What is a Emmaus?
[We] were reminded that Emmaus is not an "emotional bubble-bath." It is
essentially a journey with Jesus Christ. The main focus is not how wonderfully
close we have grown with each other, but how much closer we are to Christ and how
much more effective we are as servants in his church. - Clergyman from Illinois
The Walk to Emmaus is a spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local
church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The Walk to
Emmaus experience begins with a 72-hour short course in Christianity, comprised of
fifteen talks by lay and clergy on the themes of God's grace, disciplines of
Christian discipleship, and what it means to be the church. The course is wrapped
in prayer and meditation, special times of worship and daily celebration of Holy
Communion. The "Emmaus community," made up of those who have attended an Emmaus
weekend, support the 72-hour experience with a prayer vigil, by preparing and
serving meals, and other acts of love and self-giving. The Emmaus Walk usually
begins Thursday evening and concludes Sunday evening. Men and women attend separate
weekends.
During and after the three days, Emmaus leaders encourage participants to meet
regularly in small groups. The members of the small groups challenge and support
one another in faithful living. Participants seek to Christianize their environments
of family, job, and community through the ministry of their congregations. The Upper
Room of The United Methodist Church sponsors the Walk to Emmaus and offers
it through local Emmaus groups around the world. The three-day Emmaus experience
and the follow-up groups strengthen and renew Christian people as disciples of
Jesus Christ and as active members of the body of Christ in mission to the world.
Many church leaders acclaim Emmaus as much more than a program. It is a powerful
movement of spiritual renewal that is making a difference for countless individuals
and many congregations. Between 1978 and 1995, nearly half a million persons
participated in Emmaus. During this same period, the Emmaus movement
has taken hold in 300 sites around the world, including the U.S.A., Australia,
Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Germany, and India.
Emmaus is an experience in which growing Christians of all sorts come together in
common affirmation of the essentials of the Christian faith. Bishop Adriel de Souza
Maia of Brazil worked to take Emmaus to his homeland because, as he put it ...
"We need a church renewal movement which brings together the two sides of
the Christian life: prayer and action, personal spiritual growth and social concern.
Emmaus holds together these two sides of the coin."
What is the aim of Emmaus?
The difference Emmaus makes is seen in the sixty-year-old man who, after his weekend,
decides to give up his antique business and enter seminary. Or the woman who was
inspired to write a song, praising God in her many local performances. Another
example is the doctor who took to adding Bible verses to his prescription sheets to
reinforce Christ as the "best medicine." - Laywoman from Ohio
The aim of Emmaus is to inspire, challenge, and equip local church members for
Christian action-in their homes, churches, workplaces, and communities. Several
important components of the Emmaus program work together to accomplish this aim.
The three-day Emmaus course in Christianity moves church members to new levels of
openness and commitment as disciples of Christ. People reexperience the gift of
God's love and emerge from the Emmaus weekend with a desire to pass that love on
to others. The three-day course strengthens persons' conscious union with Jesus
Christ as the embodiment of God's grace, truth, and compassion.
A layman from Tennessee wrote ... "I learned the importance of a life of piety, study,
and service and their interrelationship in providing a life in grace. I felt the
immense power of God's love and grace and new insights into ways of sustaining and
increasing my openness to that grace. I developed a new longing to share my
experience of Christ with others with hopes that they too can feel what I feel.
Although my Christian journey started a long time ago, the progress and growth due
to my Emmaus experience is invaluable to me."
The Emmaus weekend gives participants an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of
their faith in God, to receive the transforming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to
relate closely with other persons who are seeking a deeper faith, and to rededicate
their lives as members of the body of Christ called to ministry in the world.
The Emmaus follow-up groups build on what begins during the three-day
experience. These little discipleship groups of two to six persons meet weekly for
an hour. Members review their weekly spiritual practices, their awareness of Christ's
presence and call, and their plans for the week to come. The accountability
group's purpose is to provide ongoing support for one another's commitment to live
wholly in the grace of God and to grow in the self-giving spirit of
Jesus Christ. In addition to undergirding personal Christian growth, the follow-up groups serve
as excellent bases for Christian action and outreach in the local community.
