JeongWhan Lee

Research · Ministry · Neighbourhood

Reading old diaries.
Practising a living method.

I am JeongWhan Lee, a Methodist pastor and researcher exploring John Wesley’s personal cipher diaries—and turning their self-examination and disciplined attention into ways of listening, caring, and connecting people today.

Explore the journey ↗My pastoral method →
Auckland · Aotearoa New ZealandFaith working through love
Diary fragments and open hands connected by fine threads
LIFE1703—1791
DIARY1725—1791
01

My research journey

A diary opened a way of seeing a life.

I began with a historical puzzle: Why did Wesley record his days so carefully? The deeper question became personal and pastoral: How can a repeated practice shape a life of holy love?

1725

The writing begins

At Oxford, Wesley began the disciplined diary practice that would accompany almost all his adult life.

2016

I entered the archive

At the John Rylands Library in Manchester, manuscript pages made Wesley’s private method visible to me in a new way.

TODAY

The method becomes pastoral

I ask how close attention, honest reflection, and small faithful actions can help people connect with God and one another.

02

What the dates reveal

66 writing years within one life.

The diary was not a short experiment. It became a companion to prayer, work, travel, relationships, and service across most of Wesley’s adult life.

01 Personal shorthand

02 Hourly attention

03 Daily questions

04 Holy living

03

A living pastoral method

Method is love made practical.

Wesley’s diary reminds me that spiritual life grows through small, repeated acts of attention. My pastoral method carries that rhythm into ordinary relationships.

01

Notice

Practise paying attention—again and again—to the person, the place, and what is happening now.

02

Reflect

Reflect on what I notice through Scripture, prayer, honest questions, and the love, hope, and wisdom God gives me for living as a Methodist.

03

Connect

Find one small action that helps people meet, listen, serve, and grow together.

04

Here in Northcote

The method becomes real around a shared table.

At St Luke’s and across Northcote, I try to begin with what is already near: a need, a gift, a conversation, or a space we can share.

SHARED CARE

Foodbank

Practical help begins with welcome, conversation, and dignity.

SHARED GROUND

Community garden

Growing food becomes a way to share work, knowledge, and hope.

SHARED JOY

Music and gathering

Local events open church space for friendship across cultures and generations.

Research · Prayer · Practice

One old diary. One living question.

How can I use this hour to love God and my neighbour more faithfully?
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