The Kerusso – December | 2018 Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Churches seeking pastors: In the September Kerusso, we listed seven churches across the USA that are seeking senior pastors. Two of them have felt the Lord’s direction to issue a call, and we celebrate with them! With the addition of True Hope Church, these six churches continue to seek God’s direction in this important decision. Here are quick summaries of each of these churches:
True Hope Church – Lexington, KY.
True Hope is a re-launch of our Lexington church. It is a small congregation of spiritually solid folks with a heart for Jesus & people. They meet and worship in a beautiful facility near the University of Kentucky, Asbury University, & Asbury Theological Seminary. They are praying for a bi-vocational, church-plant pastor who will teach and lead them in reaching their community with the Gospel.
Christ EMC – Chesapeake, VA.
Christ Church is planning to host a potential candidate in December. This is a lovely congregation of mature believers who earnestly desire to share Christ’s love with their community. Pray for discernment and wisdom for both the search committee and the visiting minister and his family as they listen carefully to God’s voice in the process.
Bayou La Batre First EMC – Irvington, AL.
The people of First EMC meet in a marvelous new facility comprising over 20,000 square feet with a beautiful sanctuary and Life Center with a full-size gym. The building also has a great kitchen and fellowship facility with large Sunday School rooms and nursery. The PRC at Bayou La Batre First continue to look for a minister with sound biblical preaching and previous pastoral experience.
Crossroads EMC – Marshfield, MO.
Marshfield is a growing city with lots of new businesses having located to the north of the city anticipating growth in that area. Crossroads EMC is a congregation with deep roots and longevity in the community, and are excited to see how the next chapter of their history will be written. Rev. Joe Miller is serving as interim pastor while the church conducts its pastoral search.
First EMC – Sweetwater, TX.
Sweetwater has been historically a vital center for commerce as a railway hub, a manufacturing area, and cattle. Currently the town is in the middle of the huge gas and oil resurgence of west Texas and is projected to almost double in population over the next 10-20 years. They continue to seek God’s direction as they wait on his timing regarding the call of their next pastor.
Community EMC – Thomasville, NC.
Community EMC meets in a nice facility in a great location in Thomasville, North Carolina. The county is famous for its yearly Lexington Barbecue Festival, which brings in over 100,000 visitors from all over the southeastern U.S. The PRC is in the process of interviewing candidates and hopes to select a potential candidate in the next month or so. Please continue to pray with them in this.
The Kerusso – December | 2018
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
For those of you with EMC credentials … if reading about any of these communities and churches sparks an interest
in your heart, commit the matter to serious prayer and if you feel led to explore the possibility of an interview with a search committee, contact one of the Conference Superintendents and they will guide you through the process. True Hope and Christ Church are being supervised by Rev. Brian Hammond while the remaining 4 congregations have Rev. Kevin Brouillette as their lead superintendent. And for everyone else reading about these churches, won’t you take a few sacrificial minutes to pray for each church individually, that God will bring to them the very candidate that He has already marked out to shepherd these precious people. Thank you, and may God’s will be done - “Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)
We Celebrate with These Congregations as New Pastors Arrive wareHouse EMC in Marshfield, MO, welcomes Pastor Byron Wilmoth Everyone is welcome at wareHouse!, but the church is especially passionate about reaching out to unchurched millennials and Gen-Xer’s, as well as the dechurched of their community. It’s in their DNA. Byron, his wife Stephanie, and their daughter Bella are making the move from Virginia to Missouri this month as the church has called Pastor Byron to serve as their next lead pastor. Pastor Byron is gifted in music ministry and loves to share God’s truth in preaching and teaching. His hobbies are music theory, guitar, and motorcycles. Stephanie has a love of crafts, reading, and woodworking, and Bella enjoys art and music.
LifePoint Community EMC in Red Oak, TX welcomes Pastor Eric Bey LifePoint Community is a multi-generational congregation with lots of opportunity for growth. The children’s program is excellent and is staffed with outstanding volunteers. The Pastoral Relations Committee and LifePoint hosted Pastor Bey and his family on November 4th and elected to call him as their next Senior Pastor. As you can see, Eric and his wife Natalie have six amazing and beautiful children from 2 to 13 years old, whom they homeschool. The Beys are excited to see how God will use all of them to grow the LifePoint family of believers. Pastor Eric is a teacher by nature and gifting. His greatest joy is to preach the gospel and help God’s people grow in grace and knowledge. He plays competitive racquetball, and disc golf, but loves all sports!
EMC’s Remodeled Website is Ready! We are happy to announce that after a much-needed facelift, the refreshed EMC website is ready to be revealed! The web address remains the same at https://emchurch.org. Click the link today, and take a look at all the renewed and brand-new information. Pastors, especially, can help us by clicking on the FIND A CHURCH tab, check out your church contact information, and let us know if something needs to be corrected.
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Upcoming “Journey” Meetings Unbelievable, but 2019 is just around the corner! We encourage you to make plans NOW regarding which of the 4 regional Journey meetings you will attend this coming year. The USA Conference Superintendents host these meetings with the goals of encouraging, informing, and equipping the local church and its leaders through inspirational presentations, impacting worship services, and informative teaching sessions. The ONE PRIMARY REASON why they are hosting connectional meetings in FOUR LOCATIONS is this - - to make it easier and less expensive for you and your church members to attend. That is the only reason! They won’t be doing four because it is easier or more convenient for the denomination, but so that it will be more convenient for pastors and local churches. Designed with you in mind, it is our hope that your church will send many lay people to Journey this year, to be equipped and encouraged.
