The Magical History Tour
Tired of the usual staff meetings, we took our leadership retreat on the road—to see John Wesley.
C. John Steer
July 1, 2005
I was weary of the typical staff retreat. It was frustrating to go away for two days and come back to a full week's work. It was irritating to have staff members' cell phones constantly ringing with news of emergencies, real and imagined. It was boring to simply expand the normal business of a weekly staff meeting into a two- or three-day marathon. It was time for a change. So, I took our team to England for a week. As a Brit myself, I wanted our team to encounter some of the giants of church history as I had met them, to meet with Christians of another culture, and to spend seven days in uninterrupted team building. This retreat exceeded my wildest expectations. Strange and warmed
We visited John Wesley's house in London and noted the indentations in the floorboards of his closet, worn away by his knees from getting up at four each morning to pray. Charles Wesley's great hymn "And Can It Be?" took on new meaning as we sang it together in the Foundry Chapel. At John's grave we gave thanks for the lives of these brothers and how they were used by God to bring about the Great Awakening in England and America. Church history came alive for us.
Standing in Wesley's church, we imagined his expositions. Karen, our high school pastor, confessed the most meaningful moment for her was kneeling at the rail where John Wesley had so often served communion. Later we visited the Wesley Room in Lincoln College, Oxford. I was deeply moved to realize that here John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield had founded the Holy Club. Opposite Wesley's Chapel is Bunhill Cemetery where Isaac Watts, John Bunyan, John Owen, Susannah Wesley, and other Christian heroes are buried. Reading their gravestones we all felt challenged to make our own mark ...
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