The History of the Wesley Foundation

Space for Grace

10 years ago...

Foundation was a member of the Ecumenical Center, 680 S. Florence. Our partners were Catholic Campus Ministry, Episcopal Campus Ministry, United Ministries (which included Disciples, Christian Church, some
branch of Lutherans and one other small denomination).

The Ec Center building needed some major repairs and was causing some issues.

The Wesley membership has 6 students. I was appointed to Wesley and as pastor at Mt. Carmel UMC. Along with that I was volunteering as Director of Youth ministry for MO West Conference. Six month later, in January the appointment changed and I was made the paid Director of Youth Ministry as well as Director of Wesley. The church was taken off the Charge. We took my pay package and divided it so we could hire an assistant.

8 years ago...

In the next two years the group grew from 6 to 35. The building issues were still causing some friction between the four partners. With the increased size of the Catholics and Wesley we were also have space issues in trying to get everything done and accommodate all the groups and their events. Wesley went to Grace UMC and asked if we could use their basement. They agreed and Wesley started meeting at Grace for Sunday Supper and Bible Study. It was then that we offered our first Disciple Bible Study. We had 15 members that continued through the entire study.

One night at Disciple BS two of the girls had been in some conflicting situations with roommates. They asked during our joys and concerns if Wesley had ever thought about having a House of their own. We discussed what the benefits and the vision of a Wesley House would look like. The discussion continued at Disciple for the next two weeks. After considerable discussion and prayer we decided to take it to the Board. The issues of the Ec Center repairs, the issue of students looking for a Christian environment to live and study, the issues of our group outgrowing the Center were all presented. The Board was asked to discuss it among themselves, take some time to talk to the Director and students and come back the next month with an opinion. The Board discussed it at length and voted to look into the options of a possible Wesley House.

At that time we had contacts with a Realtor, JT Brown, who knew of a building two blocks off of National on Cherry Street. It used to be an Elementary School that had been converted into a Nursing Home with a residential house that had been attached. We took a look at the property and thought is was just what we were looking for. It was already set up for rooms that students could live in. It had a large meeting space in what was the dining hall. The attached house would make a great parsonage. It was just four blocks from the University.

The Board gave the go ahead to pursue this property. We had a down payment in the bank from an old parsonage fund that was in reserve. We got the District's approval to enter into an agreement if it fit our budget. We continued to discuss it and pray about it. JT began trying to make the necessary steps for us to buy that property. We ran into several road blocks. Some of the significant issues involved a question of who actually owned the building; the nursing home had been shut down because of asbestos being found, but no one could find proof that the asbestos had ever been removed; there were two other parties interested in buying the property and some questionable ethic were being observed that could have caused some problems as to a clear title down the road.

On a Tuesday morning, the last week of April, I had finished my listening time and felt like the Cherry Street property was not what we were supposed to buy. I called JT and left a message with his secretary that I felt like we needed to drop the Cherry Street endeavor. While I was talking to his secretary he was calling the Ec Center and was speaking to our secretary asking her to have me call him. He wanted to know if we would be interested in looking at any other properties. He had a line on another site that was not even on the market yet.

I called him back and met with him that afternoon. The property was being occupied by the TKE fraternity. It was located at 618 S. National. It was owned by the then Mayor of Springfield. The TKE's needed to move out, the mayor needed to unload the property and he was willing to work with us. We did a walk through...the building was in desperate need of some major work. It felt so right. The DS was contacted along with the District Committee on Church Extension. Board members were contacted. A couple of more walk through's were held. All parties met. The statement was made that if we could get the proper financing and if the mayor would accept of price of $125,000 we could and would commit to buying that building. Inside of 30 days, all proper steps were taken, the price was agreed on and the TKE house was to become the new Wesley House. That was May 1998.