Teams in servanthood make a difference. Many who participate in Emmaus also grow
in the servant spirit of Jesus Christ through their subsequent involvement in
making Emmaus possible for others. By serving in the kitchen, setting up the
rooms, cleaning the bathrooms, preparing the worship center, praying for the pilgrims
and teams from behind the scenes, or committing to weeks of team preparation, these
persons learn the joy and discipline of humble servanthood. By serving as team members
and committing to several weeks of team preparation, persons learn to lead
faith-sharing in small groups, to express their faith and speak before groups, and
to use their unique gifts in concert with the gifts of others as members of one
body.
Local church involvement is an outgrowth of Emmaus. Though involvement in
Emmaus activities can be fun and satisfying, Emmaus achieves its aim
only when local churches gain strength; and people become active members of the
body of Christ, sharing the love of God in homes, workplaces, and communities
around the world. Participation and service in all aspects of Emmaus ...
the three-day short course, follow-up groups, team and background support-are
designed to empower and equip Christians to effectively be Christ's hands
and feet in the world.
What happens during the Three-Day Emmaus Experience?
My growing did flourish as I listened to several talks given by laity and clergy
on such theologically significant themes as grace, priesthood of all believers,
justifying grace, growth through study, Christian action, discipleship, body of
Christ, changing our world, and others. I learned from each speaker and concluded
that I would be pleased to have any one of the laity give the Sunday sermon in all
of the churches I have served. - Clergyperson after Walk to Emmaus
In small table groups, we listened, took notes, and discussed each theme. What an
experience it was to listen as my fellow pilgrims-United Methodists, Presbyterians,
Catholics, Lutherans, and Baptists, wrestled with how to apply each topic to life.
We demonstrated our insights with posters, charts, skits, songs, and poems.
- Clergyman from Indiana
The Emmaus Weekend Schedule that follows is a bare outline of the Walk to Emmaus
weekend. This two-dimensional overview of the weekend, which lists activities and
topics, cannot adequately communicate what really happens in and among the people
as a result of being together for three days, focused on the love of God. Nevertheless,
this outline gives a picture of what goes on among the pilgrims in the conference
room and chapel. This outline also shows why we describe the Walk to Emmaus as a
short course in Christianity, not a relaxing retreat. While the Emmaus Walk is fun
and rejuvenating, it is also concentrated and full.
The three days have distinct phases and reflect a trinitarian framework. The focus
of Day One is God and the relationship God offers. The focus of Day
Two is Jesus Christ and each disciple's response to the grace of God
in the context of Christian community. The focus of Day Three is the Holy Spirit
and the call to live as an active member of the body of Christ through
service in church and community. All three days point to the Fourth Day-living
every day as a walk with Christ in the company of one another, through a
lifestyle of regular prayer, study, and service.
A moment of silent reflection, then discussion and creative responses follow each
of the fifteen talks. The services of worship and daily prayer are thematic and
are designed especially for the Emmaus Walk. Each day includes break times
and snacks. The three days as a whole are embraced by prayer and signs of the
sacrificial service on the part of many who help make each Walk happen.
History of the Walk to Emmaus
As presented by Robert R. Wood
20th Anniversary Gathering
of Emmaus
Peoria, Illinois, April, 1997.
"The secret is simply this. Christ in you. Yes, Christ in you bringing all the
hope of God's glory."
With these words, Paul encouraged those early Christians at Colossae to be Christ
in the world. He told them that being a Christian had something to do with finding
a way to put Christ in you. Being a Christian was being Christ to a neighbor, being
Christ in your family, and being Christ in the world.
In 1973, Bishop Lance Webb appointed me to serve as an Associate Minister at First
United Methodist Church in Peoria. From the very first moment, I discovered a people
who were learning how to be Christ in the world. There was something different about
their character - more enthusiastic about their faith, more intentional about their
Walk with Christ, more expressive of their compassion and love for their neighbors.
