Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q. Who do we want in our community?

A. People sometimes ask what our marketing plan is, who are target audience is. Our ultimate target audience is anyone who seeks to learn about Jesus, develop a relationship with Jesus, wants to be part of a community that seeks to live transformed lives and be part of transforming the world with and by the love of Jesus and under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

Q. What does it mean to be part of the Core Group?

A. We are a group of Christians who are following God's call in our lives to be part of something new, and to continue to be part of it as it takes shape and matures into a more robust community of Jesus followers. The Core Group is composed of people more interested in reaching out into all cultures than cocooning into a circular "Christian" culture. People in the Core Group are ready to trade the traditional, predictable and comfortable, for the new, perhaps less traditional and unknown path of the journey. A church plant tends to be at it healthiest when there are about 20 committed people, and we have a way to go to reach that point. So we encourage you to pray, visit, connect and ask yourself if you are ready to make the commitment to be part of the starting, growing and living of the community called The Fountain.

Q. Where & when do you meet?

A. We meet at the Sleep Inn in Nampa every Sunday at 10:30am. View the map.

Q. How can I contact The Fountain?

A. Our general e-mail address is info@fountaincommunity.org The lead pastor, David, can be reached at davidblackwell@fountaincommunity.org or 208.407.5395

Q. Who are the people of The Fountain?

A. We are a diverse group of people united in our sense of commitment to Jesus, adventure, and the desire to spread the message and mission of Jesus wherever we can, in every culture we can. We have people who come from the city and those who come from the country. We have people who like fishing and those who like gaming. We have people who like house music and those who like home on the range music. In other words we are a group of individuals, who are different from each other, but similar to each other in our love of Jesus, each other and our commitment to the Journey wherever God leads. We celebrate the diversity of our individuality and the unity of our love for Jesus and each other. We come together Sunday mornings to spend time together as a family, to study the word of God, and to spend time together in prayer with God. We do this in preparation for living our lives for God during the rest of the week in our daily settings with the people we share space and life with. Perhaps you will be part of The Fountain...

Q. So are you going to make judgments about me?

A. Judging people is not our mission. We would rather extend open hands of love rather than point a finger of judgement. We seek to be spiritual paramedics in a world that is full of hurting, broken, disillusioned, discouraged and discounted people. We all have things in our life that need to change and The Holy Spirit  works within each of us to help us make these changes. As a community we are here to love and support each other as we go through a personal transformation. We are also part of transforming the world through the love of Jesus by the lives we live and the lives we touch with our service. We come together to learn, laugh, cry and be part of a journey into unknown areas, with the Holy Spirit as our guide. We come as we are, and this means more than the clothes we wear, the tattoos or piercings we may have. We come as we are on the inside, filled with a mixture of joy and sadness, hope and despair, success and failure, close to God and separate from God, self assured and questioning, confident and confused. God meets us in each of these places and as a community we encounter God with all of these contradictions.

Q. What is the worship gathering like?

A. We are focused on Jesus and express this through a variety of means including media, music and Biblically based, Jesus centered, gospel focused messages.The basic flow of our time together usually begins with a video presentation or a reflective reading and a traditional classic hymn. This is followed by the message, after which we sing contemporary worship songs together for about 20 minutes. Our prayer time is dedicated to people sharing the joys, issues, and concerns in their lives and prayer for the people in their world. Following the prayer we celebrate communion each week, with people serving themselves or each other at a communion station, during which time we play reflective music. During the gathering we usually find there is quite a bit of laughter among us as well.

Q. What kind of music and arts will I experience?

A. We embrace all forms of artistic expressions that share our love for Jesus and the spreading of that love in the world. This means that we do not live within a "Christian" bubble where only music and arts from "Christian" corporations are encouraged. While we use music and videos from many that fall within the "Christian" designation, we also see God's beauty in a number of other artists. So in a typical service we sing a number modern worship songs that you will hear on KTSY or AIR1 as well as a classic hymn or two. We also include music from a variety of genres such as Country, Rock and Jazz for reflection during Communion, and as part of the sermon. In addition we use a variety of videos that feature poetry, drama, dance, and other forms of visual arts.  

Q. What does the pastor talk about?

A. We like to go through the Bible a book at a time, which allows us to see the whole context of the book. It also helps us to cover the entirety of God's message, without cherry picking only the passages we like to deal with and avoiding the ones that make us feel uncomfortable. In the coming years we will be working our way through Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Luke, Acts, Romans and Genesis.

Q. What should I wear?

A. We don't really focus on what people wear. Instead we ask that everybody wear something. So wear something comfortable for you and appropriate for the rest of us. You are coming to spend time with your family and friends as we all share a communal experience with God, how will you dress for that?

Q. Are you going embarrass me by singling me out?

A. No. We will say hello to you before and after the service. Some weeks we go out for lunch after the service and we will invite you to join us. We will not make you stand up, instead we offer you the opportunity to enter your contact information in a laptop near the entrance. If you  choose to do this we will be able to keep in touch and keep you updated with life at The Fountain. Ultimately our goal is to get to know you and for you to get to know us.

Q. Are you going to hit me up for cash?

A. No. There is a basket near the entrance of the church for anyone who wants to give as God leads. Down the road you may decide to become more involved and become part of the church by giving financially as well as with your time.

Q. What about my kids?

A. We love kids of all ages, and as a church forming its core group we are at a place where we all worship together. As more people become part of our community there will be an organic growth of alternatives for kids.

Q. What Does The Fountain believe?

Our Core Beliefs are our closed hand, non-negotiable beliefs. We embrace liberty on all other issues, which we consider to be our open-handed, non-essential, beliefs. Among the leadership and membership of the church there may be a variety of beliefs on the open-handed, non-essential, beliefs.

A summary of our core beliefs are found in the words of the Nicene Creed. We hold this creed in common with Christians from across the world and throughout time.

Nicene Creed (c. 381 A.D.)

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic*and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

Amen

*The word "catholic" refers to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ, not any specific church.

 

Q. What about Speaking in Tongues?

A. This is a secondary, "open handed," issue for us. We believe that in your personal prayer time Speaking in Tongues may be your norm and would encourage you to continue with this. In our community settings we follow the example of 1 Corinthians 14:5, 21-23, and feel it is unnecessary to practice this, or any of the other "charismatic" gifts in our public worship experiences.

Q. What denomination is The Fountain part of?

A. We are an independent, non-denominational church, not an isolated church. We partner with, and learn from, a number of other churches, denominations and networks including The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and The Origins Project.

Q. How can I become part of The Fountain?

A. We call our church members “partners.” As someone who attends our weekly worship gatherings you are a part of The Fountain. If you are ready to make a deeper commitment to The Fountain then becoming a partner might be right for you. Being a partner is about more than attending church. By becoming a partner you are committing to be part of a spiritual family that will provide support and encouragement in your walk with Christ, while you commit to being part of encouraging others, supporting the church and sharing the love of Jesus through your words, attitude, financial support and service to others in the world. To become a partner we ask that you attend for six-months, participate in a Foundations class, be interviewed by a church elder and sign a partnership covenant.

Q. So how can I find out more about the church?

A. You can either email info@fountaincommunity.org or continue exploring our website for more information. And of course you are always welcome to join us at a worship gathering!