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The Kerusso – November | 2018 Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”

Emory Street Church (Flora, Illinois) – Roof Repair Project Pastor George Coble and the members of Emory Street EMC in Flora, Illinois wish to express their appreciation for the hard work of some special volunteers who tackled the task of replacing the roof on their fellowship hall. Last month, on October 1st and 2nd, a team of our EMC men traveled from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Missouri to “climb” into the project. Superintendents Wes Mackey and Brian Hammond, Pastor Brian Gordon, and Brian Booth worked hard over the course of a few days to remove the old shingles, repair any roof damage, and then give it a brand-new shingled surface! Pastor George and one of the local church members, Wesley, worked on the ground while Emory’s own Miss Pearl worked in her kitchen providing these hungry men some great food! What a special gift of sweat-equity by these brave and willing men! The fellowship hall and porch were completed, while the more steeply pitched sanctuary remains in need of replacement. We’ll keep you posted as to how that will be approached. It will almost surely require a professional crew. Emory Street EMC is not a large congregation. They are a delightful church with a love for their community, but their Sunday worship numbers are not in the hundreds, nor the dozens. When they gather to praise, pray, and look into God’s word, their attendance is 10-12, but they truly love God and love people, and as we surely know, JESUS LOVES THEM.

Small Churches Matter All we need to do is read the story of the widow’s mite to be reminded that God isn’t impressed by big numbers. Instead, he is moved by big hearts and big sacrifice. Understanding this principle clarifies that the roof project in Flora is about more than just a few pastors, lay people, and superintendents doing some physical labor. It is about the fact that God cares about each church regardless of their size or statistical report. And because HE cares, it is vitally important that we do as well. While it seems to be the larger churches that consistently make headlines and capture broad attention, every single weekend in this country more people worship in churches that are less than 100 in attendance. A 2016 study conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religious research reveals that nearly 60% of American churches are small congregations. Now, it should be said that we do not glorify “small” any more than we should glorify “large.” Truth is, we WANT growth in the kingdom; growth in our people; and growth in our churches. But we rejoice in people. Every single person matters! *****

Remember to Reset Your Clocks on November 3 rd If you live in an area that observes Daylight Savings Time, don’t forget to reset your clocks on Saturday night, the 3rd. You wouldn’t want to show up for church an hour early J. But if you do, you could always spend the extra time praying!

The Kerusso – November | 2018

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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”

EMC Journey 2019 Arizona City, AZ

January 9-10

Registration information

Wednesday, January 9th

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

8:00am 9:00am – 10:15am 10:30am – 12:00pm

Lodging: $120/night including tax A limited number of host homes are available by request.

Registration opens Opening Worship & Welcome - Max Edwards L.I.F.T. - Laity Seminar - Bill & Lisa Walker Clergy Seminar - TrueLife.org - Ernie Smith

12:00pm 1:30pm – 3:00pm

Lunch on your own / Clergy luncheon onsite L.I.F.T. - Laity Seminar - Bill & Lisa Walker Executive Clergy Session - Superintendents

Comfort Inn - 2145 E. Florence Blvd., Casa Grande, AZ, 85122

3:15pm – 4:30pm

Joint Session - Ministering to At-risk persons

Registration Deadline: December 17th, 2018

5:00pm 6:00pm

Bob and Lisa Margaron Dinner onsite ($7.50) Worship - Mark Quiroz

To register (including lodging): kparsons@emchurch.org 252-339-1414

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” -

11:00am – 12:00pm

(A brief presentation by breakout speakers) Breakout Sessions (choose one of three)

12:00pm

Lunch on your own / EMW luncheon onsite Ladies Luncheon - Tammy Hammond

1:30pm – 2:30pm 2:45pm – 3:30pm

Breakout Sessions (choose one of three) Afternoon Panel Discussion: Politics, Culture, & the Church

Plan now to attend

5:00pm 6:00pm

Dinner onsite ($7.50) Worship / Ordination Service

The Kerusso – November | 2018

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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”

Evangelical Methodist Church Board of World Missions P.O. Box 17070, Indianapolis, IN 46217