Within the first month of my being at First Church, Travis Dutton approached me and
said I had to go to this thing called Cursillo. None of us Protestants knew exactly
how to pronounce it, much less understand it. But we knew the effect it was having
on thousands of lives in the Peoria Area. It was setting a prairie fire that was
strangely warming hearts and inspiring Christians to become more expressive of their
faith.
First Church was a busy place. Three ministers had left when I came in July, 1973.
In November, the Senior Minister announced he was leaving in January. In March,
Ira Gallaway came as the Senior Minister. By Spring we had added another Associate
and I found time to attend my Cursillo in July of 1974. It was a wonderful experience.
I saw many hearts strangely warmed. I discovered a universal (catholic) and practical
theology, I experienced a truly loving (agape) community. I was invited to participate
in a follow-up program called reunion groups, akin to my own Wesleyan tradition of
class societies. I was a part of an Ecumenical Expression that was real and had
results. For the next several years I participated in the Peoria Cursillo Movement
to the fullest, helping Christians of every expression find renewal and a deepening
of their spiritual nature.
In 1976, First Church invited Dr. Maxie Dunnam, then World Editor of The Upper Room
to conduct a workshop entitled "An Adventure in Living Prayer" In our desire to have
all our people participate in the workshop and not be concerned with housekeeping
things like serving meals, we called on the Peoria Cursillo Community to act as our
servants for the weekend. During the first meal, Maxie asked: "Who is that fellow
wearing the collar?" I responded, "He's a Roman Catholic priest; he has come to
help serve our meals this weekend." During the second meal, Maxie asked "Now is
this a different bunch of folk serving the meals?" I responded, "These are Cursillistas
from the Peoria Cursillo Community who wanted to help us out this weekend. They are
Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Church of Christ,
Christians of every stripe. They all have participated in a thing called Cursillo
and have learned how to be servants.
That week, back in Nashville, Maxie was sharing with a staff member named Danny
Morris that he had experienced a strange phenomenon in Peoria, people acting like
servants with smiles on their faces. Maxie asked, "Danny, have you ever heard of
this thing called Cursillo?" Danny answered, "You know this weekend I was in my
former church in Hialeah, Florida, and one of my members who used to spend weekends
on his boat has found religion. Ernie Englemann has sold his boat and started working
in the church. He attended a Lutheran Cursillo and it has changed his life." Maxie
and Danny agreed that they needed to explore this thing further. All the while Maxie
was walking the halls of The Upper Room saying: "The secret is simply this. Christ
in you. Yes, Christ in you bringing all the hope of God's glory." There was a
sincere desire on the part of The Upper Room to shape the concept of spiritual
formation for the United Methodist Church. It was in this environment that the
desire to make the Cursillo experience available for a broader Protestant participation
took root. Finally, in the fall of 1976, The Upper Room asked the Peoria Cursillo
Community to model a Protestant Ecumenical weekend with me as Spiritual Director.
Those two weekends were Cursillo #108 held on April 21-24 and #110 held on May 19-22
at the St. Augustine Cursillo Center in 1977. The Candlelight and the Closing were
held at First Church so that we could have an open Communion Service during those
events. Otherwise, those weekends looked just like any other Cursillo weekend presented
by the Peoria Cursillo Community.
In June, Maxie called me and asked how long it would take us to have an Upper Room
Lay Directors' Manual ready. He had just come back from the Iowa Annual Conference
of the United Methodist Church, where he was the keynote speaker. There they had
voted on the Conference floor to hold a Cursillo in August of that year. Thus
launched the Upper Room Cursillo Movement. By January of 1978 I was in place as
Director of Spiritual Formation for The Upper Room. That first year I participated
in 26 weekends, some Episcopal, some Lutheran, some Catholic, many Protestant.
We began immediately working with Jerry Hughes, National Director of the Cursillo
Movement in the U.S.A. It was our good fortune to have the National Spiritual
Director, Father Charles Giacosa, for the Catholic Movement living in Nashville.