The original plan was to take out just what had to come out. Put up some new paint, carpeting, fixtures and furniture and we would be off and running. We were still in the Ec Center. The Wesley House was to be used for Student Housing on the second and third floors; the Director would have the entire first floor as and apartment; and, the basement would be used for social and other small group events. We were still members of the Ec. Center. The majority of the Wesley Events were to remain at the Center. There was a member of the District Board that had gone through a walk through and volunteered to coordinate the project for free. We would start in May and would have the building ready for use when school resumed in the fall.

Needless to say, the project grew. The renovation became major reconstruction. The volunteer contractor could not afford to spend that much time and energy on this endeavor and back out of the project. It was already August. We were nowhere near completion. We had to re-group. We found a contractor from Halltown that we could afford. With a great deal of help from an architectural firm in town a full set of plans were drawn up. city approval was given and real construction started. Again, we faced delays and complication working with the new contractor. Work that was supposed to be done by students was not getting done. Volunteer groups that were supposed to come in did not have the time or skills to do what needed to be done. It was now a full year of the construction phase. Our financing was running low. Our mortgage was due and we had no income to cover to cost. We had to let that contractor go and found yet another firm. Finally, we had someone who seemed to be able to pull it all together. Still, we were way behind in schedule.

We had signed contracts with students to move in August 15. On August 1 we still had no wall or ceiling. The contractor from Halltown had really put things in a mess. However, one of the things he had done was ordered all the drywall and bathroom fixtures months before and those materials had been delivered and had been waiting in the building for installation. A hurricane had hit Florida earlier in the spring. All the building materials around had been shipped to that region. Construction crews and drywall crews were ready to work, but could not get a hold of materials to do the jobs. So when I called Springfield Drywall and explained that needed ceilings and walls fast, they said they would love to do the work if only they could get the drywall. Thank you, God, we had drywall. I told the guy we already had the drywall. His crew came in on a Wednesday. Inside of two weeks he had walls and ceilings on all three floors of the building.

We were ready for a major clean up. Board members including Jan Carrol, Betty Meacheam, Fran Hood and Shirley Virdon came in with mops and rags in hand. Student Officers and Board Members cleaned for days. The Fall Term had already started. Students found temporary placed to live. We put two girls up in a hotel for two weeks. Out of the 10 students were had signed leases all but one hung in there and agreed to work it out with us.

The last week of August we had an inspector come in to approve the building for occupancy. It was at that time that we learned that a building could be occupied as long as it was deemed safe and inhabitable, meaning, running water, basic shelter, electric in good shape. We got an occupancy approval even though there were no doors, no windows and no coverings like paint and carpeting. The windows came first. They were installed the last week of August. Students chose their rooms. They painted their own walls, hung their own closet poles and shelves; and, they laid their own carpets that I bought from a salvage yard. The Board members painted, wallpapered and bought carpeting for all of the hallways and the first floor rooms. All the students were moved in by September 1. They brought in their own furniture and set up their own rooms. Still with no doors to their rooms or the bathrooms. I measured all of the restroom doorways, went to a surplus store and bought all the doors we needed and a volunteer group from Kings Way UMC hung and framed in all of the bathroom doors. The next week we had a professional installer hang the steel doors. I moved into the first floor apartment on October 1, 1999. The previous Wesley Director, Treva Hall, wanted to show her support for the project. she brought in a small crew who claimed the front lobby. they cleaned it, stripped in down. Put up paint and wallpaper border. She furnished it with a hall table, mirror, table lamp, a floral arrangement and area rugs.

The first, second and third floors were looking in pretty good shape. Nothing had been done to the basement. Nothing had been done to the outside surroundings. For the rest of the fall season the nine students who lived at the House put endless hours of work cleaning and fixing the place up. They recruited help from the rest of the group. churches and the Board. They cleaned the volleyball court which had been over-run with weeds. They cleaned out the parking lot which was in really bad shape. They recruited Treva Hall to come coordinate the front landscaping. They placed the railroad ties, planted flowers and scrubs. They painted the from of the house, replaced black shutters with white ones. They painted a large cross and flame logo on the front of the building. they cleaned out the basement. They brought in some old area carpets, put a coat of White Kilz to cover the TKE graphics on the walls, hung some banners and brought in some old couches and chairs. We started having Sunday Supper and Bible Study in the Wesley House
basement, even in that condition, that winter.

