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2020
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The Kerusso – July | 2020
Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Journey 2020 | To Be Broadcast Live from EMC Headquarters! Last month, after canceling the first 3 Journeys of 2020, given the governmental restrictions in place at the time and the varied re-opening phases, the superintendents made the decision to not host the 4th and final Journey of 2020, planned for June in North Carolina. Given that decision, and having been inspired and encouraged by the insightful work of churches and pastors around the country who have labored to creatively connect during these last many weeks, we are going to host an electronic USA Journey meeting from the Heritage Learning Center at EMC Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana on Sunday - Tuesday, July 26-28. As early plans began we recognized that meeting electronically and remaining engaged for several hours requires a bit of stamina. An even greater challenge is spanning four different time zones. With these factors in mind, it was decided to plan for three shorter sessions rather than one long one. The Sunday night session will be 90 minutes of Word and Worship, with a few other segments along the way. Then the Monday and Tuesday sessions will both be just an hour long. Monday will be informative and fast-paced with a worship time that will be more family focused. Tuesday evening will be more about leadership with a report from our International General Superintendent and a closing time of prayer for every church and pastor led by the Conference Superintendents. Yes, this year’s Journey will be a little different! Yes, we will look forward to joining together again in face-to-face meetings in future years! But just as you didn’t allow distancing restrictions to keep your local church people from connecting during this pandemic, we urge you to not allow these differences to keep you and your people from connecting with others across the EMC!! We would love to see hundreds of church members, leaders, and pastors gathering with us during these three sessions. You may even wish to gather some of your church family to watch together. The sessions will be broadcast on the denomination’s Facebook account. We are working on those details, and will have all of those technical issues ironed out well in advance of the late July sessions. EMC pastors will also be invited to join a live Zoom meeting with other pastors in their geographic region during the days of Monday and Tuesday, so look for that information to come as we settle on connection times for each of our eight regions. And lastly, please note that in the days following the Journey sessions, all credential holders will be sent an electronic form to record their own attendance for the main sessions. As with every normal year, if you cannot attend Journey for some reason, please contact your Superintendent to request an excused absence. (¶404)
The Kerusso – July | 2020
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
The Church Never Closed
Russ Cochran, Refuge Ministries, Copperas Cove, TX There was great excitement in gathering together for worship again. Let me back up, our church (Refuge-Ministries) never closed. Yes, we cut back on our office hours, meetings in the church building, and organized events, but we had been preparing for this. The church had left the building. I was excited to worship together and celebrate all that God had done in us, through us, and in spite of us. In 28 years of pastoring I had never seen anything like this pandemic. The church had to adjust on the fly and the training they had received would be tested. How will the church services and ministries operate? How will we help those in need? How will we teach and preach? And let’s not forget the dreaded, how will we make budget? I have to say it was an honor to watch our church pass the test with flying colors. It was time for the disciples to show the love of Christ and they did just that. They took care of the widows, helped a mom who had to go into quarantine for Covid-19 (whose husband was serving the army oversees), helped a man who had surgery take care of his property, and took care of each other. New ministries were started, people were saved, and the church family actually grew during it all. Why? Because we had prepared for this. The church was already loving, fellowshipping, encouraging, and caring for each other as the Bible teaches us in the book of Acts. Not once did I hear, “that’s the pastors job”. Actually what happened was I heard how others had helped those in need and I kind of felt left out. I have to admit, they may not need me anymore but I think I will stay as long as they will let me. So we spread the chairs out, put out more hand sanitizers, and cleaned really well. Most of all we just wanted to celebrate what God had done and continues to do in us, through us, and in spite of us. What was it like to “Reopen”? I don’t know. Because even though the building was shut down the Church never closed.
The “Connect NOW” project As you know, the Connection Magazine is a publication of the Evangelical Methodist Church. The Mission of the magazine is to “Connect people of all cultures and to promote the work of the Kingdom by communicating stories of changed lives.” A few months ago as the Covid-19 pandemic was exploding, our people and churches were walking through a variety of challenges and changes. In most places, social distancing guidelines necessitated the suspension of public gatherings as pastors and leaders had to strategize how to keep connections alive with folks that were sheltering in place. The administrative and writing staff of the “Connection” magazine met to discuss what we could do in the middle of the crisis that would fulfill our mission and encourage and inspire our people. Out of that discussion, the temporary “Connect NOW” project was born. For the last 9 weeks, folks from around the country have been sharing their thoughts and their stories. We hope you have been reading them as they have been shared each Wednesday, but the entire series will continue to be available via our electronic publishing host, “ISSUU.” All you need to do to access any of the nine articles is navigate to our EMC website and click on the “Connection Magazine” link or simply click here. Below the current issue of the “Connection” you can then click on the words: “CLICK HERE FOR OTHER ONLINE PUBLICATIONS.” That will take you to the archived library of all of our electronic publications including old “Connection” magazines, past issues of the monthly “Kerusso,” and all nine of the “Connect NOW” articles published weekly from the end of April and throughout May and June. Below the EMC logo, look for the clickable word “stacks” to limit your search to a particular set of publications to review. They will continue to be held there in the future for your enjoyment and edification.
The Kerusso – July | 2020
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Advance Care Planning What is Advance Care Planning? Why is it important? by: Drew Hazen
Amidst COVID-19 uncertainties, there are many conversations about what we can do to support our families, churches, and communities. I imagine you’re thinking, “Not another conversation about COVID-19.” I understand. We are exhausted from changing news updates and adapting our lifestyle, our church activities, and community interactions. Perhaps this article will offer a different viewpoint and a call to love. I want to invite you into the perspective of an EMC hospice chaplain who has one eye on the medical community and the other eye on the church community. Many churches have shown incredible neighborly love to their local medical communities through prayer, meals, and donations. What more can we do, especially when there is another potential spike in cases for hospitals to manage? Chaplain Drew Hazen
One tangible action you can take is to encourage your church families to complete personal Advance Care Plans (ACPs). Chaplains regularly discuss ACPs with patients and families. These conversations can be difficult as they spell out an individual’s wishes for specific life-saving and life-sustaining measures. Families can be hesitant to complete ACPs because they want theological input from their local clergy. You can imagine these decisions are exponentially more stressful and weighty when a family is first discussing these options in the hospital during an unexpected crisis on behalf of an incapacitated loved one. This grievous family situation can be avoided if individuals solidify their wishes ahead of time through a legal document that spells out personally chosen, advance care directives.
Start the Conversation
Talk about Advance Care Planning
The title of this form varies from state to state, in Idaho where I live, this document is called a Physician Order for Scope of Treatment form, or “POST.” The POST (or similar form) provides an individual the ability to spell out the particular medical interventions they prefer, instead of placing the burden of those decisions on others, including family and medical personnel.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Chaplains J. D. Henry and Drew Hazen initiated a conversation with the USA Superintendents about these issues, and we agreed that these kinds of discussions among family members should be encouraged by pastors and leaders across the EMC. We asked Drew to write this article, and Keystone Hospice has graciously created a helpful 16-minute video that urges folks to begin to have ACP conversations with their loved ones. You can view it by clicking here. Putting an Advance Care Plan in place can relieve family stress, and offer love amidst the COVID crisis and beyond.