The well

The Well is an intimate congregation that doesn't own it's own building. In the past, it positioned itself in a well-known intersection at Ospika and 15th, right next to the Lakewood Timmy's, which is where I first noticed the sign. The name and signage appealled to me at a very deep level and I was very curious as to what type of congregation was connected to this church.

Awhile ago, I had a brief conversation with a long-time Prince George friend about the Well. He had attended my previous congregation and we were in the same small group almost 20 years ago.  He stated that the Well was the congregation he was connected to.

Then recently I had a female friend invite me to attend the Well with her, so this past Sunday I hopped in my truck, picked my friend up, and went to the Evangelical Free Church (the Well moved to this new location where it meets in the basement of the building). We had tried to find out when the group meeting started -- a quick internet search was futile so we planned to get there for 16:00 hrs.  We were pleasantly surprised when we showed up 5 minutes late and found that the service didn't actually start until 16:30 hrs, and later we realized that the start time was only a general suggestion. With our gift of 20 minutes, we went to grab a coffee. There were only a few cars in the parking lot and, being new-comers, we didn't want to have to try to fill 1/2 hour of small talk prior to the service starting. I rarely have been in the position of being new to a congregation and the challenge of walking through the doors was a signfiicant hurdle that needed to be overcome to attend the service.

There were refreshments being served in the back and a blue-collared member of the congregation came to meet me almost immediately. I later realized that he was the leader, dressed in New Balance running shoes, black jeans, and a T-shirt with an Orthodox cross in the middle layered with an unbuttoned, collared shirt.  The feel of the group was relaxed informality. Many people were eating and drinking their coffee in their chairs, a totally forbidden sin in some gatherings. I made myself to my seat and started to people watch. A part of the worship group was already at the front of the group playing quietly. The guitar player looked like a biker and sounded like Larry Norman. There was a full electronic drum set as well and I was curious to pick out the drummer. My assumption was a younger male character with a flair for harder rock, so I was surprised when a middle-aged lady who looked more like Mrs. Claus got up and positioned herself behind the set-up. Instead of directing the worship, this group just started to play and facilitated an atmosphere that encouraged people to join in. The songs were unfamiliar to me but simple to follow along as there was much repitition.

We happened to participate on a communion sunday. The leader encouraged everyone to come to the front of the room. (|Apparently it is difficult to remain anonymous here) There was an assumption that everyone was familiar with this tradition and without explaining the process the leader encouraged people to make a commitment statement to the body of Christ. What was facinating to me is that during the discussion it was emphasized many times that this group is a part of the larger body of the Church in Prince George. I felt confirmation that my current journey was very much supported within this body. At no point did this group try to create distance between itself and other gathering of believers; in fact, it was suggested that many attenders also participated in other groups.

There was no offering taken.  The leader had a few notes jotted down on some scraps of paper and his only scripture reference was in electronic format on an IPhone. He quoted from many scriptures, some directly and others by memory. It didn't surprise me that he spoke on the topic of the Holy Spirit and the topic was covered like a shot gun blast, numerous ideas being propelled into the group with the desire that something would hit everyone in the room. There were numerous young children who roamed through the chairs in a free range fashion, at one point cruising right past the leader, who seemed completely unphased.

The talk ended, there was a short song and people mulled around. It appeared that no one was in a hurry to leave and most just visited and got reacquainted with those they didn't have time to talk to at the beginning of the service.