Wellspring Covenant Church sits in a quiet commercial stretch of Iwaena Street in Aiea, on the island of Oʻahu, where it has been gathering for worship since its first official service in September 2001. The church began in the living room of Dale and Beverly Vallejo-Sanderson, where four pastor friends - Dale Vallejo-Sanderson, Randy Furushima, Mary Ellen Azada, and Gerald Chinen - met on Sunday mornings to prayerfully study what it meant to be God's people in community. Within months, others began showing up, including people who had been hurt or frustrated by other churches, and the group outgrew the home and leased space on Iwaena Street in nearby Halawa. From the start, the community has been shaped by a desire for genuine, real relationships across the kinds of differences that often divide churches, and it carries that spirit into the present-day worship held each Sunday morning at 9:30 AM in Suite B of the Iwaena Street address.
A Sunday at Wellspring
A Sunday at Wellspring is intentionally relaxed and welcoming. The service typically includes a few songs sung together (with space for those who would rather simply listen), a short time of prayer or reflection, a time of greeting and connection, an open and caring engagement with scripture, and a message grounded in what the community names as Jesus' love, justice, and liberation. The morning is usually wrapped up before 11:00 AM. On the first Sunday of the month, the congregation shares in Communion together; on the last Sunday, a potluck meal follows the service, with everyone welcome at the table whether or not they brought a dish. The community describes itself as smallish, casual, and rooted in love, honesty, and hope, with an open welcome to people walking through joy or struggle, or both at once.
For first-time visitors, the practical details are simple. The sanctuary is air-conditioned, an all-access bathroom is available, and calm, well-behaved emotional support dogs are welcome in the worship space. People are invited to dress comfortably, with most arriving in whatever they would wear to the park or a coffee shop. The community is explicit that no church background is required; those who have never attended a service, or who have been away for a long time, are told they do not need to know the right words or be certain of anything to show up. A recurring line from the community captures the welcome: "You are the beloved. You are the beloved. You are the beloved."
Keiki Church and Families
Families worship together at the start of the service. Children middle school and under can be checked in before worship begins, stay with their grown-ups for the first portion of the service, and then head out with leaders after the greeting time for Keiki Church - a formative, engaging space just for them with stories, crafts, and time with peers. The keiki ministry has names for its age groups: Puddle Jumpers (0 to 4) and Wavemakers (5 to 10). Seasonal worship home kits and interactive Sunday worksheets are offered so children can grow in fun and friendship whether they are present in person or joining from home.
The Pastoral Team
The pastoral team reflects the church's longstanding commitment to shared leadership. The lead pastor is the Rev. Rebecca Stringer, who has been part of the Wellspring ʻohana since 2018. Raised in the Philippines as a missionary kid, she studied at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, earned a Bachelor of Music from Wheaton College, and completed her Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church and has walked through what she describes as deconstruction and reconstruction in her own faith, completing five units of hospital chaplaincy training. She is married to the Rev. Dan Stringer.
Dan Stringer serves as Wellspring's volunteer Pastor of Theological Formation. Born on Oʻahu, raised in Mililani, and shaped by his parents' work as medical missionaries, he grew up across DR Congo, Nepal, and the Philippines. He studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Seminary, and UH Mānoa, and during the week serves as Team Leader for InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries in Hawaiʻi. He is the author of Struggling with Evangelicalism: Why I Want to Leave and What It Takes to Stay, and at Wellspring he teaches Wavemakers, guides Wayfinders discussions, encourages men's ministry, serves on the preaching team, and occasionally sits behind the drums on the worship team.
Pastor Cheryl Takabayashi serves as Pastor of Wellness and Oneness. Born and raised in Hawaiʻi and a graduate of Punahou School, she holds an undergraduate double degree in Political Science and Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Washington, a Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University School of Law, a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University, and a Master of Arts in Christian Formation from North Park Seminary. She continues to practice law in Hawaiʻi, specializing in estate planning, while serving on the pastoral team. The Wellspring community notes that it has always had at least one woman on the pastoral team, often more than one.
Kelsey Kim serves as Keiki and Next Generation Formation Lead. Born and raised in Honolulu and a graduate of Kalani High School, she holds a double degree in Community Health Education and School Health Education from Portland State University, a 200-hour yoga teaching certificate, and a 24/7 International Leadership Pathway certification. After years of volunteer ministry in Portland, she moved back to Honolulu in 2020 and found in Wellspring a place to simply be. She now shapes the children's and youth ministries with the conviction that young people need to know God is with them, which gives them strength to do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly.
