Over the past few months, God has been guiding Wellspring Community Church and The Orchard Church in an exciting new direction. Elders from both The Orchard and Wellspring have spent time in fervent prayer, discussion, and thoughtful analysis of our respective beliefs, strengths, needs, vision, and mission.

So, what does that mean for you, the members of these bodies?

While we need to continue exploring this possibility before making a formal recommendation, we are thrilled to share what God has been doing and invite you to join us on this journey as we believe the Lord could be leading us to unite as one church.

WHO IS WELLSPRING?

Our desire is to be a community-based church that models what we see in the church of the New Testament through teaching the Bible, fellowship with one another, breaking bread in homes and expectant prayer.  We seek to be a church that makes disciples in our community through gathering and serving.  Our prayer is that Wellspring is a place where people experience Christ's salvation, healing, and community as a "spring of water welling up to eternal life." 
Our desire is to be a community-based church that models what we see in the church of the New Testament through teaching the Bible, fellowship with one another, breaking bread in homes and expectant prayer. 
VISIT WELLSPRING'S WEBSITE
We seek to be a church that makes disciples in our community through gathering and serving.  Our prayer is that Wellspring is a place where people experience Christ's salvation, healing, and community as a "spring of water welling up to eternal life."

WHO IS ORCHARD?

We are a family of missionary servants sent to make disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Be Family  |  Church is not about membership, it's about relationship.  At The Orchard, we believe that the Author of Life is writing your story and is inviting you into a personal, heart-relationship with Himself.  By His amazing grace, we have been adopted as God's children.  That makes us family - brothers and sisters placed in a household called the Church.  And in this house, every person matters and every person plays a role.  We believe that God is calling everyone at The Orchard to a deeper understanding of what it means to belong in His family.
We are a family of missionary servants sent to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Be Family  |  Church is not about membership, it's about relationship.  At The Orchard, we believe that the Author of Life is writing your story and is inviting you into a personal, heart-relationship with Himself.  By His 
VISIT ORCHARD'S WEBSITE
amazing grace, we have been adopted as God's children.  That makes us family - brothers and sisters placed in a household called the Church.  And in this house, every person matters and every person plays a role.  We believe that God is calling everyone at The Orchard to a deeper understanding of what it means to belong in His family.

Live With Purpose  |  Being in a heart-relationship with Jesus is not just about a new perspective and a new lifestyle.  Jesus didn't just come to make us better versions of ourselves, He came to bring us from death to life.  This new life in His family is an invitation by faith into a brand new purpose.  It's an invitation to live out your God-given gifts in life-changing ministry, rooted in the truth of God's Word and the power of the gospel.  All we do and say is anchored in this gospel story and in response to what Jesus has already done.

Make Disciples  |  Being a follower or a disciple of Jesus is a process of being made new and being transformed from the inside out every day.  It's not a formula, it's a mission that drives everything we do as a family of believers.  Through our gatherings as a family, and the living out of our God-give callings, our goal is to invite others to join us in living the life of a Christ-follower.  This is the single greatest thing that we can do with our lives.  

WHY ARE WE CONSIDERING JOINING WITH ANOTHER CHURCH?

While each church is generally healthy on its own, uniting as one church would enable us to serve, grow, and minister in ways that would be challenging to achieve separately. With additional resources, leadership, volunteers, and experience, we believe a unified church would more effectively fulfill the mission of reaching the lost and making disciples, all for God's glory. Simply put, in terms of Kingdom impact, we believe we would be better together.

HOW DID THIS IDEA OF JOINING TOGETHER
COME ABOUT?

In late August, James Allison, Orchard's Discipleship Pastor, and Andrew Hendrick, Orchard's Worship Pastor, met with Wellspring's Senior Pastor, Brian Crenshaw, and another Wellspring elder to get to know one another.  The intent of this meeting was for James and Andrew to receive wisdom from two men who had decades of ministry experience.  They had a meaningful discussion, prayed together, and shared their testimonies. Although they discussed the backgrounds of both churches, the idea of joining together was not brought up at that time.

Following this meeting, James and Andrew began praying about and considering the possibility of joining the two churches together. The Orchard elders discussed the concept at their September 9th and 19th meetings. While initially hesitant, they agreed it was at least worth exploring with the Wellspring elders.
 
