|
Meera Atkinson  It’s a fascinating concept — a dispersed community made up of people from across Australia who belong to different Christian traditions and local churches. The Wellspring Community is just that: an Australian ecumenical Christian community without a geographical base.
Unpack the issues...
Established in 1992, Wellspring was inspired by the Iona Community in Scotland. However, whereas Iona is a dispersed Christian community with three centres, Wellspring has no physical location at all. Jill Robertson, co-leader of Wellspring, says that for those who don’t belong to a local church congregation, Wellspring provides an important formal Christian society to belong to. Like Iona, the members of Wellspring live by a common rule and are accountable to each other for how they spend time and money. The level of accountability depends on the level of involvement. “There are different levels of membership,” says Jill, “Members or friends”. Many of the 55 full members and 250 friends of Wellspring came to the community through some awareness of or contact with Iona. “Friends are involved in one of five areas of concern (environment; ecumenical and interfaith issues; Australian reconciliation; peace and social justice; and spirituality and worship) but members have a more accountable rule. Members are also constitutionally responsible for the community so they can vote at meetings and you need to be a member to be on the council of Wellspring.” Accountability is practiced in “cell groups” that meet monthly or bi-monthly around the nation. Members pool experiences, support each other in prayer and share a meal. A network of isolated people who can’t participate in cell groups meet over teleconferences three or four times a year. The entire community of friends and members come from all around Australia to meet at national gatherings. The next one is in Canberra next year. “It’s a place of inspiration, worship together and hearing the stories about what’s going on in the areas of concern,” says Jill. The next program will focus on attracting younger people. “Most of our members and friends would be over fifty. We know that we are relevant and we want to be relevant for the next generation.” Jill says many people are interested in getting involved with broader social justice issues above and beyond what their local church community can achieve. Members also find it enlightening to be involved with people from other denominations. “The advantage is having to be more open than just dealing with what your denomination thinks, which can be comforting,” she says. “It stretches us. For me it’s great to have something beyond my local church.” The Wellspring Community is defined not by physical proximity but by Christians reaching out to other like-minded Christians. As Jill puts it, it’s an “inclusive community that has something to offer to the Australian community at large and it’s doing it in the context of Christian commitment”.
Unpack the issues... Web links The content of the following websites does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of The Transit Lounge. Discussion point - What might be gained from participating in a Christian community beyond your local church?
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comment form