Annual EMC Missions Offering As we move into the Fall season and approach Thanksgiving, we want to say a very special “THANK YOU” to all who gave in last year’s November Missions Offering! We are pleased to report that our four international conferences (Mexico, Myanmar, Asia Pacific and Christ for all Nations) are self-funded in their day-to-day operations; they depend on God - not on us. In a time when the EMC Board of World Missions has no ‘in-country’ missionaries, we strategically partner with the leaders of our global conferences to help them as they reach the many ethnic groups in their respective parts of the world. To this end, the November Missions Offering is one way all EMC USA MEMBERS can impact God’s work around the world. Each of our global conferences has been asked to let us know about a worthy project. The Board of World Missions will evenly distribute this year’s offering between these four, once all funds have been received: EMC Asia Pacific: Church Planting They have been planting about one church per month for several years, and now have more congregations than in EMC USA. Your gift will help train pastors and cover expenses during the critical first year. EMC Myanmar: Church Partnership For years churches in the U.S. have helped with church buildings. Congregations are strong, but this helps their credibility and stability in the community. Your gift will help young and old congregations alike achieve the otherwise impossible need of having their own building.

EMC Mexico: Satura Project “Satura” means “saturate” in English. Our brothers and sisters are using OMS’ “train and multiply” method to plant churches through discipleship. Your gifts are bearing fruit—several new congregations are forming. Having a person to head this for EMC Mexico will be key to the success. Your gifts will help with that cost. EMC Christ for all Nations (Canada, Europe, Africa): Bus Program This is not your typical bus picking up neighborhood kids for Sunday School. In Africa, there is little public transportation. These busses will be used for business during the week, and church rides on Sundays. This is known as “business as mission,” and will help make your gift sustainable as the business profits will go to support the mission work in the CFAN conference. Our goal is to receive at least $10 per person. One way to raise this is to forego coffee and carbonated drinks during November and contribute what you would have spent on those items. Whatever method you choose, we thank you in advance for your sacrificial gift for missions. Serving Christ Globally, EMC Board of World Missions Chair

Your missions offering will be collected at your local church throughout the month of November and then forwarded on to EMC Headquarters at the end of the month.

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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”

Please Join an Online Class to Learn More About Church Community Builder (CCB) “Church Community Builder” is a software package that the EMC headquarters office uses as a primary database for contact and status information on credential holders, pastors and spouses, and other leaders across the denomination. You may recognize it by the nickname “CCB.” The beauty of the software is that it is web-based, which means anyone with internet access can use it, and benefit from it. More importantly, it is designed to help us connect with one another. It is how the office manages the data and ongoing ministries of the EMC. It is used for record-keeping, communication, and board and committee organization. It can also help you connect with other pastors and people in your region of the country. In order to help you begin to use CCB, we are offering an online informational class which will guide you through the basics of managing your own profile as well as to equip you with a working knowledge of how to use it to connect with people. CCB 101 will help you with Logins, Updating your profile, Email, and Messages. CCB 102 will be specifically for Group Leaders with training in managing your groups and communicating with your group participants. In order for you to join the class, you will need to be on a computer with a webcam, and microphone and will need to have downloaded a free program called “ZOOM” (which is like Skype) to connect the class together as video participants. Anyone interested in joining the “Zoom” classes should contact Karen Parsons by emailing her at kparsons@emchurch.org with the date and time slot that works best for you. Please pay close attention to the different dates and times zones. We are hosting both CCB 101 and CCB 102 two times on November 8th, (one morning, and one evening set), and again on November 15th so that whether you live in the Eastern US or out in the Wild, Wild West or somewhere in between, you will be able to pick a time that works for you. Eastern Time Zone Thursday, November 8th

Pacific Time Zone Thursday, November 15th

CCB 101: 9am-10am CCB 102: 10am-11am

CCB 101: 6pm-7pm CCB 102: 7pm-8pm

Our desire is for each class segment to include no more than 7-8 participants so that each person can be properly coached, and so that every question can be answered. Depending upon how many have signed up when you call, you may be asked to shift to a second time preference, and/or we may need to add additional class times in future weeks until everyone that wants to participate in a class can do so. When you contact Karen, she will make a separate 10-minute appointment with you before the day the class is held to make sure you know how to logon to the CCB software, as well as know how to use “ZOOM” for the class session.

Thanks for reading! “May the Lord bless you and keep you . . .”

Numbers 6:24