The concept was birthed in late 2002, at a breakfast meeting with Kevin Mannoia, Don Dayton and David Bundy who, in the course of conversation lamented the lack of recognition in current discussions of the influence that the Holiness message has had on the global Church over the past century. Over breakfast, they discussed the idea of an event for scholars to meet and discuss this history by means of papers and dialogue. Mannoia subsequently decided to probe the idea further, however determined that two significant factors must be established as part of any action: first that any event should be endorsed and sponsored by church leaders thereby securing its relevancy to the contemporary church and mitigating separation between the church and academy, and second That it must be a series of events focused on the future mission of the Church.
Over the course of the following 12 months, Mannoia reached out to various denominational heads proposing the idea of a Wesleyan Holiness Study Project to seek a fresh articulation of holiness. Plans commenced for the first of a series of three annual events. Mannoia requested three specific commitments of the denominational leaders who captured the vision: To seek approval from the top level of their denomination for participation; To send $3000 each year for three years to cover expenses; To name three scholar/leaders from their denomination to participate yearly.