Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! As we prepare to begin the Spring 2010 semester here at the Wesley I wanted to share a letter with each of you that will be shared with the entire Oklahoma Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Before I do so though, I want you to know that our Costa Rica Mission team, led by my wonderful co-workers, Janey Wilson and Taylor Clark, returned safely on Monday evening, January 11. They had a wonderful trip and were able to help build a playground for children on the outskirts of San Jose. They did some great work, met many wonderful new friends, shared the love of Christ, and were very blessed throughout the process. They send their words of thanks for your prayers and support. Be sure to see the pictures of the trip under the letter.
Also, please keep us in your prayers as the new semester begins and our first worship service is held on Tuesday, January 19! |
Open Letter to the 2010 Annual Conference
In the 1970s Leroy Eims wrote a book called the Lost Art of Disciple Making. In Eims' book a young man tells him nothing brings him greater joy then leading someone to Christ. Mr. Eims responds, "I know of something even greater than that." The young man responds, "Really, what?" Mr. Eims responds, "When a person you have led to Christ grows and develops into a dedicated, fruitful, mature disciple who then goes on to lead others to Christ."
As we begin a new decade, searching for new and innovative ways to reach a younger and more diverse group of new disciples, I believe much of what Mr. Eims wrote over 30 years ago is still vitally applicable to our mission as United Methodists. We pull out all the bells and whistles, spend $1,000s on ground-breaking marketing strategies, have the best technology, but without effectively mastering the art of discipleship, we fail to reach a younger and more diverse population. It has become abundantly clear to me that young people have grown up hearing the term, "make disciples," but have no idea how to do it.
We have always been committed to making disciples at the OU Wesley, but in 2010 we are refocusing our priorities and expectations of a Wesley student leadership member. Our number one task will be training them to be disciples and disciple makers. Every individual on our leadership team will be equipped and then expected to be in an active discipleship relationship with someone that has never had a relationship with Jesus Christ. If 20 young people can make and train 20 new disciples in 2010, we will have 40 people that can make and train 40 disciples in 2011, so that in 2012 we will have 80, and on and on this process goes. This is the same model established by the first century church, the same model John Wesley used, the same model Leroy Eims described in the 1970s, and the same one that will lead our ministry into a new decade.
Part of being committed to discipleship is having a balanced ministry with a place for every student regardless of where they are in their journey. We fulfilled this in 2009 by leading 25 different small groups that included Bible studies and accountability groups, fellowship groups, mission groups, musical groups, and others. It's also important to have one large corporate gathering to bring the entire body together and we do this every Tuesday evening at worship. In 2009 we had over 400 different students attend worship and celebrate Communion and of those students, over 250 were involved in a small group.
Our commitment to the annual conference is to continue being good stewards with the resources with which we are blessed and to continue building a ministry that focuses on making disciples and training up young people to serve the local church when they graduate. Thank you for your faithful support and for being partners with us in ministry at OU.
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Announcements
1215 Club - Make 2010 the year you give back to the Wesley. See okwesley.org/1215Club for more information.
Jurisdictional Retreat - The Wesley will once again be hosting the jurisdictional campus ministry retreat from February 19-21 at Crosspoint camp for Wesley Foundations from all over the region.
Bedlam Bash (OU/OSU women's basketball) - Join us March 7 at the OU Wesley at 2 p.m. All youth groups and sponsors from across the state are invited!
Alumni Vespers - All alumni of the OU Wesley are invited to worship with us on Tuesday, April 6 at 9 p.m.
If you have questions about any of these announcements please contact Daniel at Daniel@OKWesley.org.
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