Wayfinders: Middle School and High School Youth
Wellspring's youth ministry, called Wayfinders, welcomes students in grades 6 through 12 who have questions about life or about how best to live in the world. The community values what it calls genuine belonging and believing, and offers a weekly Middle School Zoom class and a High School youth mentorship ministry. From time to time the youth gather for dinners and outings at the homes of leaders and church families, giving teenagers space for games, food, and honest conversation.
Small Groups, Classes, and Discipleship
Alongside the children's and youth ministries, the church sustains a rich network of small groups and classes. Wellspring's small groups are typically four to eight people who gather via Zoom for sharing, prayer, and discussion of the previous Sunday's sermon. The pastors help match newcomers to a group that fits their current needs. Women of Wellspring (WOW) meets regularly to journey together through the joys and struggles of becoming the person God created them to be, and Men of Wellspring gathers for fellowship, encouraging men toward lives of character and commitment. Periodic classes have included studies through the books of Mark, I and II Peter, and Colossians. Much of the congregation has walked together through Pete Scazzero's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality discipleship training, which the church also offers to the wider community through the Bible Institute of Hawaiʻi.
From a Living Room to Iwaena Street
Wellspring's story is honest about its seasons of rupture. After a painful internal disagreement in 2010, the community committed itself to becoming emotionally healthy disciples of Jesus. In the decade that followed, many in the church worked through Scazzero's training, seeking to let the light of God's healing and empowerment into every area of their personal and common life - how they care for one another and for their neighbor. The community is open about the fact that it is not perfect, and the commitment to character and formation over productivity and service is part of how it invites visitors into its life.
The church's theological commitments are described in lead pastor Rebecca Stringer's own terms: a God who hears our cries and stays near to the brokenhearted, inviting the community into a story of liberation, healing, and hope, not someday, but here and now. The church describes itself as a place where people can bring their whole selves - whether holding onto faith by a thread, recovering from burnout, or simply curious.
What Wellspring Values
Wellspring holds to five core values it names with simple initials: Biblical, Devotional, Missional, Connectional, and Transformational. These names are commitments more than slogans - to be shaped by the mind of God, to nurture an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, to live compelled by the purposes of God with compassionate evangelism for lost and broken people, to learn the joy of being influenced by and influencing each other as the family of God, and to develop and release one another to the fullest extent of the qualities, gifts, abilities, and purposes God has for each person.
The Evangelical Covenant Church
As a member congregation of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), Wellspring also holds to the denomination's historic affirmations: the centrality of the Word of God, the necessity of the new birth, a commitment to the whole mission of the church, the church as a fellowship of believers, a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit, and the reality of freedom in Christ. The ECC's mission priorities - starting and strengthening churches, making and deepening disciples, developing leaders, loving mercy and doing justice, and serving globally - shape Wellspring's own outreach and care for the wider community.
Recurring Rhythms Beyond Sunday
A few regular rhythms give the church life beyond Sunday morning. Each first Monday, Wellspring joins InterVarsity Hawaiʻi for Pule no ka Wai (Prayer for our Water), an hour of interceding for the healing, protection, and cleansing of water. The Men of Wellspring Dinner Gathering meets monthly for food and fellowship, usually on a Friday evening at the church. FriYAY Connection opens the homes of families with young children to one another for pool time and adult conversation. Shell We Gather events bring the broader community together at the church for relaxed social time. From time to time the church holds a Wellspring Town Hall Meeting after Sunday services to open its planning to its members, and an annual meeting each year for shared governance.
Online Worship and Staying Connected
For those who cannot be in the building, the Sunday service is livestreamed on YouTube at 9:30 AM, and recordings remain available afterward. Sermon notes for the week are posted online as downloadable PDFs for personal study, and the sermons are also released as a podcast on Apple Podcasts. Wellspring stays connected with its people through a weekly email newsletter called the Wellspring Weekly Connection, and through social channels on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. Giving is available online, and visitors can reach out with prayer requests, contact information updates, or to introduce themselves through the connect page.
A Place to Belong
Whether someone visits once or twice, or eventually joins the family of friends pursuing the way of Jesus and the mission of God together, the church's prayer for them is the same: that they would grow in God's grace, truth, and kindness as people who are growing whole.