On December 4, 1999 we held a celebration at the Ec Center. We were celebrating the accomplishments of the Wesley Foundation as it recognized a ministry that had been in place for 50 years. We had an open house reception at the Wesley House following the Worship celebration at the Center. We invited folks from all over to share in the event with stories and personal witness. We passes a Mantel from folks like Jeri Erb who was a member of the Wesley Bible Club, before it was known as the Wesley Foundation. The spouse of Rev. Bill O'Quinn shared her story with us. Bill was the first full-time Director of the Foundation. Bill & Ginya Moore are a clergy couple who met at Wesley and then later married. We had a few student presidents, Laura Lee Cooper, Christine Alderman & William Oetting, share stories and visions of the future. It was on Dec. 4 that William's parent were present and toured the House. They expressed their support for the ministry and the Wesley House (William was one of the original nine occupants).

On Dead Day, Dec. 1999, the Wesley group decided to drive down to Branson and tour the city lights. We ate a late and dinner and returned to the Wesley House. We had phone messages on our return that there had been a terrible plan crash killing both of Williams parents in the crash. That group, living in the House, showed so much love and support to William. It was truly one of best and worst of times in Wesley House. The Oetting family chose Wesley as a recipient of memorials.

When the TKE's had the house there was a large flag pole that had been set in concrete in the front yard of the property. The day they left they had someone come with a welding torch and cut the pole down. This left a stub in the front yard. That turned out to be a gift of God. The city said that we could not put up a sign in the front yard due to some ordinance. We were told that the only way we could do it was if we could show that we were replacing something that had already been there. The stub left behind by the TKE's was enough to get out sign. We were able to use the Oetting memorial gifts to put in place the lighted message board.

6 Years ago...

Everything seemed to be falling into place. The House was looking good. The group was still growing in Spiritual direction and size. The Board was working hard to continue to meet the needs of our student body. The MO Conferences were in the processes of merging. The needs of the Conference in light of the Youth and the needs of the Wesley ministry were proving to be too much for one person. The Board discussed the options and petitioned the Bishop to make the Director full time with no additional responsibilities. In January, 2000, The position was granted full time status without the Youth Ministry to subsidize the income. We were unable to afford to keep the assistant. The full time director and the mortgage and the ministry bills made financing very challenging.

In the mean time, winter hit us with a surprise. There was a tornado that decided to use us as part of its obstacle course. It started at the north fence rolled around the building from the south, cross over National, bumped into Cheek Hall taking down a very large tree and traveled south to Grand Ave. the damage cause by the tornado was destruction of two fences on our property. The flashing was ripped off all along the south of the building. There was damage to the south corners. The pressure had caused the lobby walls got implode. The front wall was gone, the flat roof from the entrance cover was completely thrown off and the two interior walls were cracked. We contacted come construction teams and went with our old contractor. He re-built the lobby from top to bottom. The fill carpeting was installed at that time and the area rugs were moved down stairs. The original National Ave. wall was a solid wall and it was then that the big window was put in to let in light and a much nicer look from the street. The siding was put up on the front and that is when we lost the large cross and flame. The front steps were re-built with the new hand-rails. and the exterior of the house was painted with new guttering installed.

Talk had begun at the Ec. Center to renovate the building to better accommodate all the groups. A meeting was held with a designer. All parties could not agree. The Catholics were just starting on their new Center. The Episcopal ministry said they felt it was time to make a change. We were facing trying to support the Center and House with limited funding. Another meeting was held and it was decided to dissolve the Ec. Center Corporation, Sell the Property and divide the proceeds. This meant that all of the Wesley ministry would be happening at the House. We again, needed to re-group.

