General Superintendent's Communique
Fall 2004

Myanmar Missions Trip in February 2005 has several pastors planning on attending with myself. The cost will be $2100. I encourage you to ask your local church to underwrite the cost of this trip for you. There will be teaching and preaching opportunities. The singing of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Myanmar is one of the most delightful experiences you will ever hear. If you plan on coming you need to secure your passport immediately. The first week of January we will be applying for visas and that can take several weeks. In order to secure the group airfare we will need a $1000 submitted to Headquarters by December 1, 2004 and the balance by January 20, 2005

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is November 14th. The 2002 General Conference adopted this event as a denomination wide Sunday. There are more than 200 million reasons why the EMC should pray for the Persecuted Church! That’s because more than 200 MILLION brothers and sisters suffer for the sake of Christ. There is a free pastor’s kit for you. Go to opendoorsusa.org and click on ‘IDOP’.

Thanksgiving Missions Offering in November. This offering has become a vital part of our missions program for the EMC. I love the fact that our denomination does not micro manage the local church missions program. Although, I am disturbed if a local church does not at least support one of our EMC fields or missionaries in the local church missions budget. When it comes to the annual Thanksgiving Offering I believe every credential holder of a EMC local church or independent church has an ethical obligation to participate. This is not law, but sanctified commitment to our ordination vows as part of the EMC clergy family. I ask you to begin planning now for receiving an offering(s). The goal is $10 a member. HQ will be sending the local churches posters for display. Let’s ask God for $25,000 this year and 100% participation.

Preaching Institute—Wesley Biblical Seminary—January 20-22, 2005 will be a study of Daniel and Revelation. It will be an opportunity to gain insight in preaching from the Apocalyptic literature of the Bible. The two outstanding leaders for the Institute are Dr. John Oswalt and Dr. Charles Lake. Dr. Oswalt will be presenting the exegetical aspects of Daniel and their parallel counterparts with the Revelation. Dr. Lake will present and model how to organize and plan your sermons from these two books. Every year our pastors develop their personal drafts of sermon outlines, ideas on how to preach sermon series, and development of their exegetical skills in ’rightly dividing’ the Word. When you attend the Preaching Institute the goal is to make you successful in the preaching and pastoral ministry. Every local church should place in their annual church budget the cost of the Preaching Institute for a week of study for their pastor. The local church should expect a return on their investment of excellence in communication, delivery and content! Go to: www.wbs.edu - registration begins soon.

Ministry/Lay Conference & Chamberlain Holiness Lectures at WBS are on October 4-7, 2004. The theme is ‘The Pursuit of God’. Myself and some of the district superintendents attend this annual event. This is an approved CEU event. Contact WBS: www.wbs.edu for information (601-366-8880).

2004 Journal is on CD Rom. We have mailed to each pastor the Journal along with individual Minutes and Statistics from each District Conference. This has cut the cost for each district by two thirds. Printing shops can take the PDF file and make bound copies or you can make your own stapled or three-hole punched copies. This makes the whole Journal available to each local church member if they desire a copy. HQ has bound copies that cost $15.00 plus shipping if you wish to order one.

Friend Day in September/October. The General Board of Evangelism has mailed the announcement to all the churches. There will be a response card for each church to use. More than 90% of all people who join a church do so because someone they know invited them. This program works while annually training and reminding your people to be outward focused. For additional resources and ideas go to: www.churchgrowth.org

National EMW recongintion Sunday, September 26th. This is a Sunday we highlight our women’s ministries in our local churches. It is your opportunity to recognize the ‘backbone’ of many churches—our ladies.

Sign up for the GS Prayer Partners email online. This is mine and Loretta’s personal burdens and needs shared with the EMC family. Our partners make a commitment to pray for us using Paul’s prayer for the Colossians in 1:9-12. We ask you to share this with your people in your Sunday bulletin or church newsletter and allow them the opportunity to pray for us.

The EMC Endowment was approved by the General Council. This endowment will be the umbrella for all restricted funds. I invite you to check out the information at our EMC download center under the General Council 2004 minutes. www.emchurch.org/downloads. The user name and password are the same, ‘emcdownloads’.

Wesleyan Investment Foundation (WIF) has been adopted by the General Council for church building loans for the EMC. The GEF loan program of the General Church will be phased out. WIF receives their funds from individuals and churches. They have over 3500 investors, including individuals who are members of EMC churches. It is a ‘win-win’ for the Kingdom. The initial institution was started in 1959 as a ‘savings and loan’ institution for the Wesleyan Church. All applications and questions will be answered at the WIF offices. Go to www.savewithwif.com. (317.774.7300)

Resource to be aware of: citizenlink@family.org will provide you and your local church with issues facing the family and the attack on our biblical values.

The Two Annual Church General Conference Reports (statistical and church information) can be filled out online at the website: emchurch.org beginning in January 2005. From the website they will be sent to your district statistician or secretary and copies to the general statistician. If you would like a hard copy mailed to you, contact Headquarters. A hard copy can also be obtained from the website: go to www.emchurch.org/downloads. The link requires a user name and password—both are “emcdownloads.” You can use this as an attachment once it is downloaded or use it as a worksheet for entering the data online. Pastors of our local Evangelical Methodist Churches, this statistical report serves as your written report. (Discipline, par. 436) If you are pastoring an approved non-EMC church you should still submit the statistical report. The Church Information sheet is due following you Annual Church Conference. This form cannot be completed until your annual church conference.

Dr. Edward W. Williamson
P. O. Box 17070
Indianapolis, IN 46217

Phone: 317-780-8017 Fax: 317-780-8078
E-mail: generalsuperintendent@emchurch.org

2005 Annual District Conference Dates
March 10-12 Southwest Conference
March 17-18 Northwest Conference
Mar. 31-April 2 Mid-States Conference

April 26-28 Atlantic Conference
May 18-20 Central Lakes Conference
June 21-23 Southern Conference