Hello, community. Your September newsletter is now available for viewing here. De Colores!
Florida Sonrise Emmaus September Newsletter | Walk to Emmaus
August 2018 FSE Newsletter
Hello, FSE community. Our August gathering will be at Coronado Community UMC, 201 S Peninsula Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169, on Saturday the 18th. Covered dish dinner at 6 followed by worship at 7. Your August newsletter is now available to view at – https://spark.adobe.com/page/
August Florida Sonrise Emmaus Gathering- Coronado UMC New Smyrna Beach
Hello, community! Our August gathering will be at Coronado Community UMC, 201 S Peninsula Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169, on Saturday the 18th. Covered dish dinner at 6 followed by worship at 7. De Colores!
Walks 50 and 51 Update
Hello Community.
As many of you know, the Upper Room’s community guidelines require us to have at least 12 women and 12 men confirmed for attendance 90 days before a walk is to take place. As of the deadline, we had 7 and 3 – well below the needed number. We’re also dealing with very low community participation, and are not confident we can fill the teams in time to begin the training, or have the people working behind the scenes to be able to give the pilgrims the experience they deserve. We simply can’t have a walk without the help of the community, so we’re going to have to hold off on walks 50 and 51 until we get more people who will work to help make this event happen. It’s heartbreaking to have to pause again, but we need to work on our organization as a whole before we can get back on track.
I want to dispel a rumor I’ve heard repeated several times during the last week. FSE IS NOT DISBANDING. We are still a very vibrant and active community made up of over 1200 walk participants who have shared in the encounter with Christ through this worldwide movement. We have the full support of the Upper Room, and our sister communities around the globe. We still have monthly gatherings. We still have a board and the resources that go with it. We still have a lot of people who are passionate and excited about the Walk to Emmaus. FSE will continue each month, and we invite everyone reading this to find your fellow community members – those you sat with at a table, those you sponsored, or were sponsored by – and invite them to rejoin us at gatherings. Matthew 18:12 says, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”
For now, we’re going to suspend putting on walks, and change our focus to re-engaging the community through gatherings, with an aim to bringing back the walks. The people on the board have been working above and beyond what has been expected of them to keep this community going. In some cases, they have done the work that would normally be done by an entire committee when there wasn’t anyone there to help them. Other people have taken on multiple tasks to cover for the vacancies we have on the board and in our community. We’re also going to be reaching out to churches and pastors to get new people involved and sponsored for walks. With your help, a future iteration of the board will be able to announce new dates for walks 50 and 51. I have heard too many stories from people who experienced a life changing encounter with Christ on their walks to believe that Emmaus is no longer relevant. It will take time, but I am confident these walks will still happen.
“And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.” – Matthew 18:13
De Colores
Jeff Whiting
FSE Community Lay Director
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day from everyone in the Florida Sonrise Emmaus community!
Join the FSE Board!
Ron Brace
Ron Brace’s memorial is Saturday, May 19th at 11am at Deltona Presbyterian Church in the sanctuary with fellowship to follow in the Life Center. Please help us celebrate Ron’s life.
Sid Lester
The Emmaus community has lost Sid Lester, a longtime member who attended FUMC-Ormond Beach. He had moved to Dallas to be with relatives in the last year after losing his wife Betty a few years ago. They sponsored many many Pilgrims during their time in Emmaus. Please keep the family in your prayers.
May Newsletter
Hello, community. Here is your May Newsletter. We will not have a gathering this month to give us a little more time to get back on track. We’ll return to our regular schedule in June. De Colores!
The Upper Room on Inclusiveness
POLICY
The International Emmaus office was approached on various occasions by local Emmaus Community leaders seeking guidance on the participation of individuals in the Emmaus Ministries, as pilgrims or as team members.
The Emmaus office welcomes the participation of all persons.
In regards to pilgrims, the Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis, as ministries of The Upper Room of The United Methodist Church, invite interdenominational, interracial, intergenerational and international participation, and foster a spirit of Christian unity. Their aim is to help people turn their attention away from self and towards God.
We all come to these events remembering that we are sinners saved by grace, bearing in mind that God’s grace is always extended and, believing that every person has sacred worth in God’s sight.
Consequently, the weekend should be an environment of unconditional love in which persons can gradually lower their defenses and allow God’s grace to impact their lives. It should provide an atmosphere of hospitality and acceptance that facilitates the rediscovery of self in relationship with God and, a free and honest response to the Gospel of grace.
As stated in the Emmaus/Chrysalis guidelines, intentional and purposeful sponsorship of people who demonstrate the character of Christ, as disciples and leaders in their home church and the church universal assures this principle. Thus, in all cases, a sponsor’s choice of a candidate should be trusted.
However, if during the course of the weekend a pilgrim chooses to distract the group, then the Weekend Lay Director, Weekend Spiritual Director and the Board Representative have the responsibility to provide guidance or, when necessary, gracefully ask that person to leave the group.
In relation to team members, we are mindful of the fact that the Emmaus ministries are for teaching, nurturing, and supporting the development of Fourth Day leaders who embody Christ.
Team members should work together to accomplish the unique goal of the Emmaus and Chrysalis ministries which is to call attention to Christ and to our common Christian affirmations. A team member who chooses to introduce independent agendas into these weekends misunderstands and abuses their teaching role.
In order to ensure that this objective is met, team selection should be carried out prayerfully and, in compliance with The Upper Room Handbook specifications. In all cases, the Team Selection Committee should be trusted to do its best and, if a choice is questionable, it has the responsibility to make changes.
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