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July 6, 2009

Religion: A mission and a purpose

New church focuses on applied faith

By Tricia Pursell

SELINSGROVE — It took years of ministry preparation to get to this point, but local pastor Joe Aurand is beginning to reap the fruits of his labor at a little church that has more than tripled its congregation size in only one and a half years.

“When His timing is right, you just know it,” he said.

Services at Wellspring Church, a nondenominational church, are held at 9:45 a.m. each Sunday at the Pump House in Selinsgrove. It has gone from three families to 10 since its opening in 2007.

The congregation usually numbers between 20 and 30 people each Sunday.

The worship isn’t a typical one, Aurand said, as they do not have a worship team, and instead rely on Christian YOUtube music videos.

“We follow simple church structure — run all programs through what you think your mission and purpose is,” he said. Their mission is based on a “Come Grow, Go” philosophy. “We invite, instruct and teach, and send people out,” he said.

Through foundational discipleship and spiritual gift classes, the people learn how to apply to their lives what God has called them to do. The ultimate goal is to reach their community for Christ. For the last two years, the church headed up an outreach in which they gave out free soup and sandwiches to the community.



Momentum and trust

But the challenges are still there. The greatest is found in trying to build momentum and getting everyone on the same page, Aurand said.

Also, in the central Pennsylvania region, people tend to be suspicious of a new, nondenominational church coming into the area. So the challenge, he said, is to break through that suspicion. “People want to know if you are genuine, or real,” he said. “If you are, they will trust you.”

It’s the personal touch and the relationship building that will make that happen, he said.

Despite the challenges, he is seeing the greatest result of all — changed lives. He is also noticing, as a result of intercessory prayer for the community, a change in the spiritual atmosphere throughout the area.

“I always knew I was supposed to start a church at some point in my life,” Aurand said.



Time to move on

Originally from Lewisburg, Aurand had been involved in prison and youth ministries and also played a role in forming four to five other churches. Formerly a United Methodist minister, he later became a chaplain with the Bureau of Prisons in Allenwood, until, he said, “I felt it was time to move on to pastoral ministry.”

Now seeing in hindsight, it was all “God’s training process for when he called us to do our own,” he said.

He and his wife Lynn then purchased a house in Shamokin Dam. “We felt like we were supposed to be used down here somehow,” he said.

He continued to pray, asking God to send him people who were willing to help, because he knew he couldn’t do it alone.

That’s when he and his wife, Lynn, met Tim and Cindy Moyer. Their sons played basketball together.

The Moyers shared the same vision and calling — to plant a church in eastern Snyder County. “We became very interested, together,” Aurand said.

“We tested that call by meeting together and praying about it, and seeing if others were hearing the same thing and getting others to join us,” he added.

Ten months later, after they made a deal with the Selinsgrove borough to conduct services at the Pump House, the doors to Wellspring Church opened for its first Sunday in October 2007.

The Aurands have three children, their oldest a recent graduate of Selinsgrove High School.

More information about the church is available by calling Aurand at (570) 884-3011.

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