ETSU WESLEY FOUNDATION
The East Tennessee State Wesley Foundation is the United Methodist campus ministry where Christ’s love is evident through the great excitement, joy, and overflowing participation of each student.
Mission Statement
To provide a safe Christian community that encourages spiritual and personal growth as students pursue God’s call.
About Us
We are a body of students who meet together to fellowship and have fun together and grow in faith with one another. We have weekly activities. Some of the programming is as follows:
Tuesday Night
Every Tuesday, we eat dinner at 5:30pm. The cost is $3, but your first time is FREE! Following this, we meet together in small groups called prayer groups. These groups allow new members to get to know a group better, one person at time, and allow old members to renew friendships and keep in touch with everyone. Following prayer groups is Worship, which begins approximately at 7:00pm. At worship, we sing contemporary worship songs led by our praise band. Next is an offeratory, offered by a student. This can be a song, dance, drama, puppet show, story, or anything else desired to be shared. After this is a devotion, also given by a student. This sermonette allows us students to express anything that God has placed on our hearts to share with our peers. Finally, the evening concludes with Communion every Tuesday. Our director and pastor, Jerry Everley, leads us in this. This quiet time can bring focus for the whole week. The evening ends with the United Methodist Youth benediction, “May the Lord Bless You and Keep You…” We are usually finished by 8:00pm or so, and this Tuesday night service is central to the Wesley Foundation at ETSU.
Wednesday Lunch in the Cave
11:30 to 1:00pm we eat lunch together in the Cave at ETSU. This past semester, the Cave underwent renovation, and we met in the Atrium. However, if the Cave is open, we will eat in there. Regardless, you’ll still find us calling it “Lunch in the Cave!” Bring a lunch, buy a lunch, or just come to chat, but come as you are and have a cookie every Wednesday with Wesley!
Wednesday Bible Study
4pm – 5pm is Bible Study. The director, Jerry Everley, leads us in this study. Fall 2007 we will study the book of Genesis, covering some major memorable biblical stories.
Other Events
We go on retreats (including Divine Rhythm, the big-kid version of Resurrection or Warmth-in-the-Winter), bike-riding, watch tv together, swing on the porch swings of Wesley together, study together, cook together, and many other things. We have wireless internet at the Wesley Foundation, so if you need a break from the dorms, bring your laptop and hang out with the bigscreen tv and enjoy the wireless at Wesley!!! We also do mission work, including at least one week-long trip at the end of the school year. We do local missions, including feeding the homeless or working with the disadvantaged. We also have fund-raisers, including a barb-b-que and auction and others, throughout the year.