Lay Director's Message
November 2024

It is hard to believe that it is already November! This year has gone by in a flash. It has been such a blessing for me to serve our amazing community as the CLD. In this month of Thanksgiving, I look back on 2024 and find so much to be thankful for. "Rejoice in the Lord always; Again I will say, Rejoice." ~ Philippians 4:4 I have come to the realization this year that Rejoicing in the Lord ALWAYS is not always as simple as it may seem. However, it is pretty dang hard to wallow in tribulation when you are busy rejoicing in the Lord! It is hard to fear when you are rejoicing in the Lord, it is hard to judge when you are rejoicing in the Lord, it is hard to doubt when you are rejoicing in the Lord! You gotta love Paul! His letter to the Philippi sharing his wisdom and encouragement for living out their faith in Christ is something worth taking a look at! On the top of the list for things to be thankful for is knowing that I have the Lord to rejoice in! I have been in a unique position to see how amazing our community is from the inside out. I have had the honor to work with four amazing R’s, hear from many members of our community, work alongside an amazing board, welcome into our community pilgrims from four weekends and participate in 10 Ultreyas from scheduling to closing prayer! What I have learned is that we may not all be at the same place on our walks, we may not all go to the same church, we may not worship the same or have the same ideas, but we do have a very common thread and that is the undeniable fact that we are ALL children of the one true King. We have all been given God’s grace and Thank GOD for that! It is my prayer that the grace that has been so freely given to us continues to shine through in our kindness and compassion with each other.

DeColores!
Sheri Goad
2024 CLD

Lay Director's Message
July 2024

When I woke up this morning, far earlier than I had anticipated, I played back the last few months in my mind. Life has been far from gentle! Health issues and multiple rounds of antibiotics that ended up with a hospital stay that led to being homebound for over a month, the loss of our sweet dog, a loss of a very dear church friend, and a message delivered yesterday of another church friend admitted to hospice. The last few months started conditioning me to be on guard for the next worse thing! But as the early morning taunted me, I couldn’t help but think about what we express so often in Emmaus, “Don’t Anticipate, Participate!” It’s easy to see how this applies on a weekend but I never thought much about carrying it into my day to day. My favorite bible verse is Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” It seems so simple, but it takes a leap of faith and certainly the ability to participate to see this one in action! We are always going to be facing something, but our God is bigger than anything we may come up against. Each and every time we rise in the morning, we have the choice to be satisfied by HIS unfailing love. It is our gift, should we choose to accept it. It comes with the knowing that we are HIS and we are protected, and it gives us cause to sing for joy and be glad all of our days! It is not a guarantee we won’t be faced with adversities, but it is a guarantee that as long we accept it HIS joy is ours to keep, and there is not a circumstance we will face that can rob us of that. We are rapidly approaching our Fall weekends, E-199 and E-200 are well into the teaming process. What an exciting time! God has pulled these teams together to bring HIS love to the mountain. Our community plays no small part in these weekends, while the team is integral on the mountain they can’t do it without our support. So here are some ways YOU can be part of the “team”! 1. LIFT UP YOUR PRAYERS! 2. Sponsor a pilgrim. 3. Palanca…. write those letters! (Have you been to a closing? How many times have you heard how much of an impact ALL THAT LOVE made!) 4. Participate in Mananita AND Closing. Seeing everyone there is a showing of love that can’t be replicated in any other way. 5. Show LOVE. We are an ecumenical community, we all come from different places, but we all have the same GOD who gives us unfailing love and that is what Emmaus is about. National Capital Area Emmaus (NCAE) is an ecumenical Christian Community that focuses on an individual’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The purpose of NCAE is to inspire, challenge, and equip local church members for Christian action in their homes, churches, and places of work. I continue to hold our community in prayer as I hope you all are as well. We have a unique opportunity in a world of adversities to show what it looks like to sing for joy and be glad all of our days! To LOVE. Everyday may not be happy but that Joy, Joy, Joy down in our hearts is there to stay! Love your sister in Christ, Sheri Goad CLD

Lay Director's Message
March 2024

It is hard to believe that it is already March! We got an early start on our Spring weekends this year and will be welcoming 24 amazing women into our community at our Ultreya on March 15th, at Old Bridge UMC in Woodbridge. E198 was full of God’s amazing love and grace. This community showed up in full force supporting the team with prayer, Palanca and popcorn! Well popcorn and a ton of other treats! I have yet to see a weekend that God did not show up and show off.  E193 will finally be arriving on the mountain April 4th-7th! They were set to team before Covid hit and the weekend ultimately ended up being postponed. I am certain I am not alone in the belief that God’s timing is perfect and this weekend is taking place exactly as HE had planned. They have 6 confirmed pilgrims, but need more. What can YOU do to help support E193: Sponsor a pilgrim! Deadline is March 20 for E193 Below is the link to the pilgrim application.
https://storage.googleapis.com/production-constantcontact-v1-0-1/261/1311261/6RjdGARc/20ee4fa4db5d43e2bb6952c8dd7ee239?fileName=Pilgrim%20Application%20112023.pdf
Sign up for the Prayer Wheel
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E084DAEA629A6FB6-46036601-prayer?fbclid=IwAR1SombOKu22Iy7M9koKS8L2xAXUdeLX2nW0kZztmQKxO7xZO2uo0FUIinE#/
Sign up for snacks/drinks Provide a Scholarship for a pilgrim. Show up for Mananita and Closing. Come out to the Ultreya and meet the team in March and pilgrims in April. We have had an influx of teaming applications and with that, messages from the community about when to expect to be called to team. Teaming is an amazing blessing we are offered to continue spreading God’s amazing love. As with all aspects of an Emmaus weekend it is all in God’s Time! Teams are selected by the Rector/Rectora along with the Cadre they have chosen to serve with. There are multiple factors that go into selecting a team. As much as possible a team will be made up of 1/3 Rookies (someone who has never teamed) 1/3 Experienced (1-3 teams) and 1/3 Veterans (4+ teams) Consideration is also given to how many people from a specific church are on a team, ability to commit and attend meetings, as well as a variety of factors the Cadre prayerfully considers. Ultimately a team is comprised of prayerfully selected people. Our Emmaus community is successful because of the many ways we all step up and let God use us as his hands and feet. Sometimes that means stepping out of our comfort zone and saying Yes Lord! There are many ways to participate and support our mission of inspiring, challenging, and equipping local church members for Christian action in their homes, churches and places of work. This may involve being on a team or it may be in another capacity. I encourage everyone to stay in prayer and open your hearts. Be willing to step outside of your box, we may feel a strong calling on what God wants from us, but sometimes he will take us down a different road to get there so we are exactly what HE needs us to be when we get there! I look forward to serving our community in 2024 as the Community Lay Director and hope that this will be a year of strengthening our community and relationships with each other in order to bring God’s Amazing Love to the front of the line! In HIS Love!

