State of The Church
Looking Back and Remembering God’s Faithfulness
Welcome to The Well, and welcome to State of the Church! If you are a guest with us today, you probably walked in and thought, What on earth is happening this morning? We have burnt offerings going down at both campuses, people who think it’s Sadie Hawkins day, and matching T-shirts everywhere. This is the one time a year where we pause, reflect, remember, and celebrate what God has done. We are so grateful that you are here with us, whether you are at our Clovis campus, over at our Fig Garden campus, or joining us in our outdoor theater and venues.
As we look back, scripture reminds us of the value of pausing to remember all that God has done.
Psalms 143:5 (NASB)
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands.
We want to do just that: take a moment to look back at the faithfulness of our God. If Romans 3 is true—and it is—that there is none who seeks for God, then if anything good is happening in our midst, it is direct evidence that God is moving.
Romans 3:10-12 (NASB)
as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.’
Pausing and remembering is not unique to us. If you read through the Old Testament, God continually asked His people to build tangible reminders. In Joshua 4, after they crossed the Jordan River, God told them to pick up twelve stones and build a rock pile. That way, in future generations, when the kids asked, “Hey, Pops, why did you build a rock pile here?” they could say, “Let me tell you about the faithfulness of our God.”
Joshua 4:1-7 (NASB)
Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, ’Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.‘’ So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, ’Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ’Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.’
We have tried to model that right here on our campuses. Over by our kids’ play structure, we have two rock piles to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness when we relocated onto this property. Throughout the Old Testament, there were seven feasts and festivals spread out across the year so that about every other month, the people stopped to look back and remember. While we aren’t going to do this every other month, taking one Sunday a year to remember is vital.
Psalms 77:11 (NASB)
I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
We want to remember and give credit where credit is due. We are going to talk about a lot of numbers today. Numbers can be intoxicating for some, but for us, they only tell part of the story. Bigger is not necessarily better—it just is what it is. But these numbers point directly to the faithfulness of our God.
Psalms 127:1-2 (NASB)
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved [even in his] sleep.
The Apostle Paul framed it similarly for the church: we can plant and we can water, but God alone causes the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (NASB)
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
All the numbers we celebrate today belong to the Lord. So if you hear something that fires you up, feel free to clap or shout. We can’t celebrate everything or we’d be here all day, but let’s celebrate some key highlights from this past year.
Equipping the Body for Growth
Equipping has been a high value at The Well for years. Our Biblical Studies Residency program meets at 6:00 AM for rigorous exposition study. We have been running residency for 22 years now, with over 1,200 participants and more than 900 graduates. This semester alone, we have 135 people signed up. That is 135 committed people waking up at “oh-dark-thirty” to show up and study their Bibles at 6:00 AM. We love that.
We also launched our Women’s Bible Study, thinking a few ladies would show up, and 800 women came. There are now 60 groups of women circled around tables studying God’s Word together in community. It is a beautiful thing.
In addition, a year ago we launched VLA (Valley Leadership Academy), an educational partnership with California Baptist University. Students register for Cal Baptist classes, take them right here on our campus, get mentored and discipled by our staff, and serve in local churches. Four churches currently partner with VLA: SoMa Fellowship, The Hills, Cross City, and The Well.
The advantage is clear: you get a high-quality Christian education right here at home. How many parents have thought, If I send my kid off to Santa Barbara, I am fairly confident it is going to get weird by Tuesday? Through VLA, students are poured into locally. We have already seen two students transition from ministry internships directly into vocational ministry. We currently have 14 students enrolled for this semester, and if you have a high schooler, it is well worth exploring.
Community Life: Groups and Healing
We do life in groups—that is who we are. Life Groups are our flagship ministry, and I am thrilled to share that we currently have over 3,000 people in Life Groups. Our team and leaders have stepped up tremendously. We have over 500 Life Group leaders, more than 250 groups, and over 50 coaches providing shepherding and care.
Several years ago, we launched Merge for seriously dating and engaged couples. Merge helps couples discover God’s design for marriage, navigate dating and sexuality with biblical clarity, and learn how to handle conflict healthily. We have had 80 couples complete Merge, walked alongside by 30 mentor couples.
We also have Re|Engage, our marital enrichment ministry launched in 2017. Over 700 couples have completed Re|Engage. If your marriage is anything like mine, there are days where you realize you need some help and a safe place to process. When my wife and I went through it years ago, some car rides home were full of laughter, and other rides home were completely silent while we processed hard things. That is marriage. We currently have 75 couples signed up for the fall semester.
Then there is re:generation, our 12-step, gospel-centered recovery ministry. Since launching in 2014, over 1,800 people have commenced. These are people who acknowledge the ongoing wrestle with the flesh and say, “I want God to transform me from the inside out.” This past year alone, 200 people commenced, 16 new groups launched, and 200 active participants are walking through it right now.
Joel 2:25 (NASB)
’Then I will make up to you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
God is actively restoring the years the locusts have eaten, bringing deep, below-the-line healing to souls and relationships.
Next Generation: Kids and Students
When we started The Well, we had no children’s ministry because we did not have a single child—we were all college students. We did about 30 or 40 weddings in the first two years, so the kids came later! This past year, we averaged about 1,250 kids from birth through fifth grade every weekend, and recently crossed 1,400.