On September 30, the Orchard and Wellspring elders met to get to know each other.  As they shared their testimonies and stories of God's faithfulness, God's presence was evident in the room.  By the end of the meeting, they felt a kindred spirit among themselves that could only happen through God’s supernatural providence. They discussed the idea of joining together and decided, with cautious optimism, to have further discussions. They also begin reading the book "Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work," a key resource on church mergers by Jim Tomberlin.  As they worked through this resource, they had multiple meetings all together and as individual elder teams.  An analysis of each church’s strengths and needs was performed, finding that the two lists were very complementary – where one church had a need, the other listed it as a strength, and vice-versa. A feasibility study consisting of 25 distinct categories was also performed, and found alignment and unity in all areas. At the end of October, the elders and their wives met for dinner, prayer, and discussion about where it seemed God was leading the two churches.
 
Both elder teams can affirm that they have seen God's sovereignty at work through this process.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF JOINING TOGETHER?

The following five categories highlight some of the benefits of uniting our churches together.
1. Increased Ministry Potential
Both churches are ministering effectively and, by God’s grace, would continue to do so if they remain separate. However, by joining as one, these two congregations can take on new life and new effectiveness for the Gospel that simply would not be possible apart. As Christ has commissioned us to make disciples, this necessarily requires us to reach within the body and to reach out to those in our community with the Gospel. Like a grove of trees that thrives through interconnected roots, the combined church can nourish each part, creating a richer and more diverse and potentially more effective environment for ministry. We also believe that coming together would strengthen us to not only reach more people outside our walls but better equip and care for those currently within our walls.
2. Recovery and Revitalization
Both churches share a similar vision, mission, doctrine, liturgical style, and geographical proximity. This unity offers a foundation that aligns deeply with the unique identities of each congregation. Both churches have experienced seasons of difficulty and hurt. Wellspring was birthed out of a period of hardship similar to what The Orchard has just walked through. As a result, Wellspring is uniquely gifted for restored serving.  The Orchard is currently experiencing a need for healing in the midst of an unplanned pastoral change. The shared stories of hurt and healing foster an environment where both bodies can support and serve each other as one body through recovery and revitalization.
3. Opportunities for Wise Stewardship and Resources
By combining resources, both churches are able to add to and streamline their staffing leadership needs without increasing operational costs. Wellspring has expressed a need for a worship pastor and an administratively gifted leader. The Orchard has a need for a Senior Pastor and additional senior leadership. Rather than duplicating roles, joining together allows for more efficient use of facilities and staff time, freeing up resources for outreach, student programs, worship, and other ministries. This synergy enhances financial stewardship, benefiting both congregations.
4. Complimentary Strengths and Needs
The picture of a biblical marriage provides us with an example of the importance of complementary strengths and needs. A single man and a single woman are individually whole and complete in Christ. Also, there is something unique about the covenant and context of a marriage relationship. Christ uses the covenant to sanctify, shape and mold two individuals - now made one - into the image of Christ. A  married couple is able to minister in ways unique to that covenant relationship. Similarly, the marriage of these two church bodies would allow for sanctification in unique ways, as well as the enablement of leaders and members to operate more wholly within their unique gifts, thus maximizing the church’s impact. Each church has strengths that fill and overlap the vulnerabilities and needs of the other. For example, The Orchard has needs in shepherding and building out ministry structure to raise up leaders and invite more into community. Wellspring’s established leadership and ministry frameworks can offer immediate support for this need.  On the other hand, Wellspring has needs in staffing and a permanent place to gather.  The Orchard's building, as well as their established and experienced staff, can provide consistency, support, and leadership in necessary areas so that ministry is able to flourish.
5. Healthy and Sustainable Leadership
Healthy leadership is crucial for the spiritual growth of the entire body and effective ministry requires healthy leaders who are able to be refreshed and energized to engage in the work of the ministry. When the elders of the early church focused on ministry, the church experienced explosive growth both spiritually and numerically. With shared leadership, the unified church can follow the Acts 6 model of prayer, fasting, and the ministry of the Word. This would allow for a combined church to thrive under leadership with a more balanced distribution of responsibilities than would be possible as two individual churches. This model would create margin for elders, deacons, and staff to better invest in prayer, teaching, and personal renewal. Healthy leaders make for a healthy church, and a healthy church is capable of producing much fruit for the Kingdom.

HOW WOULD PASTORAL LEADERSHIP BE STRUCTURED?

