The Kerusso – July | 2025 Special Vision
This is the THIRD installment of the five-part “Vision Edition” of the Kerusso, with each exploring one of our current denominational priorities, which are how we hope to advance our overall organizational mission.
The first page of each weekly edition is a reminder of our primary organizational mission. Page 2 focuses on current achievements, and page 3 looks at future goals regarding Aspiring to Holiness.
The Evangelical Methodist Church: Who We Are
Worship - Our first calling is to worship God in spirit and truth.
Discipleship - We are called to a lifelong journey of learning and growing in Christ. Holiness - We must always strive to live a life set apart for God. Evangelism - We are to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don't know Him.
This is the EMC, and it is what our local churches are doing, domestically and abroad!
Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Aspiring to Holiness
The Apostle John did not mince words when talking about taking on the character of Christ: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked ” (1 John 2:6) This is precisely the same sentiment that the writer of Hebrews conveyed when they wrote: “Work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
Without Christlikeness, nothing else we do matters much. And it isn’t enough to ADMIRE holiness as if to see it afar off, and like the looks of it in others. We absolutely must ASPIRE TO holiness in ourselves. As the definition of aspire indicates, we must engage our personal ambition toward becoming holy, as He is holy.
1. It All Comes Down to Modeling Servanthood … Christlike Living
The members of the leadership team at the helm of the EMC have each committed to pursuing holiness of heart and life. The practical implications of that pursuit include an all-out commitment to unity, honesty, transparency, and surrendered accountability. The greatest gift parents can give to their children is purity and faithfulness in marriage, and in like manner, we know that one of the greatest gifts we as leaders can give to our people is that same kind of honest transparency that is both attractive and God-honoring
All of our pastors and churches receive routine reports and communication from the Superintendents and the General Council regarding news from across the denomination, as well as ministry and financial reports that give an honest and open picture of where we are.
2. Financial Integrity and Transparency
The EMC has a long-standing record of fiscal integrity. Our corporate books are professionally audited or reviewed every year, and we are proud that our audit reports are clean. But beyond clear audits lies a need for clean and trusted communication - an openness about our finances, whether they are good or bad. That kind of transparency builds trust, and we have been working hard to increase openness and trust across the board in our financial matters. We are hearing that our fiscal transparency is making a real difference in the trust relationship between our churches and our ministry office.
3. Monthly Superintendent Prayer Meetings Open to Pastors
Holiness is Christlikeness, and no one modeled a consistent and impactful prayer life better than Jesus himself. Prayer increases our dependence on God; it enhances intimacy with the Holy Spirit; and it puts us in the same posture as our great intercessor, Jesus Christ.
The Cabinet of Superintendents has been meeting in monthly prayer meetings for many years running. Our meeting is normally conducted by ZOOM on the first Thursday of each month. Because we have to coordinate the complexities of four different travel schedules, we sometimes meet on a later Thursday. Most recently, we have begun to invite all the pastors across the USA Conference to join us for the second half of the hour that we spend in prayer together. It is usually not a large group, but somewhere between 8-15 pastors have been joining us, which has been mutually encouraging and beneficial.
An email invitation will be routinely sent to our pastors, welcoming their attendance and participation, but here is the ZOOM link that can take you into the meeting space: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88508710158?pwd=nPBZvTikYako65umtRQhGXSLeg1QoF.1 Meeting ID: 885 0871 0158 Passcode: 464646. The time is normally 11:30am Eastern Time, and we’ll let you know if it will be on a different day from the first Thursday of the month.
What’s on the Horizon for Aspiring to Holiness?
Aspiring to holiness is a pursuit – it should not be thought of as a permanent destination at which you arrive. But just because we continually aspire to holiness does not mean that it is never actually attainable. By the power of the Holy Spirit, others may see that we have come to a place of perfect love. Maybe it would be helpful to think of the pursuit of holiness as the pursuit of humility. If a person were convinced they had arrived at humility, that would most likely be the best indicator that it has still somewhat eluded them.
In our continual pursuit of holiness, we must follow the advice of Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith …”
As we think about the greatest hindrances to holiness, two things have risen in the minds of the Superintendents, and they are things that will occupy our planning and work as we move forward in this quadrennium and into the next:
1. We plan to incorporate more conversations and training opportunities to confront specific issues related to addictive behaviors, and mental and moral purity.
We know that the statistics are staggering regarding how many men are regularly tapping into pornographic imagery. And while we might wish that the numbers are better when it comes to those in ministry, unfortunately, they are not!
There are already plans being laid for training sessions on these sorts of topics in future conferences, both at our General Conference in 2026 and in future Journey meetings. We cannot simply ignore the realities … we must speak into these things so that our ministry corps can find deliverance, healing, and accountability.
Addressing these issues will require a multi-faceted approach centered on grace, accountability, and holistic support. A grace-filled approach can help to avoid simply driving the struggle further underground. We choose to prioritize creating safe spaces for honest confession and genuine healing. This involves equipping leaders with a deeper understanding of addiction, providing access to professional counseling and recovery programs, and implementing restorative policies that allow for repentance and rehabilitation without the automatic threat of career loss.
2. We will be seeking how we can encourage accountability groups among ministers, leaning into existing systems and models such as 3DM, and 5Q, or the further development of our own model that we introduced some years ago … 3C (Connect / Cultivate / Commit).
“3D Movements” uses small group connections called “Huddles” to provide accountability. Huddles are small, intentional groups, typically consisting of 4-8 individuals who commit to meeting regularly for mutual support, challenge, and growth. This is deeply similar to John Wesley’s use of “Societies,” smaller groups of 10-12 known as “Class Meetings”, and subsets of 2-5 persons that he called “Bands.”
5Q is an understanding regarding church leadership that is team-approached regarding the five-fold ministry described in Ephesians 4:11-12. This is in contrast to the leadership model that is in place in many of our churches, which sees the pastor as the solo leader (the CEO if you will), rather than as a partner serving alongside others with the Holy Spirit as the one true head of the church. A team approach to ministry leadership can enhance accountability and guard against burnout, as well as an over-emphasis on a more dictatorial model that isolates, rather than connects, pastoral leaders.
