Attending a Weekend

Welcome

We very excited that you have considered attending one of our upcoming Emmaus Walks! Our Emmaus team is prayerfully preparing for this special weekend - just for you. As you join us on this journey, we will make every effort to accommodate you and any needs you may have. Below is an outline of some of the most important information you should know as a Pilgrim.

A brief introduction

The meeting of the two followers of Jesus found in Luke 24:13-35 is a testamonial account for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This testamony is the central metaphor of the Emmaus experience. It is a journey of spiritual growth that is marvelously illustrated in the revelation of the risen Christ to his followers over these three days. Participants on an Emmaus weekend are referred to as "pilgrims" that voluntarily submit themselves to an amazing transformation on their Walk to Emmaus. For a pilgrim, this is the process of dying to one's self in order to become who God has intended you to be.

On an Emmaus weekend, our process of transformation is experienced through faith by accepting God's love as a gift, dying with Christ to our old-self and rising with Christ to a new-self. We ascribe to live out our "fourth days" (which refer to every day after our Emmaus weekend) with a new motivation for continuous growth in our faith and flying with Christ in the church by joyfully sharing God's ministry of reconciliation and love in an alienated world.

Our weekend together

To attend one of our Emmaus weekends, please free up your schedule from 6:00pm on that Thursday evening through the following Sunday until about 8:00pm.

Send-off

Thursday at 6:15pm
Send-off is referred to as the location where we all arrive together before our weekend begins. You, your sponsor and any related family or friends should arrive at the send-off location on Thursday by 6:15pm. For an Emmaus Walk, the send-off location and the Walk location are normally held at different locations.

Closing

Sunday at 5:30pm
Closing is referred to as the ceremony that we all attend at the end of the weekend. Your sponsor will be there. Everyone should arrive at the closing location on Sunday by 5:30pm.

Emergency contact

In the case of any emergency in your family, an emergency telephone number will be provided to both your family and your sponsor for any direct contact for you that becomes necessary. At the same time, we will also have your family and sponsor's phone numbers in case we need to contact them for you as well. The reason for this is because having no interruptions during the weekend is highly important (i.e. phone calls, visits, etc) and as such, you will be asked not to bring any electronic devices with you at all during your Emmaus weekend.

What to bring

This is a very casual weekend, so please bring comfortable clothes. Most of our time will be spent in a conference room-like setting. Clothing should be included to allow for comfortable walking.

• 3 sets of regular clothing (for Fri, Sat and Sun) plus the clothing you arrive in on Thursday
• sweater or light jacket
• comfortable shoes for walking
• shower shoes
• toothbrush & toothpaste
• washcloth, soap and shampoo (showers will be provided)
• comb or hair brush
• towel
• any medication / CPAP machine (if needed)
• pillow
• sleeping bag or sheets and a blanket
• flashlight
• umbrella
• a personal Bible and journal or a diary are optional
• you probably won't need anything else!

What NOT to bring

As stated above, having no interruptions on your Emmaus weekend is highly important. So we ask that you NOT bring any electronic devices including phones, radios, music players, cameras or anything similar; and the best part is you won't even need a watch! We will keep you on-time as we move from one place to another. Let this time feel like a vacation from the real world and your busy schedule. We hope that you will completely surrender yourself to this experience and refrain from bringing anything that keeps track of what time it is. If you do, we do ask that you voluntarily put your watches, phones, etc. in your luggage and keep it off throughout the weekend until after Closing on Sunday.

Meals & dietary needs

Our kitchen staff will cook and provide all of our meals and will also make a variety of snacks available throughout most of the weekend. If you have any medically prescribed dietary needs (lactose intolerant, allergies, etc) that you need to tell us about then please include that information on your walk application or by contacting us about that ahead of your weekend. We will shop and plan our menu's around those special needs - just for you.

Forms

After submitting your Walk application, we email your sponsor and ask them to fill out a separate form on your behalf so that you can attend Emmaus. This is only for your information and does not require any action on your part - we will take care of the rest of this for you!

Next steps

If you haven't already please click the link below to fill out our online application to attend the Walk to Emmaus!