The Breakfast Club Meets the Holy Club

Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

Way back in the 1980s, famous director John Hughes released a movie about a small group of students who were given Saturday detention for various offenses. They were a collection of high school stereotypes, “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal.” They knew of each other but would have likely never talked if they hadn’t been put into that small room for the day. It was only when they were put together without any other agenda that interesting things happened. The movie was called The Breakfast Club. John Wesley had a club too, the Holy Club, which formed while he and his brother Charles were at Oxford in 1829. This club wasn’t a punishment, it was intended to be formative, sharpening the spiritual lives of the participants in thoughtful and practical ways. This club, too, led to bonding and evangelistic revival; indeed, it was an early expression for what became the Methodist movement. 

While there are great differences between the Breakfast Club and the Holy Club, the shared emphasis on gathering and talking led to great results for both. While the Holy Club is better in most every way, I think these days we often miss out on one of the key aspects of The Breakfast Club. The informal and unplanned nature of it allowed the conversations to develop organically, sometimes awkwardly. In that informal flow, honesty and openness became natural; divisions were overcome. 

For most of us, church and theology conversations are well-ordered and usually tightly controlled, even scripted. Outside the church there are decreasing opportunities for casual conversation. Even the seemingly free expression of social media is more often about taking sides and heated debates than community-building discussions. Every once in a while, however, we get a glimpse of what is possible.

That happened for us in June of 2023 when a group of Wesleyan-affiliated researchers gathered at Asbury Theological Seminary for the Wesleyan Studies Summer Seminar (WSSS), as another group has gathered again now in 2025. The formal aspects were great, yet it was the informal aspects that continue to resonate as we try to find ways to build community across the boundaries that currently divide our churches and our denominations. This article will describe what happened then and will conclude with some brief suggestions how to carry this forward in all kinds of settings.

A Renewing Haven with Unexpected Depth

The WSSS, held every two years, gathers researchers working on articles, dissertations, and books in Wesleyan studies, providing access to the rich scholarly resources of Asbury Theological Seminary and Asbury University. These researchers came from a variety of backgrounds and professional roles, from pastors to editors to full-time academics. Anyone who was seeking some time and space to dig deeper into research was invited to apply. Beyond its stated academic goals, the hospitality of Dr. Ken Collins and the Asbury community created an environment that felt like an oasis of spiritual and intellectual renewal. As someone jokingly told Dr. Collins, the experience felt like Paul’s third heaven—a place of transcendent joy and connection. Or as Kenny joked, the four-week seminar was akin to a summer camp for pastors and scholars, igniting a passion for research and writing, though with much better accommodations than most summer camps!

While we weren’t the high school stereotypes of The Breakfast Club, the seminar attracted a diverse group beyond just our job descriptions: Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Global Methodists, United Methodists, Wesleyans, and even a charismatic Orthodox priest. While our primary goal was to advance writing projects and receive constructive feedback, the true gift was the emergence of deep friendships among this eclectic group. These bonds formed not through formal structures but through spontaneous, Spirit-led moments of connection, particularly over meals. 

Meals as Informal Sacred Spaces

Two types of meal gatherings became central to our experience. The first were bi-weekly dinners catered by Marilyn Collins and hosted by our convenors after each of the twice-weekly academic sessions. These evenings, filled with laughter and conversation, fostered a sense of community among participants, often carrying forward discussions prompted by the seminar presentations. The second, and perhaps more transformative, were the spontaneous daily breakfasts that evolved into curiously sacred spaces of connection.

For me, Patrick, the month began with a plan to focus quietly on my research, taking quick morning meals alone to maximize my productivity. That intention was upended on the first day when Kathy Armistead noticed me sitting alone outside and asked to join me. What began as a brief conversation turned into a two-hour chat, and soon others joined us, that day and every day after. These breakfasts became a daily ritual, often stretching dangerously close to lunchtime, transforming our experience of the seminar from one of research solitude to one of community and free-flowing conversation.

As a Wesleyan on the West Coast, I often have felt isolated, straddling the academic and church worlds without fully belonging to either. The breakfasts revealed a longing I hadn’t fully acknowledged: the need for camaraderie in my pastoral and theological journey. These moments of connection echoed the Wesleyan tradition’s emphasis on community, where trusting relationships foster spiritual growth. The informal, unmanaged nature of these gatherings allowed us to be real with each other, moving beyond theological or ecclesial labels to see one another as fellow travelers in faith.

Though these breakfasts began informally, they found their own loose daily rhythm, growing into hours-long gatherings where participants shared personal stories, theological reflections, and even disagreements. These were not formal Eucharists, yet they carried a spirit of thanksgiving that lingered long after the seminar ended. Participants from varied ecclesial backgrounds—each with distinct theological commitments—shared space, time, meals, and prayers. On some evenings, smaller groups gathered for further prayer and conversation, sometimes with the playful condition: “Join us if you’re willing to share the state of your soul!” 