We had the basement which could be renovated. We contacted the last of our contractors and got a bid. We looked a couple of other options and decided to stay, again, with our faithful contractor. They came in at the end of school in May. They tore everything out, including taking down a wall in the south foyer. They put in the flooring, painted the walls, added the electric outlets, boxed in the support poles, installed
the tile in the kitchen, laundry and restroom. They installed all of the kitchen and put in our downstairs restroom at that time. This project was completed just in time for the fall semester to start We held two of our meetings in Area churches. The third week of the semester the basement was ready for use. We had also made some changes on the first floor. It was decided that two of the rooms were not getting much use. We also had a waiting list of students wanting to live in the house. The director's apartment was reduced in size. The two west rooms were used for students to live in.

4 years ago...

The larger structures were considered complete. The Ec Center was no more. All of the ministry was happening out of the Wesley House. We turned our focus to meeting the needs of the ministry and its students. We found money still to be very tight. The board stepped up to the plate and made a major bush to area churches and supporter to help out. They, too, put a lot of energy and financial support into play. The Student Officers did as well. It was in this time that we not only wanted to look at the ministry needs present, but also looked at it long term future. The Senior Foundation Wall was created and the Builders Club came out of this push for short term and long term support. Graduating seniors would be offered a chance to give a one time gift of $200. This gift would be sent to an endowment fund administered by the MO Methodist Foundation. With their gift a plague would be hung on the basement wall along the brick foundation. We knew it would be these kinds of gifts that would create a stronger foundation for all to build on. The Builders Club asked for a monthly gift of at least $25. $20 would be put in the current budget and $5 of each gift would be held in reserve and annually sent on the endowment fund for the ministry's future. Immediate needs were identified for the ministry. The Board pulled together and purchased an amplifier and speakers for the praise band. Additional accessories and needed equipment were also provided. The next summer futons and arm chairs were bought and given to the ministry. Summer help was hired to maintain the property and do some fix up jobs. The Volleyball court got a major facelift. New poles were set in concrete. Lighting was hung for night time play. The deck was addressed and the benches were built for better use. That year's house residents held a couple of work days and put in new plantings and the "Fat Albert" Blue Spruce on the south side of the property.

We also began to see the need for more space. There was also a concern on the District level that we were not providing adequate housing for the Director. Our small groups and covenant groups had grown to the size that we could not longer all fit in the time and space we had available at the House. The Builders Club was growing and bringing in some steady income. The renovations of the two previous years had added insulation and central air which had lowered our utilities by a marked amount. One of the students living on the first floor wanted to move to the third floor. We had seen the need for a holy space. We needed a chapel where we could meditate and have small group prayer and worship. We moved the student to the third floor and made her room the chapel. That next year, the second student living on the first floor was graduating. It was decided that a better use of space would be to create a study room out of her room. These were welcome changes. Those rooms got great use. However, this meant that we had reduced our student housing options and income. the larger group had grown to an average of 60. We found that if the group continued to grow we would outgrow the basement in a short time. Jack Hood drew up plans for an expansion that would take up the volleyball court. It would provide a handicap accessible meeting room with a kitchen, restrooms and a real office. The addition would be attached to the existing building with a double door opening on the south lobby wall. The plan looked great. In consultation with the
District Board of Development it was noticed that the meeting room was not much large than the general space of the existing basement. The cost of at a level that would require a major campaign drive. It was determined that at our present rate of growth the ministry would outgrow the new addition before it could be paid for. This would require another major change, with another possible finance campaign in too short a time to be affective. It was suggested that we wait. It was also suggested that we might want to acquire more property so that a new Center could be built that would meet the needs of the ministry over a longer span of time.

