Emmaus Newsletter - Summer 2009
NEWS AND EVENTS
Update on Emmaus Materials
Since Jan. of 2009 the revised Emmaus Worship booklet (E9810) is available for communities to order. They come in packets of 10 at the price of $12 per packet. Also the Emmaus Reunion Cards (E10) has been revised and are available for communities to order since February of 2009. These come in packets of 100 and the cost is $12 per packet.
Having these materials updated and available to our communities is a matter of celebration. These are very important resources for the Fourth Day aspect of our movement. We encourage every community to order these resources by calling our customer service department 1-800-972-0433.
Rev. Faith M. Weedling – Emmaus/Chrysalis Northeast Clergy Regional Leader
Rev. Weedling is an ordained elder of the United Methodist Church serving on a local church appointment with the South Covington, VA district, Virginia Annual Conference. She made her Emmaus walk with the Richmond VA Emmaus community, walk # 2 in November of 1988.
Since then she served as a lay leader with Tidewater Emmaus and Chrysalis until 1991. She then entered the ordained ministry process and started serving as a Spiritual Director with the Hawaii Emmaus where she moved back in 1997. In 2004 she returned to the US and continued to serve in a spiritual director role with the South West Virginia Emmaus and Chrysalis. Later she became the SWVA Emmaus Community Spiritual Director where she facilitated the training of many clergy serving as Spiritual Directors in that community.
Rev. Faith M. Weedling will work with Ilyse Johnson and Ruth Ann Brandt our Emmaus & Chrysalis Regional lay leaders for her area. Faith can be contacted at: revfaithm@ntelos.net. Her telephone number is: (540) 962-6377. We welcome Faith to our Emmaus/Chrysalis Regional Leaders team.
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A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Hello everyone,
Well, from the middle of the month of April 2009 to the middle of the month of May, 2009 has been an interesting time for me. I have enjoyed participating as a member of the International Advisory Committee and I have been in a bed in the Intensive Care Unit of the Centennial Medical Center in Nashville. But both times I was held into the loving arms of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I could feel His presence. I know you’ve heard this before and you believe it – so do I. When it happens to you, you feel a little different. I’ve had people – close friends and family – say they would pray for me and they did. This time was different; it was like, “Will you please take the time to listen to this? We all love you” We prayed at meals, we prayed at visits and we prayed at every time and anytime. It was so calming to know that people were praying. God did not split open the heavens and point to me. But it is a soothing feeling to have and I know it was the Holy Spirit working within me. I was not alone. I felt that in the prep room before the surgery and after the surgery. But I also feel it when I’m at work or doing chores; the Holy Spirit is with me; I’m never alone.
Over the coming months, you will be hearing a lot about the International Advisory Committee meetings and how 45 people came together in the name of Jesus Christ to learn how to serve the communities better, how to build relationships and how to develop leaders for service. We can’t do this alone; we need the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us and the Holy Spirit was in our presence. The Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis movements are all about developing Christian leaders who will return to the church of Jesus Christ to make a difference. Along the way we are going to build relationships with the community Board of Directors work together to serve Him in our Fourth Day.
De Colores,
Greg
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LETTERS FROM PARTICIPANTS
"My Own Icaraus"
I spent my life building these wings.
I build them to reach the sun.
The sun,
High on it’s lofty perch,
Calls my name
His voice reaching to me on my Earth
Devoid of his piercing rays.
I build my wings to fly
Fly away from this ground
This world I try so hard to leave behind
I leap
I soar
Up, up
The shadow less orb,
In it’s absolute beauty,
Blinds me
And I feel my wings begin to fail
A contrivance of a failed craftsman
Slipping from the warmth of the sun
I once again see the shadow below me
Stirring like a malevolent ebony sea
Waiting to swallow inept sailors
I don’t want to go back down to my earth
To my cold, lifeless lover
Who despite it’s darkness seduces the strongest of men
I am not strong.
So I call to the sun to save me
Not realizing he’s been there all along
The sun tells me to leave my wings
“Sun!” I cry, “I cannot fly without them!”
“No,” he whispers to me, “You are my beloved, I am your wings.”
Original poem by: Mara Smith, 2008.
More Information about Emmaus including Regional Representatives, Emmaus staff members and more is available at www.upperroom.org/emmaus (http://www.upperroom.org/chrysalis)
The Upper Room
1908 Grand Ave
Nashville, TN 37203