Southeast Region Evangelical Missiological Society
Theme: Ecclesiology and Mission
Location:
North Greenville University
P.O. Box 1892
7801 N. Tigerville Road
Tigerville, SC 29688-1892
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Register at : https://ems.regfox.com/ems-southeast-regional-conference-2025
Plenary Speaker: Dr. Travis Kerns
Dr. Travis Kerns | Associational Mission Strategist for the Three Rivers Baptist Association
We are excited to announce that our plenary speaker for this year’s EMS Southeast Regional Meeting is Dr. Travis Kerns. Dr. Kerns, the current Associational Mission Strategist for the Three Rivers Baptist Association received his bachelor’s degree in 1999 from North Greenville University, his Master of Divinity degree in 2004 from the Southern Baptist Seminary, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2009 from the Southern Baptist Seminary. He brings valuable ecclesiological and missiological knowledge from many different academic and church contexts.
In the academic context, Dr. Kerns has served as Assistant Professor of Christian Worldview & Apologetics at the Southern Seminary and Associate Professor of Apologetics & World Religions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the church context, Dr. Kerns has served as Minister of Youth and Education at Mountain Creek Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, the Senior Pastor of Morningside Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, Pastor of Multiplication and Leadership at Risen Life Church in Salt Lake City, UT, and Associate Pastor for Missions at Lane Prairie Baptist Church in Joshua, TX.
Dr. Kerns has also served as a Send City Missionary in Salt Lake City, Utah with the North American Mission Board, working daily with missionaries, pastors, and church planters in the Salt Lake metropolitan region. He also worked with the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention as Associate Director of the Church Planting Network. Dr. Kerns, along with 2 others, planted Oquirrh Mountain Cowboy Church. In 2021, Dr. Kerns became the Associational Mission Strategist for the Three Rivers Baptist Association.
The Call for Papers for the Regional Meeting is Now Closed
The church is the Body of Christ in the world. It is the embodiment of the gospel and commissioned to reproduce itself among all nations. Its expression is diverse and continually evolving as it interfaces with the changing world it is sent into. The church came into being as the community of Jesus’ witnesses who were commanded to go out to their neighbors, towns, cities, and the ends of the earth. It is dynamic, creative, reproducing, and courageous as its members seek to nurture life in locally reproducing ways, wherever they find themselves.
The church is a mission community dedicated to proclaiming and teaching God’s word. It cares for and extends God’s family. Demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit, the church brings God’s light to dark places, being a relevant societal example of holy living. It pursues God’s concerns for the world it inhabits and the communities its members are a part of. The church honors God as it affirms and encourages the diversity of all he has created. However, churches also often become institutions which struggle to retain their life-giving mission orientation.
Papers are invited on any aspect of ecclesiology and mission. Topics include but are not limited to:
- Theological explorations of mission and the church
- The church’s specific role in mission
- Any aspect of church planting
- Models of church as they relate to mission
- How the church mobilizes for mission
- Church and parachurch roles in training for mission
- Issues relating to churches in mission contexts
- Diaspora churches
- Intergenerational church planting
- Church planting and evangelism in the context of violence
- The role of community in the church’s mission
- The role of the sacraments in mission
- The role of Bible translation in church planting
Submitting a Paper for this Year’s National Meeting
If you were selected to present at Regionals and would like to be considered for the National Meeting, please review the following:
- Final papers must be submitted to Anna Daub at adaub@sebts.edu by April 25. These papers must be 4500-7000 words and use Chicago Turabian author-date citation.
- The national conference organizers will notify you in early June if your paper was selected to be presented at the National Conference.
- The national Conference will be Oct 3-4 in Dallas, TX. For more details, see https://www.emsweb.org/conferences/annual/
Dr. Anna Daub
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
adaub@sebts.edu
The Southeast Region covers the following states:
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia