Who we are
A little about us, our background, and what we believe.Our Story
In 2003, a small group of people felt led by God to start a new church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. We held our first worship service in Spring Hill Elementary School and gathered there every Sunday for the next decade. During those years, we launched The Well (our city’s food pantry) and The JetPack Project (an effort to provide weekend food for hungry students), ministries which are still thriving today.
The location of our worship services changed in January 2014, when we moved into our newly-completed building at 1001 Chapman’s Crossing. Our weekday preschool, The Academy at WellSpring, also opened its doors at that time. We launched ‘Trusting the Promise’ in March 2018; it’s an ongoing initiative through which we recently built a larger auditorium and will soon plant a new campus in Columbia.
That’s WellSpring’s history in a nutshell. The overall story of our church is exciting. But the personal stories within our church are even more amazing and important…stories of marriages rescued, addictions broken, lives changed, and eternities altered.
Our Mission
A lot’s changed at WellSpring over the years. But our mission, “Helping people follow Jesus,” has remained the same. Pretty much everything we do lines up with that stated purpose. We help people follow Jesus by encouraging folks to find family, know God, discover purpose, and make an impact. Our LifeTrack provides a fantastic overview of each step—learn more or sign up here!
Our Beliefs
People at WellSpring come from all kinds of church backgrounds…and from no church background at all! We may not all agree on everything. In fact, we probably won’t. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t worship together and help people follow Jesus.
We allow a lot of freedom. But we also recognize that there are some core issues on which we all need to agree. Here are four foundational truths that summarize our core beliefs:
1
Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
2
God is love.
3
With the Holy Spirit inside of us, we’ll bring life, grace, and truth to the world.
4
The Bible is right.
Want a deeper dive on our beliefs?
Ed Baynes
Facilities
The Baynes family has been a part of WellSpring since the summer of 2005. Ed leads a team dedicated to keeping our WellSpring building safe, comfortable, and looking its best.
Rob Bohnenkamp
Student Minister
Rob’s a proud graduate of Cincinnati Christian University. He isn’t crazy about hugs from total strangers. But he LOVES his wife Corinne, their dogs Odin and Luna, and urging students to follow Jesus.
Keith Buddemeyer
Care & Missions Minister
Keith hails from the Corncob Pipe Capital of the World, and he’s been married to Shari (his high school sweetheart) since 1983. On staff here since 2011, Keith focuses on pastoral care, missions, and ministry to senior adults.
Sully Cook
Worship Arts Production
Sully is married to Melissa, our NextGen Minister (he’s the calm, steady one). He’s a fantastic drummer, and he takes care of the behind-the-scenes production tasks that make our worship services the best they can be.
Kelly Garrison
Graphics Coordinator
Kelly has been on staff since 2007, serving as an Administrative Assistant, the Director of Etc., and now our Graphics Coordinator. She, her husband Jon, and their two boys (Isaiah and Noah) recently moved back to Spring Hill from Lake Worth, Florida. Kelly enjoys songwriting and leading worship.
Christy Guthrie
Financial Coordinator
Christy ensures that our financial offerings are counted safely and confidentially. She despises janky restaurants and loves traveling with her husband Bruce.
Amy Hudelson
Operations & Accounting Director
In addition to keeping Andy in line (no small task!), Amy keeps WellSpring’s operations and accounts in order. She’s a mother to four girls and an accountant!
Andy Hudelson
Senior Minister
Andy graduated from Johnson University in 1995 and helped launch WellSpring in 2003. He and his wife Amy have four daughters: Lauren, Emily, Arica, and Kara. Andy loves working outside and is passionate about WellSpring being a place where it’s safe to explore what it means to follow Jesus.
Emily Hudelson
Children's Minister
Since her youth, Emily knew without a doubt that she wanted to be a Children’s Minister. Having graduated from Johnson University with a Children’s Ministry degree, she returned to WellSpring to help kids follow Jesus. She laughs a lot and loves iced coffee.
Karen Jones
Administrative Support
Karen feels equally at home in the office or at her daughter’s cheer competitions. If we need something faxed, phoned, or filed, she makes it happen!
Alicia Lubbers
Connections Support
The Lubbers family came to WellSpring in 2020 by way of Savannah, GA. Alicia’s passionate about helping people follow Jesus, and it’s evident by how she serves and leads in our worship, women’s, and LifeGroup ministries.
Traci McDuffie
Office Manager
Traci’s been a part of the WellSpring family since May of 2016. She was a homeschooling mom for 25 years (!); you’ll now find her leading our “First Team” on Sundays and keeping our office running smoothly during the week.
Gabe Warden
Connections & Discipleship Minister
Gabe was born and raised in “K-Town”—Knoxville, TN. He’s glad to have been born into a ministry family that loves the Tennessee Volunteers. After graduating from Johnson University, he moved to Spring Hill to continue ministry, seeking to help grow a community of spiritual leaders.
Elders
This team provides spiritual oversight, guidance, and direction for our church.
Larry Gill
The Gills have been a part of WellSpring since 2011; Larry became an elder in October of 2017. You can find them during the week volunteering around our office. During our Sunday worship services, you’ll often see them helping out our First Team.
Dan Jones
Dan and his wife, Barb, have been a part of WellSpring since 2015; he became an elder in late 2021. Dan helps lead our Set Up and Tear Down team, and he also helps out as usher during our Sunday worship services.
Mark McGarrity
The McGarritys have been WellSpringers since 2013; he became an elder in 2021. Mark serves as a worship leader during our Sunday services, and he leads a LifeGroup with his wife Jennifer.
Jud Roper
Jud became an elder in 2021, and the Ropers have been WellSpringers since they moved here in 2015. Jud serves on our financial team, volunteers on our safety team, is a “cheer dad” to two daughters, and uses his Seinfeld trivia knowledge to impress his wife, Casey.