These meals revealed a profound truth: our differences were not obstacles but opportunities. In a world often marked by division, these gatherings showed how shared commitment to Christ could bridge denominational and theological gaps, creating a space where unity in the Spirit was palpable.

Social Holiness in the Wesleyan Tradition

This experience reflected the Wesleyan understanding of holiness as inherently social. John Wesley taught that the Christian life thrives in community, where honest dialogue and shared commitment deepen faith. The WSSS breakfasts mirrored the early Methodist bands—small groups where differences were embraced, not erased, in pursuit of holiness. This sociality has roots in the early church, as seen in Tertullian’s Apology 39, which describes love feasts where diverse believers ate, sang, and prayed together, united in Christ. Though lacking the formal questions and worship of either the bands or Tertullian’s love feasts, our breakfasts captured an underlying sharing of lives that is key to growth.

Sadly, Christian history has often reflected the Lord’s Supper becoming a source of division rather than unity, from 1 Corinthians 11 to the fracturing debates of Ratramnus and Radbertus in the ninth century to the persistent division even among the early Reformation churches. The WSSS meals reminded us of the original intent of such gatherings: to bring diverse people together in fellowship, something we see embedded in the Wesleyan traditions of the open table. More than just open for a formal eucharist, it is important to be open in casual and informal ways too. These moments showed that informal, conversational spaces can be as transformative as formal worship, allowing the Spirit to work subtly through laughter, shared stories, and mutual vulnerability.

The seminar also highlighted a broader issue in contemporary Christianity: our tendency to prioritize homogeneity over diversity. We often demand that one expression of faith—whether theological or ecclesial—meet every need, rather than embracing the flexibility of Christ’s ministry, which included both formal teaching and informal conversations. The WSSS showed that unintentional, Spirit-led moments can foster genuine connection, helping us see each other as real people rather than representatives of fixed positions.

A Call for Community in a Divided World

In today’s polarized world, spaces for authentic connection across boundaries are rare. As Wesleyan communities face increasing division over social, ethical, and political issues, the need for trusted collegiality is urgent. The WSSS offered a glimpse of what could be: a place where diverse followers of Christ engage deeply, fostering holiness and hope. Yet, many of us don’t realize how much we lack such spaces until we experience them.

For me, Brian, this experience resonates with my work at the Inspire Movement, a ministry dedicated to recovering Wesleyan discipleship. Inspire encourages people to follow Jesus daily, sharing the journey with others and following the Holy Spirit’s lead to transform the world. What happened at the WSSS was an organic emergence of Wesleyan classes and bands, where participants from varied backgrounds spoke truth and wisdom into each other’s lives. We shared stories of family, faith, hopes, doubts, and struggles, finding unity despite our differences.

The WSSS was designed as a temporary experience, but the benefits aren’t temporary, both for our friendships and as an example. Ever since, we have reflected on how regular times of informal conversation really should be part of our regular communities too. There is a place for structure, especially in worship, but we also are social beings who build connections by sharing time and space together, with these times allowing for a patient ferment of holiness, using Alan Kreider’s term for early church growth. Without this unintentional space, we maintain the boundaries and cautions that more characterize our work or professional roles rather than the freeing trust that comes with a deeper community. 

The kind of holiness that we are called toward, a real transformation and inviting love, comes from an openness to our strengths and our weaknesses, so when we are guarded or given a script we never reach into these depths fully. Trust is hard and real community takes time, unstructured time in many cases, where we simply get to know and value each other. We laugh, sure, but also we can cry and be open about our real struggles. These can be “third places,” a setting that isn’t work or home where people casually hang out. Or these can be events with very loose structure, just enough to get people together and allow for emergent conversation.

So often we as church leaders are nervous about whether people are getting the teaching or guidance they need for spiritual growth. Indeed, we can be so intentional about leading people that we forget the windy work of the Holy Spirit, who is our primary teacher and guide. When we make space for people to just be together, the Holy Spirit often does a particular work beyond what any of us could have expected. 

These interactions are especially vital in an age where the fast pace of modern life and the pressures of academic and ecclesial roles leave little room for deep connection. The WSSS reminded us that we cannot follow Jesus alone or even at a surface level among others, but we don’t need a month away in Kentucky to experience this. Like the pilgrims on the road to Canterbury, or the admittedly bizarre Brat Packers of The Breakfast Club, we need fellow travelers on whatever road we are now traveling who challenge, encourage, and even “strangely warm” us through their stories and hearts.

Kenny Johnston is the Pastor of First Wesleyan Church in Gastonia, NC, and a PhD student at London School of Theology. 

Patrick Oden is an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church, currently living in Lake Arrowhead, CA, and the recently appointed Associate Dean of Ministry and Christian Thought at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Brian Yeich is based in Ruston, LA, and serves as an Affiliate Professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary and as a Missioner for the Inspire Movement.