The Wellspring Community is an Australia-wide Christian ecumenical community.
We aim to create a space where spirituality and justice meet, to deepen our relationship with God, to care for the earth, to foster the growth of an Australian spirituality and practise peace including working for a just relationship between First Nations communities and the later comers.
We are an ecumenical community, seeking to offer hospitality of the heart and inclusion to people of all cultures, faith traditions and LGBTQ IA+ identities.
We respect, value, and learn from different traditions and other faiths.
We are involved in prayer and politics. We work and advocate with like-minded people and groups in both our local areas and the wider world for a more just, peaceful and equal society and a more sustainable way of living. We are inspired by the Celtic creation Spirituality of the Iona Community in Scotland.
Our Rule
Wellspring Community members are committed to transformation of our relationship with God as revealed in Christ, with ourselves, with our communities, with society, with cultures and creation. To further our commitment, Wellspring has a pattern of life which guides our living. Some First Nation leaders call such a pattern "A right way of living before God". In earlier periods of Western history monastic communities called their Pattern of Life their "Rule" e.g., the Rule of St Benedict or Columba. Ours' is a simpler pattern. In joining Wellspring, members express a broad agreement with the Pattern of Life or Rule of the Community, and acknowledge that living by this Pattern of Life or being guided by it, is a worthy goal.
The Wellspring Pattern of Life, or Rule, involves:
seeking to be open to the creative spirit of God in all of life as we each are led.
living as an open and loving follower of Christ
using the Prayer Diary and praying regularly for members
being involved in compassionate prayer and action for peace and justice
living simply and treading lightly on the earth
connecting regularly with a Wellspring Community group or with another Community member
contributing financially to the Wellspring Community
Our Aims
to be a space where spirituality and justice meet,
to foster the growth of an Australian Christian Spirituality,
to deepen our relationship with God,
to care for the earth,
practise peace
work for a just relationship between First Nations communities and the later comers
We are an inclusive community which seeks to offer hospitality to all cultures, gender identities and faith traditions.
We respect, value, and learn from different Christian traditions and other faiths.
We are involved in prayer and politics. We work and advocate with like-minded people and groups in both our local areas and the wider world for a more just, peaceful and equal society and a more sustainable way of living.
We are inspired by the Iona Community in Scotland.
We believe that politics and economics are essential areas for Christians to be involved. We are committed to seeking a new, just economic order. Like the Iona Community we seek to rebuild the common life, bringing together work and worship, prayer and politics, sacred and secular, both globally and in our local community.
You can download The Wellspring Community of Australia - An Introduction 16 page booklet for free here by clicking on the image above.
Mutual Agreement between the Wellspring Community and the Iona Community. 2025 and 2026
Shared Story and Values
The Wellspring Community and the Iona Community recognize a shared history, and a current alignment of values, practices and membership. Both are ecumenical spiritual communities committed to the outworking of justice and peace and the renewal of worship.
Friendship and relationships have been nurtured between these two communities over years, most recently with the 2023 Creation Care pilgrimage. The synergies are real. The passion for justice and peace, rooted in faith is profound. This agreement seeks to build on the depth of relationship in order to strengthen our work for justice and peace.
2. Deepening work for justice and peace
The Wellspring Community Areas of Concern and the Iona Community Common Concern Networks share themes, and a passion for advocacy.
The communities will benefit from sharing support, stories, and strategies which have worked for radical change. It is recommended that up to three meetings per year be held on line with advocates from both communities, starting with CCN Moderators/AofC leaders in most deeply aligned areas. The purpose of these meetings will be information sharing, cross-fertilization, inspiration, support. This could lead to joint action e.g
i. Crown Apology: The issues around a lack of treaty and an apology by the Crown for the impact of colonization (e.g. The frontier wars,) would be of great benefit in the work of healing divisions in Australia
ii. Climate Justice: following up the Creation Care pilgrimage of 2023, and focusing on the new Woodside co. gas fields on pristine coastline agreed to by Australian Government.
3. Communication
The leadership teams of both communities are encouraged to continue to meet regularly, to offer mutual support, and to follow opportunities for shared areas of work and inspiration as they emerge.
