• Wellspring Church teaches that it represents the Kingdom of God in a unique way, linking acceptance and practice of its distinctive doctrine to belonging in God’s Kingdom.

• This belief traces back to the founder’s Oneness-derived formula for being born again, which made Wellspring Church doctrine appear to be the visible proof of entering God’s Kingdom.

• Scripture teaches that the Kingdom belongs to God alone and is entered by being born again by the Holy Spirit - not by membership in a particular church or following a human-controlled formula.

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Many people at Wellspring Church have been taught, directly or indirectly, that their congregation represents the Kingdom of God in a unique way, and that belonging to Wellspring Church is equivalent to belonging to the Kingdom of God.

 

This idea grew from the founder’s belief that his Oneness-derived understanding of becoming born again, combined with his own distinctive baptismal formula, restored the “true” way of entering the Kingdom of God. His teaching became the visible sign that a person had truly been born again and therefore truly belonged to God.​ For many, this created a deep spiritual fear: If I leave Wellspring Church, am I leaving the kingdom of God?

 

 

What Jesus Actually Taught About Entering the Kingdom of God

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Jesus spoke more about the Kingdom of God than any other theme, and He connected it directly to being born again. When He told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” He was not describing a formula or a sequence of human-controlled steps. Instead, He immediately explained that being born again is the sovereign work of God Himself through the Holy Spirit.

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Just a few verses later, Jesus clarifies: “The wind (Spirit) blows where it wishes… so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Being born again is not something controlled by human authority, human ritual, or the spoken formula of the person performing the baptism.

 

It is God who gives the birth, not the church, not the leader. This truth stands at the center of Christian teaching for two thousand years, across cultures, traditions, and peoples.​ The early church understood this clearly. God draws freely, and Christ saves freely. No single community, no leader, and no formula ever held exclusive access to the Kingdom of God.​

 

 

The Kingdom of God Is Not a Single Church

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Wellspring’s teaching creates the impression that the Kingdom of God is essentially present in their church alone, because they claim to hold the only valid understanding of being born again. In this framework, leaving Wellspring can feel like leaving God, abandoning God's kingdom, or stepping outside His will.

 

But Scripture consistently teaches a much broader, more gracious vision. The Kingdom of God is God’s reign breaking into the world through Jesus Christ. It is His saving rule, His renewing power, and His life given through the Holy Spirit. Wherever Christ is believed, loved, and obeyed - across countless churches, cultures, and nations - the Kingdom of God is present. No congregation, movement, or leader can claim to contain it.

 

The New Testament speaks of many churches but one Kingdom, many congregations but one Lord, many communities but one faith. The Kingdom belongs entirely to God and is given entirely by grace.  Jesus Himself is the gate. He alone can say, “I am the door… whoever enters through Me will be saved.”

 

 

You Do Not Leave the Kingdom by Leaving a Church

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For those us who grew up at Wellspring, it was difficult to disentangle our spiritual identity from the institution, from the leadership and from the founder. We were taught, sometimes subtly, sometimes openly, that stepping away from Wellspring was equivalent to abandoning God. But the Bible teaches the opposite.

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A believer belongs to the Kingdom because God has made them His child through Christ. Their place in the Kingdom is anchored in God’s promise, God’s grace, and God’s Spirit - not in their relationship to a particular group of people. Leaving a church may be painful; it may involve loss and confusion. But it does not undo God’s work. It does not remove the Spirit. It does not unravel God's gracious work of being born again. It does not cancel His love.

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As Scripture says, “The Lord knows those who are His” and “No one can snatch them out of My hand.” These promises do not depend on Wellspring Church, or any church.

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Why Wellspring’s Teaching Feels So Binding

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The founder of Wellspring Church connected his own doctrinal formula to the act of entering God’s Kingdom. He taught that his understanding of baptism and being born again was the restored truth God had given to him alone, and therefore only those who followed this formula could truly be part of God’s kingdom. When a church ties God's kingdom to its own authority, it naturally creates fear, dependency, and a sense that leaving the group means leaving God.

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But this is not the gospel Jesus preached. This is not the teaching of the apostles. This is not the faith of the historic Christian church.

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The Kingdom of God does not rise or fall with any single congregation. It does not collapse when someone leaves a group. It does not hinge on the spoken words of a pastor at baptism or spiritual gifts. It does not come through human control, but divine grace.

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Good News for Those Who Are Afraid

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If you are still at Wellspring and wrestling with fear, confusion, or questions, please know this: God is not angry with you. He is not disappointed in you. He is not threatened by your discernment. The Triune God welcomes your questions, your searching, and your desire for truth.

 

Your place in His Kingdom is not fragile. It is not dependent on your attendance record. It is not controlled by any human leader. It is rooted in Christ alone. And the God who gave you life in the Spirit is faithful to keep and lead you, wherever you go.

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The Church Age Will End - But God’s Kingdom Will Not

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Scripture teaches that the visible church exists within history, for the duration of this present age, as the gathered people of Christ on earth. But when Christ returns, the church in its earthly form will give way to something far greater: the fullness of God’s eternal Kingdom. The church age will come to its close, but the Kingdom of God will never pass away. It existed before Wellspring Church, before any congregation, and even before the creation of the world. And it will endure long after every earthly institution has completed its course.

 

This reality reminds us that no local church can ever claim to be the Kingdom, because the Kingdom belongs to God alone. It is eternal, unshakable, and rooted not in human authority but in the reign of Christ Himself.