The Well
The Well: A Community Gathering Place
When we (SOMA) were offered the building formerly owned by First Christian Church in Beaver Falls, it was so important to us that we not lose our commitment to being a blessing in our city. While church buildings can be a great asset, they are also a potential resource-drain & distraction from the mission of God’s people in a particular place. With this in mind, we decided that any space we own needs to be first-and-foremost community space. We asked SOMA folks and other neighbors to weigh in on a name that communicated a safe & meaningful place for Beaver Falls, and it was voted that the building would be called The Well: A Community Gathering Place.
A few ways this name communicates what we hope to be true for our space:
– In many cultures around the world, the Well represents the communal heart of the town. We hope this space cultivates meaningful relationships in our city.
– The Well has represented sustenance for communities across the globe. We hope this space if life-giving in our city.
– In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the Well, and personal as well as social healing take place. We hope this is a reconciling space in our city, in which the encounter with Jesus breaks down dividing walls of hostility.
Our church houses plenty of our own ministry work in this building (like our weekly worship gatherings, community drop-in hours on Wednesdays & Fridays, a weekly men’s group, Sunday evening college student ministry, kids movie nights, and more), and we’re most excited about the new and emerging relationships with other ministries and organizations using the space in life-giving ways.
These relationships include:
– A weekly women’s movement group on Thursday evenings
– Standing in the Gap, a ministry reaching out to women caught up in prostitution & sex trafficking in Beaver Falls
– On-site counseling through Christian Counselors Collaborative
– Young Life
We plan to continue exploring meaningful partnerships that will use this space in life-giving ways in Beaver Falls.
Our regular event calendar can be found here.
To keep up with what’s happening at The Well right now, visit our blog & Facebook page.