The Kerusso – April | 2025
Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
34th General Conference | Indianapolis, IN | July 21-24, 2026 It is time to mark your planning calendars for the EMC’s General Conference gathering, to be held in Indianapolis in the summer of 2026. SAVE THE DATE – 7/21 thru 7/24 We are enjoying life-giving connections during our regional “Journey” meetings around the country in 2025, and we anticipate an equally thrilling time as EMC’ers come together from all over the country to enjoy good food, good fellowship, Christ-honoring worship, and inspiring speakers. One of the keynote presenters will be Pastor Karl Vaters, whom God has used to encourage and equip thousands through his Helping Small Churches Thrive teaching. Karl’s “small church” threshold is 350, and truly his wisdom applies to churches of all sizes between house churches and megachurches. Here is what Karl has to say about his mission and message: “Small churches don’t appeal to everyone. But, as it turns out, they do appeal to most people. More followers of Jesus have a=ended small churches in the last 2,000 years than any other type of church. That doesn’t mean they’re the best way to do church (we believe the “best” way is whatever works for the people who need it), but as the most popular type of church in existence, they need to receive more a=enGon, support and encouragement than they typically have. Small churches make up 80% – 90% of the known churches in the world, but are the subject of probably less than 1% of the books and blogs about how to do church ministry. Small churches are no be=er and no worse than churches of any other size. But they have been the most neglected, especially when it comes to pastoral training. We want to help fill that gap. We exist to help small churches thrive. That’s not just a slogan – it’s what we actually do. We want to see be=er, stronger, healthier small churches, led by passionate, prayerful, capable, innovaGve and loving pastors. We believe being small is not a problem to fix, but a strategy God wants to use.
Karl Vaters
Most small church leaders have not been told that – or at least they haven’t been told it enough. If we can help turn up the volume on that message, we will have done what we set out to do.” Excerpted from Pastor Vater’s website: h7ps://karlvaters.com/start-here/about-us/