I was asked to take part in the Nashville leadership school, to group with local
Cursillistas, and to become more familiar with the total program. Soon we had planned
our first weekend in Nashville. It was decided that the rollo team would come from
Peoria and the support team and table leaders would come from the local Nashville
community. These first weekends were held in the Belmont United Methodist Church
on the south side of Nashville. The second weekends were held at the Catholic
Social Services Center and then eventually moved to Hermitage United Methodist
Church east of Nashville.
It became increasingly evident that the National Office of the Cursillo Movement
was not happy with our ecumenical stance. They were most willing to have us use
their materials if we were a United Methodist Cursillo, serving only United
Methodists on the weekends. They did not feel it was in our best interest or the
interest of the Cursillo to have denominations sharing the same weekend. Our
experience in the ecumenical setting was one of understanding, appreciation, and
strengthening of a broader and healthier theology. Best of all was a practical
theology built on Servanthood and Love.
Finally, in March of 1981 the decision was made to give up the name of Cursillo and
keep the ecumenical participation. We were prohibited from using any of the copyrighted
materials of the Cursillo and threatened with a lawsuit. Thus, we decided to change
the name to Walk to Emmaus. It was a meeting of Bishop Edsel Ammons, President of the
General Board of Discipleship (GBOD), Ezra Earl Jones, General Secretary of the GBOD,
Maxie Dunnam, World Editor of The Upper Room, and Danny Morris, Program Director of
The Upper Room. "What image do you have for this "Walk To Emmaus" name?" Bishop Ammons
asked. "Luke 24:13-35 tells the story of what happens: The disciples wanted to be
set free; and Jesus explained the scriptures. The disciples had their hearts strangely
warmed and their eyes opened. Following the experience they ran all the way back to
Jerusalem to tell of their experience. This is what happens on a Cursillo/Emmaus
weekend." It was there in the Nashville Airport that the name "Walk to Emmaus" was
born. God's timing was confirmed when the lectionary for Sunday's gospel reading was
Luke 24:13-35. Some of my Catholic friends in Nashville said that when the scripture
was read during Sunday morning mass, they found tears rolling down their check with
both celebration and sadness that such a step had to be taken. Both the celebration
and the sadness soon gave way to hard work. The talk outlines had to be written, a
new emphasis on Holy Communion had to be defined, and a distinctive character of
the Walk to Emmaus had to be forged. The challenge was great.
In 1983 we took the Walk to Emmaus to Australia and truly became a worldwide movement.
And the rhythm has continued. The experience has become infectious and the seed that
was planted here in Peoria in 1977 has continued to grow. Now after more than 500,000
Pilgrims in countries as diverse as Australia and South Africa, as distant as Germany
and Hong Kong, as complex as India, the spirit of God finds ways of stirring faith
and strengthening the witness of Christian love.
I have been reading Joseph Cardinal Bernadine's book The Gift of Peace for my early
morning reading. He was talking about his meditation on the mystery of the cross as
he was facing his own death. His thoughts stirred in me these thoughts, and I would
like to close with this. The mystery of the Messiah is the ability to see that all
things work for our good, and that we are not alone! There is great hope in the God
who chose to be human: Jesus taking our plight, explaining to the disciples that
the work of grace was not finished with his life, but still at work in the simplest
things: hunger and food, thirst and drink, loneliness and visiting, nakedness and
clothing. God still needs the human form to meet the human need. God still needs
disciples to share mercy and grace. God still asks you to make the sacrifice. God
still asks you to take up the cross and follow, dying to self and living for others.
The secret is simply this, Christ in you! De Colores!
The Reverend Robert R. Wood served in various churches in California, Connecticut,
and northern Illinois before joining the staff of First United Methodist Church,
Peoria, Illinois in 1973 with responsibilities for Evangelism and Education. In
this capacity he learned of the local Catholic Cursillo program and in 1977 was
instrumental in developing the Protestant Upper Room Cursillo, which later became
Walk to Emmaus. Rev. Wood is now pastor of Evangelical United Methodist Church in
Washington, IL.