Members and staff of both communities are encouraged to follow each community across all social media feeds (Facebook, Instagram), and regularly to visit each other’s web-pages, sharing these links widely.
The communication officers/manager of each organization will endeavor to meet together regularly (e.g. twice a year) to build relationships in order to exchange news, cross-refer articles, share stories, consider joint campaigns.
Both communities will share links to each other’s websites and in appropriate publications e.g. Pipeline; Coracle magazine; prayer books; web-site.
We will mutually advertise each other at festivals and demonstrations e.g. Solas, Greenbelt, Glastonbury and other festivals.
4. Supporting a growing membership
Typically the Iona Community encourages any who enquire about joining the Iona Community who are resident in Australia, to join the Wellspring Community. Typically, the Wellspring Community encourages any enquirers from outside Australia to join a more local community e.g. the Iona Community, or Corrymeela Community.
We recongise that for some, membership of both communities is desirable and we’ll work to make this possible.
Where dual membership is sought, this is initially offered as Associate Membership of the Iona Community, and Membership of the Wellspring Community.
Existing Members/Associate Members of Iona or Wellspring, can join (as an AM of Iona Community, as a Member of Wellspring), for free for one year. For this trial period members will receive digital communications only. After that period, should anyone choose to join and pay, access to all benefits, including print materials would flow.
Benefits during this trial period include:
i. AMs of the Iona Community receive monthly eCoracle; are invited to join our Common Concern Networks, and can attend our monthly online worship which includes time for social gathering and breakout rooms.
ii. Members of Wellspring receive regular e news and can join the Wednesdays with Wellspring gatherings which also act as a getting to know you and a support space through the breakout rooms.
After one year, all are welcome to join and pay for Associate Membership (Iona Community) or Membership (Wellspring). Anyone seeking deeper membership of the Iona Community is welcome to talk with the Leader of the Iona Community.
5. Trial Period and Evaluation/Administration
This Agreement will be in place from 01/10/2025 - 31/12/2026 with a review taking place in the first half of 2026.
Monetary functioning of The Agreement to be managed by Warren Talbot, Wellspring Administrator and Robin McLean, Head of Community Resources, Iona Community.
Approved by the Trustees of the Iona Community and the Wellspring Community
September 2025
The Uluru Statement from the Heart
From our members whose ancestors have been in this land for countless years and those who have come more recently.
“The Voice to Parliament, Treaty and treaties, and a National Truth-Telling Commission, are the three central calls of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart and are a heartfelt plea from Aboriginal and Torres Strait people to the nation of Australia, from the depths of their powerlessness. The Uluru Statement from the Heart offers later comers a moral and ethical way to face our racist history of oppression and dispossession and move forward together. Justice for creation and First Nations people requires a re-alignment of the dominant western culture. The referendum on the Voice is a watershed moment, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to begin healing for our nation and our land.”
CLICK HERE to continue reading the Uluru Statement of the Heart Wellspring comment.
Our Logo
The windmill symbolises the Wellspring Community. An Australian icon, the windmill expresses our desire to live an Australian Christian faith that is integral to our culture and environment.
A windmill is wind driven. The blades of the windmill, the men and women of the Community, are impelled by the wind of God. A circular rim, expressing the unity of the Community, connects the blades to each other and the mill itself. The rim evokes the circle in the Celtic cross, the circle of eternity, the Alpha and the Omega, the globe of the earth, and the centrality of Christ.
We rotate with purpose. We connect to the land. We draw Jesus' life-giving water from the vast aquifers in the depths of this ancient land. From this eternal wellspring, water gushes to fill the troughs, tanks, and wells sometimes to sustain the flourishing life of a rugged land and at other times to transform life in a harsh, arid and occasionally degraded environment.
The Windmill Image
Our Publication - PIPELINE
Our quarterly publication provides stimulating articles on spirituality, justice, creation and faith. Find out the latest news and information about our community.
Please note that we share our name with other similarly-named organisations in Australia and throughout the world. Many of these share things in common with us - including the Christian faith and the Christian metaphor used in Scripture that inspires the name “Wellspring” - but they are distinct organisations. Our community is inspired by The Iona Community in the U.K. and has much in common with that community.
