Thursday Nights

Thursday night dinner and forum are the main focus of the week at the Wesley Foundation. Dinner is at 6 and it’s a bargain — free!– and a great break from either the dining hall or cooking for yourself. Local churches generously provide home-cooked meals for us and students also take turns helping to cook and clean up. After dinner we share announcements about upcoming events, and then move into the living room for forum.

Forum starts at 7 pm and lasts for an hour. It is usually a discussion focusing on a faith-related topic. We also have guest speakers from a variety of different backgrounds. We end forum by sharing joys and concerns and praying together.

Once a semester we have a special worship service during our normal Thursday night meeting time. In December we have an Advent service, and during Holy Week we have Maundy Thursday (and Good Friday) services. Feel free to drop in any time during the evening, if you can’t make it at dinnertime, or stop by at the beginning of forum.

Here’s what we have scheduled this fall:

    • 8/28 - Kick-off Picnic! Free food and a brief introduction to life at Wesley - come check us out!
    • 9/4 - “Life 101″ - What’s it like to be faithful at college? How do you find God in a dorm? What are other student doing to weave faith and academic life together? David Lessard and Melissa Holmes lead us tonight.
    • 9/11 - Interactive Bible Study with Helen Ross and Becca Worley
    • 9/18 - Book of Ruth bible study with Annie Bailey and Nina Ruhter.
    • 9/25 - Krasna Kleinfeld and Ashley Whisnant share stories and revelations from their time studying abroad in Spain and Ireland
    • 10/2 - Can you talk intelligently about particle physics for hours, but can’t talk to your roommate about cleaning up the mess? Our guest is Christian Educator Molly Gee from Wright’s Chapel UMC.
    • 10/9 - Ernie Bowden and Joey Portzer make disciples of us tonight!
    • 10/16 - Comparative Religions 101: Judaism - Religious Studies Professor Vanessa Ochs is our guest tonight.
    • 10/23 - What’s a Wesley? Why are we “Methodists” — or is that “United Methodists”? Wesley Foundation director & campus minister Deborah Lewis leads forum tonight as we explore our Wesleyan heritage and what it means for faith today.
    • 10/30 - Comparative Religions 101: Islam - Religious Studies Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina is our guest tonight.
    • 11/6 - “How to Help a Friend Without Getting in Over Your Head”:  Come take the Mental Health Quiz and learn some healthy and helpful habits for yourself and for helping your friends. Our guest is Lenny Carter of CAPS.
    • 11/13 - David Lessard shares insights about shamanism from the class he’s taking this semester.
    • 11/20 - Thanksgiving Dinner Feast and Fellowship. (Dinner only tonight.)
    • 11/27 - Thanksgiving Break - no dinner or forum tonight. Happy Thanksgiving!
    • 12/4 - Wesley Memorial Women make us a Christmas-style feast tonight. Then we’ll walk over together for the Lighting of the Lawn.
    • 12/11 - Final Thursday night of the semester. Dinner only tonight. Good luck with exams!