The addition was put on hold. Discussions began with the owner of the house to the south about possibly selling it to Wesley. At that time his daughter was attending SMS and living in the house. She had one year left in school. The next year he approached us about the house. He was asking $150,000. We agreed to have an independent appraisal do and split the cost. It was appraised at $85,000. The owner was not happy with the appraisal and ended discussion. He returned three months later with another offer to sell the house. He said ha had a lawyer interested in buying it and wanted to give us first option. He was told we would entertain an offer of $75,000. We didn't hear any reply from that. The daughter was spoken to at graduation and she told us that she had decided to stay in the house. No further discussions occurred for about a year. The owner approached us again that spring. He said his daughter had a job in Branson and did not want to commute any longer. He wanted to sell the house. The Appraisal firm came back to update the figure. The new figure came in at $90,000. The owner said he would not take less than $125,000. The Board and the District were consulted. We looked at the financing and future planning options for the ministry. It was learned that the equity of the existing Wesley House had increase considerably with all of the renovations and the natural increase in land values. We arranged with the bank to re-finance our current loan. We offered a buying price of $100,000 for the house to the south. With the amount paid off, the new value figures, we were able to refinance the Wesley House at an increase of $200 per month and an additional 5 years of payments. The Wesley House mortgage covered the cost of the new property with a free and clear title. This would allow us to do anything we wanted with that property because it is not attached to the Wesley House loan. All parties agreed and the deal was done. The Foundation took ownership of the new property on August 1, 2002. In anticipation of the sale going through we had signed leases with four students to live there during that year and it would be known as the Wesley Annex. A week after we took ownership those students moved in.

The Wesley House and the Annex provided enough space for 12 students to live and adequate space for Bible Study, Covenant, Small Groups and Large Group activities. Still there was concern about living
arrangements for the Director and it felt like we were missing a much needed piece to the ministry puzzle. We had no office space which divided the work and home life for the director. We found that having students in the Annex did not work well within the spiritual make up of the Wesley House and a change was going to need to be made anyway. May of 2003 no leases were renewed for those in the Annex. A major re-grouping happened with those living in the Wesley House. The first floor of the Wesley House was going to take on a new shape as well. The Director's apartment was to be converted into an office and new chapel. The chapel would become a lounge and the fourth room would be re-shaped into a study/guest room. The Annex would go through a clean up process and become the Wesley Foundation parsonage. During the summer of 2003 the changes began to take place. A new door was cut in for the chapel. Lots of clean up and painting took place. New carpet went in for the office. By the time school started, student residents were in the second and third floor. The lounge, chapel, study/guest room and office were all in place. The work on the new parsonage was underway but nowhere near completion.. Temporary housing was arranged in the first floor lounge and work continued.

The House community was pulling together and the idea of having a Christian home for students way finding its way back into Wesley. The renovations of the parsonage continued through the fall semester. The Wesley ministry was seeing a renewal of spirit and energy. The largest changes in the parsonage has been completed and the director moved in at Christmas of 2003.

2 years ago...

It was determined that much had been needed, much had been accomplished and still there was room to grow. The Financial picture continues to go from day to day and bill to bill. The physical structures of the Wesley House and the Parsonage are in basically good shape. it was then a goal of the director to provide for the House rooms that would offer a bed, dresser desk and chair. The buildings were and are being used to the best that they can offer at this time. Ministry focus was placed to reaching out to students and meeting their spiritual needs for a wholistic approach to their time of higher educational pursuits as being balanced emotionally, spiritually and socially. The ministry has taken serious looks as ways to build a secure financial base. We continue to dream dreams and see visions. The parsonage has room for growth in the second floor space and in the basement which could enhance the living space and ministry space. The student ministry could expand to do much more on the campuses of which that are a part.

It was also at the time that a cycle of students were all about to leave and the thought occurred to the director that it might be the right time to pass the mantel. The ministry needed someone fresh with new dreams and vision, with a strong back and loads of energy. It needed someone who would see where we are now as a starting place and not the result of the last 10 years. The student officers and the director, along with the support of the Board began to set the path for yet another new beginning. The ground work was laid to get loose end tied up. New leaders were put in place and support was given by those who have served before. Meetings were held. Forms were filled out. Love, support and encouragement were shared among them all. Lots of prayer, Lots of listening...God is in control...be ready to move and God will continue to take all in places much grander than any of us can imagine.