A New Season for Wednesday Nights
Eleven years ago, John Wesley began a new Wednesday night rhythm built around a simple idea: gather around a meal, connect together around scripture, and create a place in the middle of the week where kids, students and adults could grow in their faith.
And God has used it faithfully.
Over those years, friendships have been formed, scripture has been studied, children have grown up in the church, and countless people have taken important steps in their relationship with Jesus. Wednesday nights have been an important spiritual growth mechanism for our church, and we celebrate what God has done through them.
But one of the lessons I’ve learned about discipleship is this: Methods change. Schedules change. Communities change. The seasons of people’s lives change. But the mission never changes.
At John Wesley, that mission remains beautifully simple: Connecting People to Jesus.
So the question I have been asking myself and your staff is: “How can Wednesday nights help even more people stay connected or take their next step toward Jesus?”
In recent years, I've increasingly sensed that John Wesley needs to create more opportunities to connect with the community around us. We want to be a church that helps people navigate real life, speaks biblical truth into the real-life questions people are asking, and creates places where someone who may not yet have a church home can comfortably walk through our doors.
At the same time, life rhythms have changed. Young families are navigating school, sports, homework, and complicated schedules. Working adults may not be able to make the same commitment every Wednesday. Retirees want meaningful opportunities for connection and spiritual growth without necessarily committing to another weekly class. And there are still people who want a consistent weekly or biweekly place to study scripture and build deep relationships.
How do we create room for all of them?
That question has led us through an extended season of discernment, prayer, conversation, and planning. Our staff has spent significant time looking at what is working, what could work better, and how we can more effectively fulfill our mission.
We also listened to you. This Spring, we surveyed the congregation about Wednesday nights. Your responses helped confirm some things we were already sensing while giving us new ideas about what people need in this season. Out of that process comes a newly envisioned Wednesday night rhythm.
We’re Creating More Pathways into Discipleship
Instead of asking everyone to participate in the same Wednesday night experience every week, we’re creating a variety of intentional discipleship environments throughout the year.
There will be Bible Study seasons where students and adults journey through Scripture together. There will be Worship Nights bringing neighbors and generations together for music, prayer, bible study, and the presence of God.
We’re launching Real Questions, a new environment where people can bring honest questions about faith, life, culture, and Scripture into thoughtful, grace-filled conversation.
In the Spring, you will hear about Fresh Encounters will create space for soul care and renewal. Our successful MomCo ministry will continue creating community for moms. Our children will grow through JW Kids Music & Worship and JW Kids Connection, while our student ministry continues developing its Life Group model for relational discipleship.
We’re placing renewed emphasis on adult Life Groups. For those who desire a consistent weekly, biweekly, or monthly rhythm of scripture, relationships, prayer, and discipleship, Life Groups provide that opportunity. New groups will continue forming throughout the year.
The mission and vision are the same. The goal will continue to be: some people connecting through a four-week Bible study. Someone else may first walk through our doors because a friend invited them to Real Questions. Another person may encounter God at a Worship Night. A young mother may discover community through MomCo. Someone wanting deeper relationships may join a Life Group.
Different gatherings. Different rhythms. One purpose.
Connecting People to Jesus.
There’s another important reason for this change. We want Wednesday nights to become one of the easiest places at John Wesley to invite someone. One of the greatest gifts you can give another person is an invitation. Think about who invited you—to church, to a Bible study, to worship, or simply into a conversation that helped you discover something about God. Those invitations can become turning points in people’s lives. So we’re intentionally creating gatherings where you can easily say:
“We’re having a Worship Night Wednesday. Come with me.”
“We’re starting a four-week Bible study. Want to do it together?”
“Our church is having a night where people can ask real questions about faith and life. I think you’d enjoy it.”
We want Wednesday nights to serve those who already call John Wesley home and become a front door for people in our community who don’t yet.
Programs are vehicles through which something much greater can happen: A person connects to Jesus. That’s why we can’t become so attached to a particular way of doing ministry that we lose sight of why we began doing it in the first place.
People come alive when they encounter Christ through Scripture, worship, prayer, authentic relationships, honest conversations, and a community that genuinely cares. That’s what we want Wednesday nights to be about. We’re taking everything we’ve learned over the past eleven years and building upon it—creating a new rhythm of discipleship that is biblical, relational, intergenerational, invitational, and accessible to more people.
I know change can sometimes feel uncomfortable. But honoring the past doesn’t require us to recreate it forever. We can be profoundly grateful for what God has done while remaining open to what God wants to do next. Methods can change. The mission does not.
So as we begin this new season, I’m asking you to do more than attend.
Invite someone.
Pray for someone.
Welcome someone.
Walk alongside someone.
Help someone discover the light of Christ.
My prayer is that years from now we will look back on this season and see people who are part of John Wesley—and part of the Kingdom of God—because we were willing to create a place for them and someone cared enough to say: “Come with me.”