The Orchard and Wellspring elders believe the healthiest pastoral model for the congregation is not to have a single pastor responsible for all areas of ministry, operations, and staff. Instead, the elders believe a pastoral-team-leadership, modeled after the early church (Acts 13), should be used. This approach not only allows God to work through various giftings but also helps protect both the congregation and the pastors. In this model, the elders would oversee the pastoral team, which would then lead the remaining staff. The Senior Pastor would function as the "leader among leaders" within the pastoral team with ultimate decision-making authority reserved for the elder team. Additionally, the Senior Pastor would share primary preaching responsibilities along with other pastors/elders in a team teaching model.
 
Uniting the two churches would provide the opportunity to establish this team leadership model. The pastoral team model would include Senior Pastor Brian Crenshaw supported by a solid foundation of experienced and gifted pastors and elders.

Brian Crenshaw

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is it common for churches to join together?
Church mergers are becoming an increasingly common way to share resources and more effectively accomplish the Gospel mission. These mergers can take various forms, such as a larger church acquiring or adopting a smaller one, two struggling churches attempting to start anew, or two healthy churches coming together to create something new, much like a marriage. The latter scenario, which is the rarest but also the most successful, is the type we are considering.
Have you consulted any experts?
In addition to reading through "Better Together," recognized as essential reading for churches considering a merger, the elders from both churches met with the author, Jim Tomberlin, a national expert on this topic. We will continue to work with him through the process and, in this next phase of exploration, will also seek wise counsel from other experts in this area.
Are the beliefs, vision, and mission of the two churches compatible?
The feasibility analysis conducted aimed to assess the compatibility of various areas to determine if there is a natural alignment between the two bodies. This analysis revealed a high degree of compatibility and unity in all areas, with no significant differences that would suggest any discord. All current Wellspring and Orchard members are encouraged to review both statements of faith.

Wellspring Statement of Faith 
The Orchard Statement of Faith
What would happen to non-pastoral staff positions?
The intent would be to retain all non-pastoral staff in their current roles.
What would happen to current church Boards and Committees?
The elder team of the united church would consist of staff and non-staff elders from both churches. This would give us 10 elders, along with four elder candidates, greatly enhancing our ability to shepherd the body well.

The deacons would remain unchanged, as Wellspring does not currently have deacons. However, we would expect that some new deacon candidates would come from the Wellspring body.
 
The Personnel Ministry Team, Finance Ministry Team, and Missions Team in place at The Orchard would remain relatively unchanged. We would expect that some new members of these committees would be added from the Wellspring body.
What would happen to the church's facilities? Where would the united church meet?
Wellspring does not own a church building and currently worships at Riverdale School in Germantown. A united church would meet at The Orchard’s building located at 3690 S. Houston Levee Rd, Collierville, TN. This property is more than sufficient to accommodate a joining of the two churches.
What would happen to currently supported missionaries and ministries?
It is likely that there would be little to no changes to these areas of support. To the extent financially possible, the plan is to continue supporting and funding all missionaries and ministries from both churches at their existing levels while the church assesses effectiveness and priorities going forward.
What would the worship services be like?
The Sunday services of both congregations are very similar. The Sunday gathering is a time to corporately worship the Creator God and Sovereign Savior who has called us from death to life together in Him. Additionally, as the body of Christ, Sunday gatherings are a time for edification and encouragement. There are unique and distinctive rhythms for each of the bodies that can be beautifully integrated into a joint liturgy. Both churches would work together in combining resources, library of worship songs, liturgy, and volunteers to ensure that the unified church is making much of God and building one another up in love.
Would the unified church have a new name?
As with many other issues, the name of the united church is being held with an open hand. A church’s name is a big part of its identity. This union is being approached not as an acquisition by a larger church, but as a marriage of two healthy churches. Just like in a marriage, what would be gained is greater than what would be set aside. Laying down each separate identity would be an important step in creating a new, shared future as one church.
Would we lose our identity?
The identity of the church - the bride of Christ, the body of believers gathering locally -  is found in Christ, not in a church's history or name. The elders acknowledge that in a joining together of these two congregations certain aspects of identity or individual autonomy would be lost. This is similar to how a man and a woman give up certain freedoms, patterns, etc. in marriage. The core beliefs and vision that shapes and drives the church missionally will not be lost. What is gained - greater effectiveness in a mission to create disciples, increased opportunities to support each other, etc. - will be greater than anything given up.
Would our denomination and affiliations change?
Many people from both churches come from various denominational backgrounds, and both churches celebrate the strength this brings with it and the unity Christ provides. The unified church would operate day-to-day much like a non-denominational church.
 
