evaluate the needs in Bristol and decide on how to continually support this church going into the future.

We have taken Gary’s current salary as a starting point for this plan. The community in Bristol will have their own budget and will determine the best way to use these funds. We believe this approach of financial support is best because this allows the leadership team of in Bristol to create and control their own budget, thus helping aid their process of becoming a fully operating church.

What kind of oversight will there be for the Church in Bristol?

The Ministry Leadership Team in Feasterville will be working very intentionally and very closely with the Bristol Leadership team, especially during the first year and a half. They will be providing mentoring, support and other resources that will help this new community to grow and thrive. At the same time, we will be intentional about making sure that the Ministry Leadership Team in Feasterville is not micromanaging the community in Bristol. We will be fully trusting the leadership of this new church to lead in step with the Spirit. While only separated by a few miles, Bristol is a different place and culture its important that we trust the team there to lead and guide in their specific context.

Finally…

We know it is impossible to answer all questions in a short Q&A document. Please feel free to talk to anyone on the Ministry Leadership Team in Feasterville or Bristol if you have any questions.