The theme of this year’s Journey meetings is “Further Together” The Arizona City details are set, and the informational flyer is pictured below, and was included as a separate attachment to this month’s Kerusso email. Please note that we have needed to make a change in the hotel accommodation plan since last month’s Kerusso was published. If you are traveling from a distance, you will need to choose, and make your own hotel arrangements. We were not able to secure a satisfactory block of rooms at a hotel that we felt comfortable with given the fact that January is the height of the tourist season in Arizona. Several different hotel options are listed on the flyer, each affording differing quality standards and accompanying pricing. If you book now, you can still find affordable availability, but a block of rooms at one site did not present itself as feasible. We apologize for the change, and thank you for understanding.
Four options for 2019 The locations and dates for USA Journey meetings are: • • •
• • • •
Arizona City EMC, Arizona City, AZ January 9-10 (all day) Refuge Ministries EMC, Copperas Cove, TX. March 19-20 (all day)
EMC Journey 2019
Arizona City, AZ January 9-10 Registration information Event Registration: $25 /person Optional Evening Meal Plans: Plan A: 2 Meals - $15 per person Plan B: 1 Meal - $7.50 per person Plan C: No Evening Meals
Please register by: December 31st, 2018 kparsons@emchurch.org 252-339-1414
Lodging (arrange on your own)
A few host homes are available by request. Casa Grande, AZ (10 minutes away): Comfort Inn - (520) 421-9878 Super 8 Casa Grande - (520) 421-9878 Holiday Inn Express - (520) 509-6333 Chandler, AZ (45 minutes away): Holiday Inn Express - (480) 785-7377
Wednesday, January 9th 8:00am Registration opens 9:00am – 10:15am Opening Worship & Welcome - Max Edwards 10:30am – 12:00pm L.I.F.T. - Laity Seminar - Bill & Lisa Walker Clergy Seminar - TrueLife.org - Ernie Smith 12:00pm
Lunch on your own / Clergy luncheon onsite
1:30pm – 3:00pm
L.I.F.T. - Laity Seminar - Bill & Lisa Walker Executive Clergy Session - Superintendents
3:15pm – 4:30pm
Joint Session - Ministering to At-risk persons Bob and Lisa Margaron
5:00pm 6:00pm
Dinner onsite ($7.50) Worship - Mark Quiroz
Thursday, January 10th 9:00am – 10:00am
Morning Worship Service - Wes Mackey Special Missions Offering to be Received
10:15am – 10:45am
3 speaker “Lightning Round” -
(A brief presentation by breakout speakers) 11:00am – 12:00pm Breakout Sessions (choose one of three) 12:00pm
Kingdom EMC, Westover, WV May 7-8 (all day)
Lunch on your own / EMW luncheon onsite Ladies Luncheon - Tammy Hammond
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Breakout Sessions (choose one of three)
2:45pm – 3:30pm
Afternoon Panel Discussion: Politics, Culture, & the Church
Crossroads Community Church, Nampa, ID May 20-22 (begins with dinner on the 20th – concludes at noon the 22nd)
Plan now to attend
5:00pm 6:00pm
Dinner onsite ($7.50) Worship - Jim Halbert Ordination - Max Edwards
(See page 2 for additional information regarding breakouts and speakers)
The Kerusso – December | 2018
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Intersect Community Church - Moscow, Idaho Intersect at the Park, by Pastor Michelle Ellinwood The church (ecclesia) is a people not a place. This is fundamental to who Intersect is and how we function as a body. We are a small church plant that meets in the event room of a children’s indoor play-center, so we are non-traditional to say the least. As a collective body and as individuals, we attempt to live in an intentional rhythm of: “UP” (passionate spirituality), “IN” (radical community), and “OUT”(missional zeal). As we moved towards the summer of 2018, we decided to do an analysis of our situation. After the long, cold winter months in Northern Idaho people tend to spend their summer months enjoying the outdoors; camping, hiking, traveling, etc. This leaves attendance at Sunday morning worship service sporadic at best. We decided to use the change in season as an opportunity to be intentional about our mission Taking advantage of the beautiful park system in our community, we shifted to Intersect at the Park for the months of July and August, which allowed us to enjoy the beautiful season and meet the community all at once. Each Sunday, we did worship, a short sermon, kid’s activities and lunch. As an expression of our mission to bring the love of Jesus to children & families, we culminated our park experience with a Corn Hole Tournament Fundraiser to support our local foster families. It felt risky, but was truly an amazing experience!
YOUTH RALLY REPORT: The 2018 National Youth Rally was a great success! We want to thank all of the leaders and their volunteers at all three locations who helped to make it such an impactful time for so many. Students were challenged to go deeper in their walk with Jesus and were also provided fun and engaging activities. Having a shared online experience with other church youth groups allowed our students to know they are not alone in their walk with Jesus. They grasped the reality that their struggles are not locally unique, but nationally shared. At Kingdom in Westover, WV the altars were full at every service and in their last service, waves of kids traveled to the altar for a time of prayer that lasted more than an hour. Many tears were shed and confessions made. At Riverside in Salem, VA students were challenged to spend quality time with God by praying and reading His Word. An epic Fortnite Battle Royale was also waged with over 50 Nerf Guns! Planning for next year is already under way, and we can’t wait for what God is going to do.
Thanks for reading! “May the Lord bless you and keep you . . .”
Numbers 6:24