John and Garry did quite a bit as the church’s pastors. But they and their families were also members—of the church and of the mini-flocks. When asked whether they felt welcomed as new members of the church body, John answered, “Very much so. Yeah.” He adds, “They loved their potlucks back then. And our two girls were born down there in Texas. And so we had two little babies, and that made us popular. [It shows] that our nursery is important.”
The Weckses learned firsthand not just how to minister in the church, but also what it was like to receive genuine care and help from others’ ministries. During my initial conversation with John, I shared my own story (found in the Foreword of this volume) about being welcomed by the church when my wife and I were new to the area and new, first-time parents in 2020. John simply commented, “That sounds like that church,” having experienced similar care himself during a major transitional season in his family’s life.
Judy recalls something similar: “John and Carley had a baby, and so we had our three [children], and they had their one. And so then there became an interest [in] nursery, Sunday School, all these different things that we needed….It just kind of built, little by little, as things came on.”
We had a lot of younger couples….There was this couple there who was older, but most of them were either our age or younger. So, in other words, we all developed together. And then the couple who was a little bit older, they were our elders, and that was excellent, because they had wisdom from previous experiences….[They] were very, very good, as far as leading.
Judy and Garry continued to build relationships through serving in church. She recalls, “I was in the ladies’ group, and I did some of the leading, and then I kind of spread it out and had others do it so that they would learn to lead.” In another instance, Garry went fishing with some friends and caught a large number of fish, so he and Judy froze them and later held a big fish party for members of the church. The pastors—along with the entire church community—were actively growing in fellowship.