Let’s help our community connect to Jesus.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Marty Dunbar
Senior Pastor
CLICK HERE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
And God has used it faithfully.
Over those years, friendships have been formed, scripture has been studied, children have grown up in the church, and countless people have taken important steps in their relationship with Jesus. Wednesday nights have been an important spiritual growth mechanism for our church, and we celebrate what God has done through them.
But one of the lessons I’ve learned about discipleship is this: Methods change. Schedules change. Communities change. The seasons of people’s lives change. But the mission never changes.
At John Wesley, that mission remains beautifully simple: Connecting People to Jesus.
So the question I have been asking myself and your staff is: “How can Wednesday nights help even more people stay connected or take their next step toward Jesus?”
In recent years, I've increasingly sensed that John Wesley needs to create more opportunities to connect with the community around us. We want to be a church that helps people navigate real life, speaks biblical truth into the real-life questions people are asking, and creates places where someone who may not yet have a church home can comfortably walk through our doors.
At the same time, life rhythms have changed. Young families are navigating school, sports, homework, and complicated schedules. Working adults may not be able to make the same commitment every Wednesday. Retirees want meaningful opportunities for connection and spiritual growth without necessarily committing to another weekly class. And there are still people who want a consistent weekly or biweekly place to study scripture and build deep relationships.
How do we create room for all of them?
That question has led us through an extended season of discernment, prayer, conversation, and planning. Our staff has spent significant time looking at what is working, what could work better, and how we can more effectively fulfill our mission.
We also listened to you. This Spring, we surveyed the congregation about Wednesday nights. Your responses helped confirm some things we were already sensing while giving us new ideas about what people need in this season. Out of that process comes a newly envisioned Wednesday night rhythm.
We’re Creating More Pathways into Discipleship
Instead of asking everyone to participate in the same Wednesday night experience every week, we’re creating a variety of intentional discipleship environments throughout the year.
There will be Bible Study seasons where students and adults journey through Scripture together. There will be Worship Nights bringing neighbors and generations together for music, prayer, bible study, and the presence of God.
We’re launching Real Questions, a new environment where people can bring honest questions about faith, life, culture, and Scripture into thoughtful, grace-filled conversation.
In the Spring, you will hear about Fresh Encounters will create space for soul care and renewal. Our successful MomCo ministry will continue creating community for moms. Our children will grow through JW Kids Music & Worship and JW Kids Connection, while our student ministry continues developing its Life Group model for relational discipleship.
We’re placing renewed emphasis on adult Life Groups. For those who desire a consistent weekly, biweekly, or monthly rhythm of scripture, relationships, prayer, and discipleship, Life Groups provide that opportunity. New groups will continue forming throughout the year.
The mission and vision are the same. The goal will continue to be: some people connecting through a four-week Bible study. Someone else may first walk through our doors because a friend invited them to Real Questions. Another person may encounter God at a Worship Night. A young mother may discover community through MomCo. Someone wanting deeper relationships may join a Life Group.
Different gatherings. Different rhythms. One purpose.
Connecting People to Jesus.
There’s another important reason for this change. We want Wednesday nights to become one of the easiest places at John Wesley to invite someone. One of the greatest gifts you can give another person is an invitation. Think about who invited you—to church, to a Bible study, to worship, or simply into a conversation that helped you discover something about God. Those invitations can become turning points in people’s lives. So we’re intentionally creating gatherings where you can easily say:
“We’re having a Worship Night Wednesday. Come with me.”
“We’re starting a four-week Bible study. Want to do it together?”
“Our church is having a night where people can ask real questions about faith and life. I think you’d enjoy it.”
We want Wednesday nights to serve those who already call John Wesley home and become a front door for people in our community who don’t yet.
Programs are vehicles through which something much greater can happen: A person connects to Jesus. That’s why we can’t become so attached to a particular way of doing ministry that we lose sight of why we began doing it in the first place.
People come alive when they encounter Christ through Scripture, worship, prayer, authentic relationships, honest conversations, and a community that genuinely cares. That’s what we want Wednesday nights to be about. We’re taking everything we’ve learned over the past eleven years and building upon it—creating a new rhythm of discipleship that is biblical, relational, intergenerational, invitational, and accessible to more people.
I know change can sometimes feel uncomfortable. But honoring the past doesn’t require us to recreate it forever. We can be profoundly grateful for what God has done while remaining open to what God wants to do next. Methods can change. The mission does not.
So as we begin this new season, I’m asking you to do more than attend.
Invite someone.
Pray for someone.
Welcome someone.
Walk alongside someone.
Help someone discover the light of Christ.
My prayer is that years from now we will look back on this season and see people who are part of John Wesley—and part of the Kingdom of God—because we were willing to create a place for them and someone cared enough to say: “Come with me.”
Let’s help our community connect to Jesus.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Marty Dunbar
Senior Pastor
CLICK HERE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHTS