the times, they are a changin'

If you haven't been by lately, or haven't heard, Wesley is changing things up a bit. Council has been having conversations about this for a while and we all agreed (to some degree) that Wesley needs to change. We feel that the spirit of Wesley has been lost and that we as a faith community are stuck in a club routine. It also feels like Jesus is not as present at Wesley as he used to be.

Don't get us wrong, we do some amazing things at Wesley and there are somethings that are going really well like Spring Break missions trips, Brother 2 Brother and Sister 2 Sister, plus our new addition of Wesley 2 Wesley. But in other areas we are stuck in the 50 year old Wesley pattern. People aren't showing up to social events, nor to Bible study. Some people aren't feeling the connections and sense of community that use to be present (and some still are).

So our discussion has been about what is it that we are looking for in a faith community and how to we transform Wesley into a better faith community, taking what we have that is going well and making it better. The big pattern that is emerging is a desire for missions and passionate worship. Young adults today are yearning to serve others and figure out where they are heading/what is their calling. And the other big theme is real community, interacting with people on a deeper level.

So what has been proposed is a new Wesley. It's still in an abstract form and there are lots of questions unanswered, but here it is. We want to provide opportunities for service and mission as the door to get young adults into the faith community and combine that with powerful and passionate worship and deep connections within small groups.

So what are your questions? What do you like and what don't you like? What are problems you see and what are potential benefits? Basically, we want to know your thoughts!