Currently, The Orchard contributes to the International Mission Board (IMB) and, as such, is listed on the directory of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The unified church would likely continue its support of the IMB because of the great work the IMB does to reach the lost.
 
It would be expected that the unified church, in its support of the IMB, would also be listed similarly by the SBC. However, the SBC exercises no governance or control of its listed churches.
How would current membership be transferred?
The elders would develop a process to fast-track the members of both congregations who are listed as existing members, culminating in a Covenant Service. A process would be developed for the admission of members after the united church has launched.
What happens with current finances? How would finances be managed?
Both churches are financially healthy. Wellspring does not own any real estate, which makes things considerably easier. The current idea is that Wellspring would dissolve as a legal entity and donate its assets to The Orchard to be used exclusively for the ministry needs of the united church. The two budgets would then be combined into one that is subject to the elder team’s authority and guidance.
What would be the financial cost of uniting? Is it affordable for both churches?
The estimated costs are quite minimal, as most of the work will be done by the current staff and elders of both churches. There would be some limited outside legal costs involved but  these would be minimal. These costs would be off set quickly from the economics of scale resulting from uniting, such as shared resources and reduced licensing costs.
Who decides if the churches will be joined together?
The Orchard bylaws are silent on the issue of what approvals are needed to join with another church. However, because any recommendation to join would involve the hiring of a Senior Pastor, which calls for a congregational vote, The Orchard elders believe that they should follow the same approach. This would start with a formal recommendation by the elders followed by a vote of the members at a special meeting. To pass, 75% of a quorum of The Orchard members over the age of 18 would need to vote in favor of it. (A quorum is defined in The Orchard Church bylaws as 20% of qualified membership present).
 
Wellspring bylaws are also silent on the issue of joining with another church. As Wellspring is a congregation led by elder rule, the ultimate decision is tasked to the elders. However,  Wellspring elders believe that shepherding the Wellspring body involves prayerfully sharing the opportunity and walking with the members through the process of exploration and a final decision will weigh heavily on the hearts and needs of the Wellspring body.
What would happen if a merger does not materialize through this process?
If this joining together does not come to fruition, both churches would remain independent churches as they currently stand and care for each other as sister churches through prayer, encouragement, and working to meet each other’s needs.
 
The Orchard has been in contact with several ministry search firms and could easily commence a Senior Pastor search through one of these firms.
What is the timeline involved? What key dates are important to know?
Wellspring and The Orchard both desire appropriate time to walk through this process. This is a critical decision and an opportunity that must be stewarded well. The roadmap for moving forward involves two distinct phases.

The first is 40 days of Prayer and Connecting that will take place from now until January 5th. During this time, The Orchard will begin hosting information sessions with elders so members can learn more about this opportunity as well as ask questions. Wellspring will host similar opportunities for its members to connect with leadership, ask questions and learn more. Additionally, there will be opportunities to get to know each other as fellow believers.

The second phase (contingent upon deciding to move forward) would begin post-January 5th and would move towards making a formal decision and working out the commitment to join together as a new, unified body.
How will the two congregations get to know one another?
During the next 40 plus days, Wellspring and Orchard envision connecting the two congregations through intentional opportunities to get to know each other and worship together as fellow believers. Both congregations are invited to share in Orchard’s “Advent Night of Worship,” as well as other planned gatherings. In January 2025, prayer and fellowship opportunities will be presented for students, young adults, men’s and women’s groups, and staff to connect.

NEXT STEPS: PRAYER AND PARTICIPATION

40 Days of Prayer and Exploration

In this next 40 day period of prayer and exploration we are asking members and attenders of both The Orchard and Wellspring to commit to praying for wisdom and discernment. We offer the following passages of Scripture as a basis for our corporate prayers:

Participate in the Process

We invite you to be a part of this process through praying and participating.  Actively engage in the planned opportunities: attend an info session, ask questions, join us for a joint time of worship, take part in the gatherings to get to know each other. Ask the Lord for wisdom and faithfully demonstrate your confidence in His ability to guide this process.

DECEMBER TIMELINE

DECEMBER TIMELINE

HAVE QUESTIONS?

The elders of The Orchard and Wellspring are available to receive and answer your questions, concerns, and affirmations.
 
If you are a member or attender of The Orchard, feel free to contact an elder directly or send your questions via email to: elders@theorchardchurch.com
 
If you are a member or attender of Wellspring, feel free to contact an elder directly or send your questions via email to: briandeancrenshaw@gmail.com