For Summerpalooza, our version of Vacation Bible School, we had over 1,600 kids descend upon our campuses alongside 1,000 volunteers. We are testing the physical capacity of our facilities, and I hope every year we are forced to get more creative to make room.
Through our child dedication process, we partnered with families to help parents lead well spiritually. Seventy-four children were dedicated this past year. My favorite part of dedication Sunday is handing the microphone to the dad so he can publicly declare his family’s values and scripture verse, stepping into his role as a spiritual leader.
In 2023, we launched our Special Needs Ministry with just four kids. We knew families often stay away from church because they fear their child cannot be adequately cared for. This past year, over 100 kids participated in our Special Needs Ministry. Even more exciting, 11 of those children have matriculated to the point where they now participate in church life without needing a one-on-one buddy.
We also run Well Stars sports. This spring, we had 430 tee-ball players and 100 volunteer coaches. They were out there in full uniform, picking flowers in the outfield, looking great. In the fall, we have over 600 soccer players and 125 coaches wearing shin guards and having a blast.
In our student ministries (sixth through twelfth grade), God is moving in incredible ways. At our Fig Garden campus, we have 125 students and 35 leaders. At our Clovis campus, we built a student auditorium that seats 500. On Tuesday nights, we have over 400 middle schoolers with 60 leaders, and on high school nights, over 425 students with 100 leaders. We have already outgrown the facility. This summer, we sent over 650 students to Hume Lake Christian Camps across two separate weeks. It used to be that parents dragged their kids to church; now, students are dragging their parents, and lives are being changed.
Campus Life, Care, and the Barbecue Ministry
Across our eight weekend gatherings and two campuses, over 400 people were baptized this past year as a public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Our Care Ministry continues to meet tangible needs. We now have a fully outfitted tool trailer ready to assist single moms, widows, and anyone facing home repair emergencies. If you feel closest to God with a tool belt on, we need you. We also run GriefShare, walking alongside more than 125 people navigating the pain of loss, and we have partnered with churches in Southwest Fresno to help equip them to provide trauma and grief care in their neighborhoods.
And, of course, there is the Barbecue Team you smelled when you walked in today. We launched this team not only because we love good food, but because women often connect face-to-face, while men connect shoulder-to-shoulder. These guys are building real community around the smokers. This year, the team is on pace to cook 7,000 pounds of tri-tip, 6,000 sausage links, and 15,000 sandwiches, raising an estimated $60,000 to send students to camp.
While thousands gather across our campuses each week, the number that matters most to us is not who is here—it is the hundreds of thousands of people in the Fresno-Clovis area who have yet to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are far more concerned about who is not here yet.
Psalms 115:1 (NASB)
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.
Looking Ahead: Equipping Pipeline and Initiatives
As we look ahead, we want to make sure you know how to get connected. On our website, you will find our weekly Life Group guides, as well as our local and global mission engagement opportunities, where you can find immediate places to serve throughout our city.
The Apostle Paul clearly outlines the calling of church leadership in Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:11-15 (NASB)
And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all [aspects] into Him who is the head, [even] Christ,
The purpose of the church is not for staff to do the ministry, but to equip the saints for the work of ministry. To that end, we have built a comprehensive Ministry Leader Development Pipeline:
- Summer Cohort (Ages 18–25): A discipleship environment helping young adults discern their next steps in education, career, and calling.
- Ministry Internship: A hands-on, cohort-based practicum for young adults curious about vocational ministry.
- Ministry & Pastoral Fellowships: Paid, deep-dive development roles pairing aspiring leaders and pastors with seasoned staff mentors.
- Spiritual Leadership Cohort: A three-month intensive focused on below-the-line character development and executive-level spiritual formation for elders, staff, and marketplace leaders.
In addition, we are launching three new initiatives this fall:
- “Built for This” Young Adult Conference (October 10): Focusing on God’s design for dating, relationships, and sexuality.
- Life Group Connect: A comfortable, interactive environment designed to help you meet leaders and form a group without the awkwardness of showing up unannounced at someone’s front door.
- Quarterly Marital Enrichment Workshops: Practical, ongoing tools to keep healthy marriages growing strong.
The Challenge: Refusing the Way of Hezekiah
Let me close with a sobering challenge from 2 Kings 20. King Hezekiah was a good king for most of his life, but near the end, the prophet Isaiah informed him that the Babylonians would eventually conquer the city, carry off all his wealth, and take his descendants into captivity.
Hezekiah’s response was shocking. He said, “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” thinking to himself, At least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.
2 Kings 20:16-19 (NASB)
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ’Hear the word of the LORD. ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. ‘Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’’ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?’
Hezekiah did not care about the devastation facing the next generation as long as he was comfortable. May it never be said that we adopted the mindset of Hezekiah. May we never say, “I want my personal comfort and convenience, and I don’t care about the kids or students coming behind me.” If that is your attitude, you are at the wrong church. We will gladly inconvenience ourselves, sacrifice our preferences, and invest our resources to reach the next generation.
Psalms 71:17-18 (NASB)
O God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when [I am] old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to [this] generation, Your power to all who are to come.
We celebrate everything God has done, and we look forward with anticipation to declaring His power to the generations to come. The best days are yet ahead.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for Your kindness and faithfulness to us. We praise You for the privilege of being part of Your kingdom work. As we seek to help people connect to You and to each other in every neighborhood, give us the grace to be faithful. Keep our eyes fixed on Christ, and may the best days truly be ahead. In Jesus’ name, Amen.