Walk To Emmaus Helps Renew, Refresh Christians

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and walked with them.

-- Luke 24:15

Sometimes people find themselves in a place where they need to take a beat, disconnect from the world and concentrate on themselves. Walk to Emmaus, an upcoming three-day retreat, gives Christians that pause in life, so they can spend time with God and hit the reset buttons on their faith journeys, said Stephenie Sullivan, community lay director.

"It's all about unplugging, getting focused and getting real," she said. "The purpose of Emmaus is to strengthen the whole church, to make everybody who goes through it a better church member, a better Christian."

The Upper Room, a global Christian ministry, began offering the Walk to Emmaus in 1978 under the name The Upper Room Cursillo. The program is an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Cursillo, which originated in Spain in 1949, according to The Upper Room.

Walk to Emmaus gets its name from the story in Luke 24:13-35 when the recently risen Christ appeared to two disciples who were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The two disciples, who were discussing the events surrounding the crucifixion of Christ, did not recognize Jesus when he joined them on their journey.

"Like Christians and churches who are blinded by preoccupation with their own immediate difficulties, these two disciples' sadness and hopelessness seemed to prevent them from seeing God's redemptive purpose in things that had happened," according to The Upper Room. "The Walk to Emmaus offers today's disciples a parallel opportunity to rediscover Christ's presence in their lives, to gain fresh understanding of God's transforming grace and to form friendships that foster faith and support spiritual maturity."

Two retreats for this region, Heart of the Ozarks, are planned in the coming weeks -- one for women Sept. 26-28 and one for men Oct. 2-5.

"We have found that, when women are with women and they can wear their yoga pants and no makeup, they are more real," said Sullivan. "They are more willing to share. Plus in today's society, when you have domestic violence and physical abuses, you just never know what situation someone is going through. It really eliminates all the obstacles that can impair somebody for sharing and feeling comfortable."

Pilgrims will arrive on a Thursday evening and leave late Sunday afternoon. They are asked to leave their watches, cellphones and computers at home.

"The way the walk is designed can be so crucial in this day and age," said Julie Thibodaux, assistant lay director for the upcoming walks. "I think Emmaus now takes on a whole different meaning than maybe it did when it first began. We don't realize how wired and connected we are until you ask somebody who has three cellphones and a computer and a watch to give that up."

The model of the program hasn't changed since its inception, because it works, Sullivan said.

Throughout the weekend, pilgrims will attend 15 talks -- five each day -- and participate in group discussions.

"The talks are always the same. They are in order for a reason. They are always the same outline, but because you have different people giving them, they'll use different stories or life experiences to edify the points," Sullivan said.

The Emmaus community is a led by both laity and clergy, "which is a great example of the body of Christ," said Thibodaux. "We are meant to be the church. We aren't supposed to rely on pastors and leaders. We are supposed to work together."

Both Thibodaux and Sullivan are in what's termed Fourth Day, which is every day after the completion of the Walk to Emmaus. Thibodaux has been part of the Emmaus community since 2004. Sullivan went through Chrysalis, the program for teenagers, in 1993.

"It made me more aware of the gifts that God has given me to use that benefit the church and the community," Thibodaux said. "And just to be in a community of people who have common goals to spirituality and have places that you can share your faith."

Sullivan said going through the program has a teen just laid for her a firmer foundation.

"I think it helped me make better decisions as I was growing up, becoming an adult," she said.

Part of Fourth Day involves working at or sponsoring pilgrims to attend the retreats and otherwise being an active community member, Sullivan said. Immediately after the weekend experience, reunion groups are formed through which people can fellowship and be accountable to each other.

The ecumenical retreat is open to all Christians, no matter where they are in their faith walks, who love the Lord and want to grow in that, Sullivan said.

"People say afterward they thought they knew Christ, but after the three days, now they know they know him," Sullivan said.