The four names voted on for the new church were: Champions UMC, Paradise Valley UMC Northwoods UMC, and John Wesley UMC. Every man, woman, and child had a vote—and a single vote selected the winner. The church was chartered in September 1971, and met in a yellow one-room sheet metal building. The parsonage and several nearby homes served as annexes for the church school, the nursery, and the church office.

By the end of 1971, the congregation numbered 119. Two wood frame modular buildings, complete with instructions for assembly, replaced the one-room church house. The early members had to dig deep to keep things going. The driving force seemed to be a tenacious desire to provide their kids with "the family church experience.”

In late 1972, a building committee was commissioned to develop a long-range plan. With the help of an architectural firm, they conceived the strategy of building an interim sanctuary with offices, closed classrooms for younger children, and open classrooms for older children and adults. Later a permanent sanctuary could be built and the interim sanctuary converted into a fellowship hall.

The building finance committee began their walk of faith. The Lord led them step-by-step. In January 1974 the church incorporated for the purpose of selling bonds. $450,000 was a tremendous load for a church of John Wesley's size, yet the entire bond issue sold out within two weeks. Construction started in 1974 and the first service was held in the new building in April 1975. The congregation sang a hymn as they moved in joyful procession from the modules to the new sanctuary.

Another bond issue of $100,000 enabled the completion of the upstairs and kitchen. By 1979, the membership had grown to over 1300, and Phase Two was launched to build a forty-eight-foot extension on the back of the education building at a cost of $375,000. An upstairs room that backed onto the sanctuary was converted into a balcony. The “Tuesday Night Bunch” - members of the church who volunteered their labor and love built it out. By 1983, JWUMC had gone through the phases of getting established and successfully completing two building programs. Building programs provide structure, purpose, and movement, but it was time to consider "which way to go from here." The Church Council drew up a list of all the existing church programs so they could be evaluated. Their 25 basic objectives were presented to the Administrative Board.

In 1987 a long-range planning committee was established to study future directions. The study, analysis, and recommendations, called "Foundation for the Future," included a demographic study, a facilities plan, and a membership analysis. John Wesley had grown rapidly in the 70's, but more slowly in the 80's due to both the establishment of sister UMCs in the FM 1960 area and Houston’s economic decline. This study was important in determining how many classrooms, teachers, leaders, and material needs must be planned for and budgeted.In May of 1988 Herb Rohloff was appointed to Texarkana, and Dr. Jim Bankston was appointed to John Wesley. Under Jim’s leadership the targets identified by “Foundation for the Future” were implemented by aggressive programming and budgets. By 1990 the number of worshippers was once again on the increase, and we entered another building program to make room for them

Plans for a traditional sanctuary with provisions for a future pipe organ were made. The interim sanctuary would be converted to a kitchen/fellowship hall combination with an area for stage productions.

The building finance committee started another faith walk. By January, 1991, over a million dollars had been pledged to the building campaign. The bond issue of $1.5 million sold out quickly in July.

The groundbreaking was June 30th. The Altar Guild members diligently worked behind the scenes. They had the Sanctuary implements rebrassed, stitched needlepoint silencers for the collection plates, chose and ordered the finely worked paraments.

The Rose Window was originally in a church in Belleville, Illinois that Dan Chenoweth attended as a boy. Dan, having a great desire to find this window for the new sanctuary, was fortunate to locate and donate this 100-year-old window to JWUMC. The Antique glass and bevel window above the front sanctuary doors displays the cross, surrounded by a halo with radiating beams extending to the edges. This design welcomes Christians to worship.

During the construction of the new sanctuary, the children and youth wrote "spiritual graffiti," scripture verses and praise to God on the sheetrock under the bricks.

The parlor is more than a bride's room. It is a quiet place for a family to gather before funerals and wait in pleasant, comfortable surroundings. Guest speakers retire there between services, and it is an intimate and sheltered place for gatherings.

The chairperson of every building committee has been Pete Turner. A bell tower was constructed in the courtyard and dedicated in his honor for his outstanding service. 

  The chairperson of every building committee has been Pete Turner. A bell tower was constructed in the courtyard and dedicated in his honor for his outstanding service.  In the garden area between the Sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall is the Angel on the Mountain statue, a memorial to Bev Sawvell. This beautiful area has become a favorite spot for photos and fellowship.

The spirit with which these and other memorial gifts were given seems reminiscent of the passage starting in Exodus 35:21:
"And everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the Lord." We moved into the new sanctuary in September 1992 with great thanksgiving and awestruck appreciation.

With the building of the sanctuary, more parking area was needed, and we were fortunate to purchase an additional acre of land behind and adjacent to the church property from the developer of the new subdivision.
Also, there was no room for the last of the temporary buildings, which was being used by the church Boy Scout program. It was moved away and a much improved log cabin facility was built on part of the new land. It is now used both for classroom space and by the Boy Scouts.

In 1993 the Texas Conference encouraged a "Vision 2000" process for local churches to evaluate their growth, outreach, and effectiveness. Our Vision 2000 Committee began in January 1993. The study included: bench-marking what other churches had done; communicating the vision themes, content, and intent to the congregation; and assessing needs and gaining input from the congregation. Five focal areas emerged: 1) congregational care, 2) education, 3) worship, 4) involvement and assimilation, and 5) community service. Measurable goals were listed under each, building the framework for accomplishment and projecting the pace.

Jim Bankston was appointed as the district superintendent of the Beaumont District in May 1993, and Dr. Jack Shelton was appointed to John Wesley. The unofficial motto of the sanctuary building committee from the movie “Field of Dreams” was “If you build it they will come.” And come they did. By the time the church was celebrating its 25 th anniversary in 1996, it was embarking on another building program to provide more classrooms, improved office space, and choir practice facilities.

In 1998 the music program finally realized their long time dream with the installation of the pipe organ in the sanctuary, which enhances the beautiful music ministry of JWUMC.

Rev. Don Meador became the Senior Pastor of John Wesley in June 2000, when Jack Shelton was transferred to Lufkin. Also in 2000, just seven years after the last long range study, the Vision 2020 committee began searching for God’s vision for John Wesley through the year 2020.

Go to our "Our Vision" on the homepage to read about insights into the vision for the future.

During the service of celebration of our 30th anniversary
on September 16, 2001 we received our three thousandth member!!