OUR VISION
“To lead people into their next step in loving and living like Jesus”
Our Story
OpenWell began in Liverpool with our Lead Pastors Judah & Rachel Cole in September 2013 with a small group of friends. We grew out of that home and met in several venues around Liverpool. We met at House Coffee bar, the Lantern theatre & Hope University. In March 2016 we moved into Belvedere Academy where we met until we had to go online only in March 2020. In October 2013 we launched OpenWell Southport which met in Southport every week until Lockdown. We now meet at the Hil Centre in Toxteth, Liverpool and online. Along the way we have grown and reached out and loved thousands of people in Liverpool and Southport, hosted Jesus Loves conferences, VIP homeless events and many other initiatives. Today OpenWell is a family of love where the focus is always Jesus. We are always open to the lost, broken and those in need of refreshing. We are a well. OpenWell.
Senior Leadership team
Judah & Rachel Cole
Will & Joni Ward
Mark & Marjan De leeuw van weenen
OpenWell Church is led by Judah & Rachel Cole who work in a team alongside Will & Joni Ward and Mark & Marjan De Leeuw. Together this team serve OpenWell through providing vision & direction. Judah & Rach have planted 3 churches and bring a wealth of experience and passion to the team. They have led the church since its start. Rachel is passionate about working with the homeless and Judah is also a graphic designer. They have two beautiful children and love family time in Scotland and Devon.
Partnerships
OpenWell is part of the Evangelical Alliance. OpenWell partners with churches in Liverpool and around the UK to put on JesusLoves and to work together to better love and lead people to Jesus. In particular, OpenWell enjoys a close relationship with Life Springs Church in Wolverhampton.
“This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins”
1 John 4:10
Our DNA
Deeper: We believe in going deeper into God’s presence and the Bible. There is always more of God to discover and we want to grow and mature as we go deeper into him.
Wider: There are always new people and places that need Jesus. We value being accessible and creating a place that people love to attend.
Love: We are intentional about creating an atmosphere where people feel and experience the love of God. His love is the foundation for all we do as a church.
Family: We operate as a family, which means healthy relationships matter. We value healthy boundaries, honesty, vulnerability & healthy communication.
Simplicity: Stripping away all that gets in the way of people and Jesus
Excellence: Doing things with order and excellence in our systems and structures and relationships
Creativity: Creating room for fresh ideas and out of the box thinking
Generous: Heart to serve, give and lay down our lives
Faith: Audacious in our steps and a can do attitude
Passion: Giving our all with energy and enthusiasm
Responsibility: We take personal responsibility to love others and we don’t blame others
Limits: We recognise that we can’t do everything and sometimes we have to focus
What We believe
We affirm the Evangelical Alliance statement of faith.
God
We believe in one eternal God who is Creator of all things and exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God is love. His love is full of light and is completely holy.
Humanity
We believe God created and values every person. God has given everyone gifts, abilities, desires and dreams. We believe that all of mankind is separated from God because of sin. Mankind is sinful by nature and nothing we can do will redeem us from our sin. We deserve eternal punishment for our sin against a pure and holy God.
The Cross
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ as both God and man is the only one who can reconcile us to God. Jesus came to earth and lived a sinless life. On earth Jesus demonstrated a life of perfect connection to God, displaying God’s power and love on earth. Jesus then died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and rose again to defeat sin and death and to give us eternal life and empower us for life here on earth.
Salvation
We believe that in order to receive forgiveness and ‘new birth’ we must repent of our sins, believe in Jesus as our saviour, making him the Lord of our lives.
Water Baptism
We believe that after becoming a believer the next step is to be baptised in water. In water baptism, we identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus. We rise from the waters of baptism into new life.
Holy Spirit
We believe in being baptised with the power of the Holy Spirit and living in a lifelong relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms, heals, leads and guides us. We need to be continually filled and sustained by the Holy Spirit, growing in the fruits of the Spirit. He enables us to use spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, physical healing and miracles.
Jesus
We believe that Jesus as both fully God and full man completed the work of salvation at the cross and is now seated in heaven. Jesus has power and authority over all things which he passes on to us. We live resting in him and by his grace. Our identity is found in Christ Jesus.
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is God’s Word and reveals Jesus to us. It is accurate, authoritative and applicable to our everyday lives.
The Church
We believe that the Church is represented by many local expressions of the body of Christ. The Church is made up of everyone who has faith in Jesus. The mission of the church is to take the good news of the kingdom to the whole world and to make disciples in order to bring glory to God.