Welcoming (Back) Shayne Wessel as the Newest Addition to the Koinonia Team!
If you’ve been around JW for a while, you are likely feeling very excited after reading this headline…and if you don’t know Shayne already, you can look forward to getting to know him as he (re)-joins the Jacob’s Well community!
Over the past several months, Koinonia (Community Life & Spiritual Formation) Pastor Jessi Marcus and JW leadership have discovered the need for a Men’s Discipleship Director, an intentional pastoral presence at the 7pm gathering, and additional leadership in other areas of the Koinonia Sphere. We are delighted to announce that Shayne Wessel will be filling these roles as a full-time pastor starting in mid-July! Shayne joins Jessi Marcus and Kristen McClain (Women’s Discipleship Director) on the Koinonia Team to further deepen our call to form, live, and extend the life of Christ at Jacob’s Well. (Read more…)
Two Great Opportunities to Serve below
I. Rosedale Ridge Fall Volunteers
Interested in serving in the Rosedale Ridge after-school program? We are currently recruiting for the fall term, and would love to share about what you can expect, and about what a rewarding experience spending time with RR kids can be. Volunteers typically come one afternoon a week for about 2 hours. For more details, contact Amy Streeter.
II. Sunday Morning & Evening Volunteers Needed
If you’re looking for a way to connect and serve on Sundays, please consider filling one of the following roles on a Sunday morning or evening:
-Communion Server
-Host (greeter at the door)
-Media (running the slides)
You would serve approximately once per month and can do more than one! We’ll schedule you based on your availability. Please email Maureen Lunn if you would like to serve in one or more of these ways. Thanks!
New Elders elected
Jacob’s Well is governed by a board of Elders who serve three-year terms. We recently added three new elders: Jeff Onnen, Kim Larrick, and Stephanie Swanson. Look for more information about them in our next eNews. They will join Merritt Benz, Sarah Magill, John Power, Jeff Turner, Jannele Unruh. Ed Marquette and Kevin Morris will finish their terms this summer and be rolling off of the Elder Board.
If you’d like to read more about our elders and learn about their roles and responsibilities, click here.
Shayne Wessel returns (continued) For the past five years, Shayne, his wife Suzanne, and their two daughters Aurielle and Aurora, have been living in Santa Cruz, California where Shayne served as a pastor at a local church. Prior to that, Shayne served as a pastor at Jacob’s Well, leading small groups, bible studies, and other community life gatherings, from 2003-2009. He and his family are greatly anticipating their return to the Jacob’s Well community.
Since the move to California, Shayne pastored the young adult and families ministry at a church in Santa Cruz for several years. Later moving into the mountains and forested region outside of Santa Cruz, Shayne, Suzanne, and their two daughters found themselves living the self-defined “hippy lifestyle”–with their home being a combined studio guest house and an airstream trailer! The guest house, which sits on a large piece of land, serves as their living and kitchen space, and the airstream as their bedrooms–an experience that could only work in the moderate, humidity-free climate of California. It’s also allowed them to enjoy the natural beauty of the area, with regular treks through the Redwoods and to the Pacific Ocean.
Shayne and his family have also been involved in the local theater and dance scene, and he recently portrayed Duke Frederick in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”
Now, as he returns to Kansas City and Jacob’s Well, Shayne is primarily anticipating the return to his community of friends and family (including his ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ gamer crew!). He expressed, “Every time I come back [to KC from California], I feel like I don’t want to leave, so it’s going to be great to come back and not have to leave.” Moving back into the neighborhood of Oklahoma Joe’s doesn’t hurt either!
Shayne is eager to get back to the JW community, having missed the theological and missional commitment of our life together. “I’m excited that Jacob’s Well is continuing to grapple with issues that are really important in our culture; to be a part of a community that’s living in that tension and doing so faithfully in the life God has given us. I’m eager to re-engage with that, be a part of that, and lend my presence to it.”
Join us in welcoming Shayne, Suzanne, Aurielle, and Aurora back to Kansas City and to Jacob’s Well and pray for them as they make their transition. We’re excited to introduce him in person later in July. Welcome back, Wessels!
Interested in serving in the Rosedale Ridge after-school program? We are currently recruiting for the fall term, and would love to share about what you can expect, and about what a rewarding experience spending time with RR kids can be. Volunteers typically come one afternoon a week for about 2 hours. For more details, contact 
If you’re looking for a way to connect and serve on Sundays, please consider filling one of the following roles on a Sunday morning or evening:
For the past five years, Shayne, his wife Suzanne, and their two daughters Aurielle and Aurora, have been living in Santa Cruz, California where Shayne served as a pastor at a local church. Prior to that, Shayne served as a pastor at Jacob’s Well, leading small groups, bible studies, and other community life gatherings, from 2003-2009. He and his family are greatly anticipating their return to the Jacob’s Well community.