“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.” Colossians 3:16a
Re-Discovering A Wesleyan Path of Spiritual Formation
Across The Wesleyan Church, Millennial and Gen Z Wesleyans are expressing a spiritual hunger. They are not asking for:
- Better branding
- Faster growth
- More efficient programming
They are seeking spiritual depth.
Younger Wesleyans are demonstrating an affinity for John Wesley’s “primitive Christianity”—a way of life that is ancient, embodied, disciplined, and communal. Some explore Orthodoxy or Catholicism, not because they have rejected Wesleyan theology, but because they are searching for a clear and trustworthy path of formation that takes holiness seriously.
The irony is this: much of what they are looking for already belongs to the Wesleyan tradition.
Over time, some of these treasures have been blurred—not through bad intentions, but through ministry models that were never designed to carry the full weight of Wesleyan theology.
As we enter a season of denominational discernment at General Conference 2026, here are five Wesleyan distinctives we can reclaim in order to thrive as a denomination.
1. Salvation as Healing of the Whole Person. From the beginning, Wesleyans have understood salvation as more than forgiveness alone. Human beings are not only guilty—we are wounded, disordered, and bound by sin and death. Grace, therefore, must do more than pardon; it must heal and restore.
John Wesley spoke of the “restoration of the image of God,” the renewal of holy affections, and the real possibility of hearts governed by love. Salvation was not merely a change in status, but a transformation of life.
When salvation is reduced to a single moment, discipleship easily becomes thin or optional. When salvation is understood as healing, discipleship becomes necessary, hopeful, and lifelong.
Thrive Question: Do the people in your church understand salvation as real transformation into holy love—or primarily as forgiveness of past sin?
2. Discipleship as Formation.Wesley never confused discipleship with the dissemination of information alone. While he valued sound teaching, he knew that ideas by themselves do not save—lives formed in grace do.
Through class meetings, bands, and shared rules of life, Wesley shaped habits, desires, and practices over time. Discipleship was relational, disciplined, and accountable.
This approach feels surprisingly ancient—and timely. Formation requires patience, mutual responsibility, and practices that shape not only what we think, but what we love. Eugene Peterson termed this as “A long obedience in the same direction”.
Thrive Question: Are your Church’s discipleship pathways forming people’s habits and loves—or primarily informing their thinking?
3. Holiness as Participation in God’s Life, Not Moral Performance.Wesleyan holiness is often misunderstood as spiritual intensity or moral pressure.In reality, Wesley taught holiness as participation in the life and love of God, made possible by grace and sustained through obedience.
Holiness is not self-generated, nor is it measured by momentary spiritual highs. It is tested over time—by humility, endurance, love of neighbor, and faithfulness in ordinary life.
Rightly understood, holiness is not a performance. It is a healed capacity to love freely.
Thrive Question: Is holiness in your church framed as participation in God’s life—or as pressure to perform spiritually?
4. The Church as a Formative Community.Wesley insisted that,“the gospel of Christ knows of no religion but social; no holiness but social holiness.” Christianity was never meant to be private, consumer-driven, or detached from community.
The Church, for Wesley, was a formative body—a place where grace was practiced, confessed, encouraged, and lived together.
When success is measured primarily by attendance, budgets, or speed of growth, formation inevitably suffers. Wesley built a movement by cultivating resilient communities of disciplined grace.
Thrive Question: Does your church function primarily as a provider of religious goods—or as a community that forms people into Christlikeness?
5. Success Measured by Faithfulness Over Time.Perhaps themost subtle drift has occurred here. When quantifying success by contemporary measures (“Return on Investment/R.O.I., or Nickels and Noses Metrics) we easily value viability over virtue, efficiency over depth, and outcomes over formation. Wesley measured success differently—by lives shaped over time, obedience sustained through difficulty, and love that endured.
This long view resonates deeply with younger Wesleyans who are weary of the hype and are longing for a faith that lasts.
Thrive Question: What would change if success in your ministry were measured primarily by long-term faithfulness and holiness?
The Wesleyan Church does not need to become something else. We do not need to borrow from every passing trend.
We need to become ourselves again. We need to become profoundly Wesleyan again.
When we recover our confidence that grace truly heals, that the Church truly forms, and that holiness is both possible and beautiful, we offer something our younger generations are desperately seeking: a clear, ancient, grace-filled path of formation into holy love.
References / Footnotes
Watson, Kevin M. The Class Meeting: Reclaiming a Forgotten (and Essential) Small Group Experience. Seedbed Publishing, 2013.
Wesley, John. “On Perfection.” The Sermons of John Wesley, 1872 edition, The Wesley Center Online, Wesley Seminary, wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-76-on-perfection/.
Wesley, John. “Original Sin.” The Sermons of John Wesley, 1872 edition, The Wesley Center Online, Wesley Seminary, wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-44-original-sin/.
Intellectual contributor: Dr. Eric Hallet
Executive editor: Johanna Chacon Rugh
Curator of content: Carla Working
