Welcome back to Part 3 of Wesley the Warm-Hearted Waindeer! When John and Charles Wesley formed the Holy Club, they never intended to begin a breakaway denomination.  They were a group of young thirty-somethings wanting to see what their Christian faith looked like when lived like the early church in Acts 2:42-47.

The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles.All the believers were united and shared everything.They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them.Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity.They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.

The Oxford Methodists would go on to try out their model of small groups and a disciplined spiritual life in other communities, eventually becoming the Methodist movement in England and abroad. Each leader brought different gifts to the movement. George Whitefield instilled passionate field-preaching to the masses. Charles Wesley brought new hymns to inspire a heart moved in worship. And John Wesley brought OCD levels of organization to help sustain the movement beyond the moment.

Good organization is essential to sustain and connect people across space and time. AND it is so easy for good organization to morph into micro management, or into the red tape of bureaucracy. This holiday season, as you and your church reflect on the meaning behind the movement, I invite you to find some humor and grace in your life together.