Alum brings community wellness
Former defensive lineman Brad Bell gave up what he calls a stereotypical college life to be a pastor at a local church
Andrew Riggs / The Collegian
Brad Bell committed his life to Christ is 1993. He received his master’s in Biblical Studies from the Dallas Theological Seminary in 1999.
Below: The Well began as a college ministry and now serves the Fresno community.
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By Maria Miranda
The Collegian
USUALLY DRESSED in jeans and a polo shirt, Brad Bell’s 6’3” and 260-pound frame seems more equipped for the football field—until he opens his Bible.
As a pastor at The Well Community Church and a Fresno State alumnus, Bell is only conventional when it comes to scriptures.
“I’m not a typical pastor,” said 33-year-old Bell, an ex-Fresno State defense lineman and father of two. “I don’t feel confined to look or dress a particular way.”
He also doesn’t believe that a lot of secular music or biblical dramas are needed.
“I’m not a huge fan of institutionalized religion,” Bell said.
Instead, Bell wants to create what he calls a “sacred place” that is as real and unscripted as possible.
“I’ve been around enough places where you don’t feel you’re allowed to be human, where people put on religious smiles and come in and sit in their pretty clothes in their pretty church,” Bell said. “Life’s not pretty, it’s a mess. So let’s embrace the mess.”
Bell believes to embrace the mess is to accept people with all types of issues and baggage. That is why he chose to name the church The Well.
He explained that there is a story in the Book of John where Jesus meets a woman of ill repute at a well.
Bell said Jesus shows the woman grace, love and affirms her value while making sure to address her issues.
“That’s the kind of church I want to pastor,” Bell said. “We are going to be clear where the Bible is clear and scandalous in our grace.”
Despite Bell’s many progressive ideals, the services are still what Fresno State student Lance Reynolds calls simple but spiritual.
“Brad’s not showy at all, he teaches right out of the Bible,” said Reynolds, a senior communications major.
“He doesn’t feel the need to do anything spectacular. It’s very straight forward. That’s what really caught my eye about it.”
Reynolds added that when Bell wears jeans and a polo shirt it shows that he is just like everyone else.
“He’s a broken down individual just like the rest of us,” Reynolds said.
Bell’s wife Jen agrees.
“He’s very humble,” she said. “He’s the exact same guy Tuesday that he is on Sunday.”
For Bell, that humbleness comes from bad decisions made in his college years.
“I was living the stereotypical college life,” Bell said. “I lived in a fraternity and played football in an era where drinking was very common, drug use highly acceptable and opportunities were around every corner. I indulged in that life freely.”
Bell believes his past is what makes him so accessible to his congregation especially college students.
“I did the campus thing and there was a lack of hope in my life,” Bell said. “On the outside it probably looked like I had it all…but there was a piece missing.”
It was during his college years that Bell began what he termed his “faith journey.” In 1993 he attended a dinner at the Piccadilly Inn that changed his life.
“I went for free food and it turned into eternal life,” Bell said jokingly. “I heard what it was like to have a relationship with Christ and it changed my whole view.”
Since then Bell holds a soft spot for college students.
“There’s something about college students that absolutely lights my fire, just ignites who I am as a person,” Bell said. “They’re hungry and searching for something deeply and profoundly spiritual and aren’t impressed with the external.”
Katrina Sherfield, a senior and liberal studies major, agrees that college students attend The Well because they are searching for something.
“I think the reason there is such a large amount of college students is because they are desiring something more for their lives and to belong to something bigger than themselves,” Sherfield said. “The Well offers something real and gives true meaning to the idea of community.”
Bell holds the idea of religion through community very highly.
“We’re very committed to the idea that spiritual formation happens best in the context of relationships,” Bell said. “Few mature spiritually on their own.”
Reynolds said the idea is revolutionary.
“He really wants people to go to The Well to interact, so there’s a sense of community,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said much of that sense of community comes from Bell trading the word “us” for “you” during services.
“Brad’s not all high and mighty,” Reynolds said. “His way of teaching is like ‘hey I’m in this with you.’”
Bell said nobody’s perfect and he’s simply a blue-collar guy running a blue-collar church.
“I tell people often that if you knew what God knows about me, you’d probably lock the doors and throw me out,” Bell said.
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