• Different Gospel: Wellspring Church adds exclusive teachings that set it apart from historic Christianity.

• Only “True” Church: Wellspring Church claims to hold restored truth and only authentic form of worship.

• Total Control: Wellspring Church demands lifelong loyalty and submission to church leadership.

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Wellspring adheres to many orthodox Christian beliefs including: The Fallen State of Man, The Eternality of God, The Pre-existence of Christ, The Incarnation, The Virgin Birth, The Full Deity and Full Humanity of Jesus Christ, The Passion, Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.

 

​Although Wellspring markets itself as just another local church, it holds distinctive beliefs which make them feel special and separates them from mainstream Christianity. In their minds, maintaining fidelity to these beliefs justifies the practice of shunning and breaking up families. This website exists to warn believers and seekers of these beliefs and behaviors in advance.

 

Wellspring Church's distinctive beliefs rest atop several concepts: ​

 

1) Restorational Doctrine: Wellspring believes their doctrines are the pure, revealed doctrines of the early church. They claim these truths were lost soon after the original apostles died. They believe that God has fully “restored” these truths to them. These foundational doctrines were taught to them by the founder of Wellspring Church and self-proclaimed "apostle" Norman H. James. Since no other church holds the entirety of their distinctive blend of "restored" doctrines, they do not recognize other churches as having fully restored truth or fully correct Christian doctrine.   

 

2) Worship Authenticity: Wellspring believes that their worship is the only true and fully restored pattern of worship. They believe it reflects the original New Testament church's practice and reflects what worship in heaven will be like. They do not recognize any other church as having their specific pattern of worship.​​ They believe that true worship “in spirit and truth” refers to corporate speaking in tongues (everyone in the congregation speaks in tongues concurrently) on a weekly basis. They believe that churches that do not demonstrate this corporate speaking in tongues are not practicing true worship.

 

3) Emphasis on Church Authority: Formerly to the "apostle", now subject to the board of elders, obedience and submission to church authority is paramount in this group. Scripture verses discussing church authority are highly regarded. Those who challenge authority figures are put down with control and humiliation techniques described in this website and found in other high control groups and cults. Those who repeatedly challenge or disobey the leadership are compared to those who practice witchcraft and are ostracized by the group.

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4) Church Membership: Wellspring requires a "church membership commitment" which they consider a lifelong commitment to both God and the leadership of the church. They teach that one must permanently remain in the church they were “born in”, either physically or spiritually. This expectation puts members under extreme psychological pressure to remain in the community, similar to other cults and high control groups. Members fear leaving Wellspring Church because they fear breaking their church commitment, which the leadership likens to a marriage commitment. 

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None in Wellspring Church leadership have attended seminary or bible school. None have earned a religious degree from any college or university. In fact, they are generally dismissive and even outright critical of a seminary education or a formal religious degree.

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It is important to understand that Wellspring Church employs language and terms familiar to Christians, but their internal definition of that terminology differs profoundly from Christian churches. As we will demonstrate in their doctrinal development, Wellspring's internal definition of church membership, worship, salvation, being born again, God's sovereignty, sonship and other doctrines are radically different from Christian churches that use the same terms.