Note: A printable PDF of the following is also available here.
Southern New England Emmaus
Christmas Newsletter 2017
Season’s Greetings!
As the signs of winter begin to appear in Southern New England, our thoughts turn to spending time with family, friends, and loved ones as we once again prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Time has flown since the Spirit-filled Luke 24 event, which turned out to be the largest gathering of the SNE Emmaus Community and guests in years! What a day it was that the “Lord hath made”, as evidenced by God-inspired testimonials, powerful and uplifting messages provided by Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar and RISEM D.S. Dr. Rev. Andrew Foster III, an engaging Community Panel discussion (which could have continued for hours!), constructive breakout sessions, and special music provided by our skilled musicians and uplifting videos.
For many of us, it was pure joy to witness the outpouring of support for Emmaus at the Conference and District levels, the renewal of old friendships and beginning of new ones, and a new surge of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment throughout God’s SNE Community. While Emmaus appropriately stresses anonymous servanthood, we’d like to extend our deepest appreciation for everyone who played a role in the event, including planning team members who spent months in prayer and preparation, event speakers, attendees, and those who weren’t able to attend, yet were supportive through prayer. We’re currently in the process of loading presentation materials to our website, which you can find at www.sneemmaus.org/wp/luke-24-presentations/. We’ve also enclosed a few event photos later in this newsletter, and you can view many more in the Community Photo Gallery at www.sneemmaus.org/wp/luke-24-day-of-church-renewal-photos/.
We’d also like to apologize for the slight delay in following up to the event, as unexpected health challenges surfaced following Luke 24 and took an interim front seat in the lives of your CLDs.
As we look to the future, we see further evidence of God’s continuing plan to strengthen local church leadership through Emmaus, which continues with Walk #82 scheduled for March 15-18 (Men) and March 22-25 (Women) led by seasoned Weekend Lay Directors Coni Ferland and Dan Genannt. We were thrilled when Coni and Dan accepted the Board’s call to serve in this capacity, especially as the WLD role has been greatly expanded. Our Community is blessed to have a core of dedicated servants, and we encourage anyone contacted to serve on Team to prayerfully consider participating. We also encourage anyone who feels called to serve on the current or future Teams to reach out to the WLDs or CLDs, as the selection and discernment process remains very much in progress, and we currently have a few spots to fill. Look for more info directly from Coni and Dan in the coming weeks.
Please note that the application deadline for the Spring Walk has been set for January 21, 2018, which is rapidly approaching. You may also note that this date has been intentionally set earlier than in past years, which will enable the Board and WLDs to determine whether we can meet or exceed the minimum number of pilgrims required to hold a Weekend prior to the beginning of Team trainings. We are hopeful this change will further encourage Team acceptances by improving efficiencies and follow-through confidence for all.
Lastly, as was the case for the Luke 24 event, we view this next series of Weekends as an important mile marker in the life of the our Community, particularly with the Men as we will have gone multiple seasons without a Men’s Walk. During a time when spiritual revitalization is so vital for world and church leaders, please prayerfully consider candidates who God may be placing in your path, or perhaps someone who He placed in your path in the past, yet wasn’t quite ready at the time.
We’d also like to remind everyone of the extensive library of information now available to prospective pilgrims and their sponsors on our revamped website at www.sneemmaus.org. In particular, pilgrims now have easy and transparent access to the intent of our Community and mission, including a “Things to Know About the Weekend” page, as well as direct access to application forms. These enhancements, combined with making our website easily accessible via smartphones, are intended to facilitate the discernment and application processes. We’ve also enclosed pilgrim and sponsor application forms to further ease efforts.
May God bless and guide all of our steps during this joyous season, and in the years to come.
De Colores and Merry Christmas!
Don & Debra Miller
SNE Emmaus is Coming to Vernon, CT in January!
See Upcoming Dates for Details
UPCOMING WALKS
March 15-18, 2018, Men’s Walk #82
March 22-25. 2018, Women’s Walk #82
October 18-21, 2018, Men’s Walk #83
October 25-28, 2018, Women’s Walk #83
All to be held at Cathedral Camp, E. Freetown, MA
NO MORE SNAIL MAIL!
A reminder that in an effort to save cost, processing time, and a few trees, SNE Emmaus has joined with other Emmaus communities in moving to full electronic distribution of newsletters, weekend pilgrim lists, and other communication via Email and Facebook. Please provide you email address to sneemmaus@gmail.com. If you are unable to access email and still require a hard copy, please drop us a note at SNE Emmaus, P.O. Box 166, Barrington, RI 02806, or call us at 508-394-4189. NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS!
A reminder that that your Board of Directors prays for the health and future of the SNE Emmaus Community and the world that it serves between 7:45am and 8:00am every Sunday! We encourage you to join us!
CALLING ALL MUSICIANS & VOCALISTS!
Many of you play or sing in your home churches. Please consider joining our Music Team and assisting Chairperson Doug Osbourne to enhance our musical offerings during gatherings and future weekends. We are looking to broaden our scope beyond our traditional SNE Emmaus songbook by adding some contemporary music to our repertoire. For more info please contact us at 508-394-4189 or via email sneemmaus@gmail.com.
DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR!
January 13, 2018 – Community Gathering , Vernon UMC, 401 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT
(Snow Date January 20th)
January 21, 2018 – Application Deadline for Walk #82
March 15-18, 2018 – Men’s Walk #82**, Cathedral Camp, 167 Middleboro Rd., East Freetown, MA
March 22-25, 2018 – Women’s Walk #82**, Cathedral Camp, 167 Middleboro Rd., East Freetown, MA
April 7, 2018 – Fourth Day Insights & Gathering, Location TBD
OPENING FOR REGISTRAR
The job of Registrar remains open. The Registrar is responsible for collecting and reviewing all applications submitted for Walks, as well as collecting deposits and final balances from all pilgrims and team members attending a weekend. The Registrar need not be a board member, but proximity to the camp is a plus. Registrar is on site during arrival of pilgrims for their Walk to manage check-in. If interested please contact us at 508-394-4189 or sneemmaus@gmail.com.
REFERENCED LINKS
Luke 24 Photos
Pilgrim Info & Application
Sponsor Info & Application