We operated for 35 years in Frederick County, mostly in homes., before moving to permanent home among the peaceful farms of Sabillasville in 2012. That setting has allowed for unhurried family worship and fellowship.

What is the common bond in fellowship? It is not Christ crucified? Is that not a stumbling block to the selfish man and the fragrance of death to the one seeking to save this life? The preaching of Christ crucified is God's chosen way to build fellowship and powerfully change lives. Spiritual growth means laying down your life for your friends. .

A thought from the devotional, Our Daily Light :

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because [Christ] laid down his life for us.

The love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. - Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. - Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. - Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. - For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. - Christ ... suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.

Ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. - We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

From September 29.I JOHN 3:16. Eph. 3:19. John 15:13. -II Cor. 8:9. I John 4:11. Eph. 4:32. Col. 3:13. Mark 10:4,5. I Pet. 2:21. John 13:14,15. I John 3:16.

Authentic worship is a major objective of the New Testament. A proper assembly ought to cultivate authentic worship. I confess that the manner which WCF conducts its assembly comes from my pastoral sensitivities which were developed by attempting to pattern our assembly after New Testament examples and teachings; being of course filtered through my sensitivities, having come from a Roman Catholic background.

The Christian assembly ought to cultivate authentic worship. As a teaching elder, I confess that the manner in which WCF conducts its assembly arises from the pattern of assembly in the new Testament.

Scripture sets forth a structure for New Covenant assembly that is authentic, and sensitive to hypocrisy; satisfies the purpose of assembly with four elements of edification; is substantive and unhurried with ample time allotted to the gathering; and carried out in a family friendly context where children are welcomed into the adult world of authentic Christian living.

These ideals are hard to realize in a culture that is self-centered, age-segregated and of a very short attention span. The following passages that deal with corporate assembly have affected my outlook and practice here at WCF.

In John 4, Jesus establishes authentic worship with the woman at the well. Acts 2:42 is Luke's fourfold description of the early church practices of prayer, breaking of bread, fellowship and the Apostles' teaching. Acts 4:23 illustrates spontaneity of gathering with testimonies of present deliverance. Acts 20: 7 tells a refreshing story about a customary gathering of the church on Sunday and a relaxed meeting time-frame and a long-winded preacher that went all night. Acts 2 & 20 also note that the early church worshiped both publicly and from house to house, with children obviously present. 1 Corinthians 12-14 is a voluminous teaching on the assembly with the core value of edification and so are Hebrews 10 and Ephesians 5.

From the Old Testament comes two patterns dealing with children; Deuteronomy 6 speaks of indirectly demonstrating faith to children by authentic parental example that seeds curiosity later, and Nehemiah 8 demonstrates the public reading of the law to the whole, age integrated congregation, with giving the sense of the text to cause understanding -- which practice continued weekly in the early church (See Acts 13:15 ).

Wellspring Christian Fellowship’s Sunday assembly seeks to negate hypocrisy by:

-Preaching each person's need to respond to the Gospel

-Scheduling multiple men to share in various segments of the service and allow an open mic for heads of households to enter into discussion and ask questions during the preaching segment.

-Ensuring all preaching is from scripture and hopefully, led by the Spirit.

-Avoiding showy displays. Our giving is done privately with a box at the back of the room, or mailing to the office. Attendance is not taken and no awards are given nor is performance-based accountability promoted.

There are four elements of edification are illustrated in Acts 2:41-43 and detailed in 1 Corinthians 14. Here is the first glimpse of the vital, non hypocritical early church assembly: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles." The four elements of "the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" appear to be the staple of authentic Christian fellowship, and should occur in part in every gathering.

The first day of the week appears to have become the traditional day when all the local believers would assemble. It appears from 1 Corinthians 11 that the Lord's Supper was incorporated into some kind of weekly fellowship meal that had gotten out of hand. Disorder did emerge from loose forms, however, the order imposed in 1Corinthians 14 was designed to preserve family autonomy and the authority of the husband, the orderly conduct of the meeting and clarity of the word going forth so that believers might be edified and a visitor could understand what is being said, provoking him to give glory to God (a mark of true authenticity - see also Matt. 5:16)

Furthermore, the first day of the week was also a collection day. The money gifts set aside beforehand were brought and given to trusted men. This was done in order to avoid any public attempt to collect money during the meeting. (See 1Cr 16:2, "Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.") Giving on other days was practiced as well, see Acts 5.

The Wellspring Christian Fellowship assembly attempts to have all four elements plus receiving the weekly collection discreetly.

-After sharing in the singing of hymns and reading of scripture we have a Bible-based interactive sermon. Gary does most of the preaching, but the pulpit is open to others as need or desire arises. Giving attention to the public reading of scripture is done in the opening worship segment, during the message and also during communion and the prayer and sharing time.

-The sharing of the Lord's Supper is done weekly and includes the reading of scripture, this being done by different men in the church on a rotating basis. For fellowship, we have a Prayer & Sharing time after Communion. The highlights of this time are sent later via email to everyone in the church.

-In addition to the weekly gathering we have fellowship meals shared in a covered dish fashion that occur every 2nd and 5th Sunday. We also have regular and occasional gatherings of a variety of types, such as our men's monthly prayer breakfast, family work days, and events held in conjunction with the church’s educational ministry, Wellspring Christian Family Schools.

The Wellspring Christian Fellowship assembly always welcome children. Why? Deuteronomy 6 commands the cultivation of the "teachable moment" by children being immersed in an authentic adult world of loving God with heart, mind and strength. The main Sunday assembly should not be built around children, but they should be welcomed into it considerately. This has more to do with accommodation than program. Since indirect observation is the key to discovery in a child's world, allowances for keeping children in the midst of their parent's world are imperative. Children can learn how to respectfully and discreetly occupy themselves when they are unable to directly enter into the focused adult activity or content. They actually learn more from indirect observation than structured didactic instruction.

​Church membership is a work of the Holy Spirit by which believers are Baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ and given spiritual gifts as members of the body that edify the whole body. If you have not the Spirit you are not a member. If you do, you are. Everyone baptized by the Spirit is a member of the church, this is Universal Membership. Universal Membership is expressed in a local assembly, and can be recognized through evidence of Spirit Baptism and affirmed through water baptism, such as when Peter said concerning Cornelius', "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" (Acts 10:47)

1 Corinthians speaks forcefully to the error of carnal sectarian schisms. Originally, traveling believers carried letters of commendation to afford ministry opportunity in a new locale. How does Wellspring Christian Fellowship express that kind of unity today in our membership process?

We ask perspective members to self-identify and we welcome sincere professors of Christ who desire to belong to our fellowship and share its Biblical privileges, accountability, service and deserving charity. Each member is a free participant by their own voluntary association.