Lay Director's Message
October 2023

Another amazing Emmaus weekend – E-196 is in the books. Praise God! We are still in need of applications for pilgrims as well as team. The next women’s team is complete; however, we will need applications for the fall walk. The men need applications for the spring walk. I ask everyone to please pray about serving on a weekend. We want you! I feel like “Uncle Sam” saying we want you, but more importantly, Jesus needs you to be His hands and feet. Seriously pray about teaming and serving. Please submit an application.

We also need board members. This community is run by a volunteer board. It is a two year commitment. The board meets once every month. We need two (2) women and three (3) men and two (2) Spiritual Directors (SDs). One SD is for a one-year term and the other is for a two-year term. I have to say it has been an honor to serve on this awesome board.

Sponsoring a Pilgrim: have the pilgrim first go to the website emmausnca.org click on “downloads;” click on “Pilgrim Application;” and fill it out or print it off and take it to the sponsor. As a sponsor, you can also print out the application and have a pilgrim fill it out and hand it back to you. The pilgrim needs to submit an application, download the document, complete all fields, save a copy to his/her PC and email a copy to the Sponsor. Your Sponsor submits form to “Pilgrim Application Coordinator” and you will be contacted when the next available weekend is Planned. Paper copies are no longer required; however, if necessary, they can be submitted from your Sponsor.

Please note, those of you who use PayPal. We are no longer using PayPal. It will be taken off the website. We are looking at less costly alternatives and will provide that information when it is available.

We continue to look at other venues that can offer the community our expectations for the weekends to keep our costs down. Costs keep rising and we are trying not to increase the weekend fees.

Our next Ultreya will be on Friday, October 20, 2023 at Annandale United Methodist Church in Annandale, VA. Food and fellowship begin at 6:30pm and worship begins at 7:30pm. We will be meeting the pilgrims of E-196, and introducing the team of E-197. I am excited to see all the new members of the Emmaus community and those who have not been able to attend an Ultreya. As a reminder, the Ultreya’s are held on the third Friday of the month.

We have several churches lined up for our 2024 Ultreyas, if your church would be interested in hosting, please reach out to our Ultreya Coordinator at  [email protected]. This is a great opportunity for your church to get people interested in attending Emmaus.

It is always a blessing to see the excitement, joy, and love the pilgrims have after an Emmaus weekend.

In His Grip,
Dan
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September 2023

The summer months are getting behind us. Fall is on the way supposedly. Remember, God’s plan is always the best. I have no idea where I am being taken, I just hang on for the ride. Sometimes the process is painful and hard, but don’t forget when God is silent, He is doing something great for us.

Trust in Him; continue to do good deeds; work hard; and, leave everything in God’s hands.

I know many of you have been going through difficult times as our lives have changed after and during Covid. Hang in there and don’t be frustrated. Love others; treat others with respect always as you would want to be treated; and, walk humbly with God.

The board has been doing a lot of work getting the updated By-Laws ready to go out to the community. They will be added to the website after the September Ultreya which will be held at Bethel UMC on September 15 th . Potluck begins at 6:30pm with worship beginning at 7:30pm. If you have any questions or problems with the By-Laws update, please contact myself or one of the board members. We will vote on the By-Laws in total at the November business meeting before the Ultreya at Christ’s Church.

We are in need of 3 male and 2 female board members as well as 2 Spiritual Directors to be added to next years board. We will be voting on the nominations of these individuals at the November business meeting.

We need leadership. Too many times I see people team on a weekend and then drop away until another weekend. Now is not the time to drop away. Staying involved as an active board member may be a way of getting yourself to do that. I have to say being on the board has been challenging, but rewarding. God has pulled me and stretched me like taffy. I have grown spiritually in my walk with the Lord. I have learned to lean on Him.

Many Emmaus communities are fading in participation and attendance. Many are not holding weekends or are closing. We are blessed to have our second women’s weekend 28 September – 1 October and our second men’s weekend 2 – 5 November. The women serving on E-196 will be introduced at the upcoming Ultreya. We need your involvement to keep this community going strong. We need Pilgrim applications to attend weekends. The women (at last count) have 18 women who have said “yes.” The men currently have around 6 who have said “yes.”

Our community needs your support! God has a plan for all of us in growing the Kingdom. We need to work together as the Body of Christ. “Smile, Serve, and Shine” DeColores, 

In His Grip,
Dan Dietze
Community Lay Director