On the road to Emmaus

By Larry Hinkle

CORAL SPRINGS, Florida—Have you ever wanted to spend a weekend with the Lord free of the usual distractions that your day-to-day life throws at you?

Or, have you ever wondered what it felt like to live in a community of Christians like the one described in Acts 2, where the disciples worshiped together and broke bread together?

Bob Persky’s Walk to Emmaus

Bob Persky, Florida district superintendent, had just such an experience at a Walk to Emmaus, June 21 to 24.

"For me the Emmaus walk was more than I expected," Mr. Persky said. "As with the men in the story in Luke 24, I feel Jesus met me in the way I needed most. He showed me why his agape love is so transforming.

"As dozens of other Christian brothers and sisters ministered to me the love of God through unceasing prayer, self-sacrificing service and multiple acts of kindness, I was able to focus my mind on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles through 15 discipleship talks.

"The 72 uninterrupted hours of total concentration on my walk with Christ gave me a tremendous clarity of vision of true Christian belief, life-style and purpose.

"Along with time in quiet prayer and meditation in the chapel and the taking of communion I was immersed in Christian fellowship, meals and small group interaction.

"I can easily encourage any serious-minded Christian who would like to grow closer to Christ and ‘meet the Lord along the way’ to find out where and when he or she can be sponsored to take the Emmaus walk."

The walk began in Spain and was called Cursillo. It came to this country in the 1950s and was then adopted by the United Methodist Church and called the Upper Room. Later, the name was changed to Emmaus.

The Emmaus Walk is open to all denominations. It involves a three-day spiritual experience in which all participants (pilgrims) receive an outpouring of God’s grace while hearing talks by laypeople and clergy on the themes of grace, the disciplines of Christian discipleship and what it means to be the church.

The course is wrapped in prayer and meditation with times of worship and daily celebration of communion. Each pilgrim does a walk only once in a life-time and then becomes part of the Emmaus Community.

Emmaus Community in Caribbean

Charles Fleming, Caribbean regional director, is a Worldwide Church of God representative for the Oceanside Emmaus Community in South Florida. He spearheaded the establishment of a new Emmaus Community on the Caribbean island of Dominica in the summer.

Mr. Fleming said: "I love the Emmaus movement because it promotes and models so much of what God is calling our church to be." He noted the following examples.

An Emmaus community is generally interdenominational. The commitment is to develop strong Christian leaders who will go back to strengthen their home churches. Our common heritage in Jesus is highlighted to such an extent that doctrinal differences become non-issues.

The Emmaus movement actively promotes the priesthood of all believers. The movement is a co-operative effort between the laity and clergy to bring renewal to congregations by taking seriously the biblical mandate for all Christians to be part of the priesthood of all believers.

Emmaus is committed to small groups and insists that the benefits of the weekend walk will be lost to the individual unless he or she regularly attends a small group.

For information about an Emmaus Community in your area, check this website: www.upper room.org/emmaus/whatis/ or call the Upper Room’s toll free number: 1-877-899-2780. Ask that your call be directed to the Emmaus Office. The Emmaus Office is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Central Time. If you live outside the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, you may reach the Emmaus Office by calling 1-615-340-7227.

Larry Hinkle pastors the Port St. Lucie and North Broward, Florida, churches.

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2001