Updates to Emmaus of the Rockies
per Upper Room Leadership Meeting
Reviewed by Upper Room and approved by the Emmaus of the Rockies Board of Directors,
December 2018

On October 12, 2018, most of the EOTR Board met with Stephane Brooks, an Emmaus
Ministries/Upper Room International Leadership representative, to receive some valuable input
and training. His arrival and training came at a very opportune and God-driven time, because the
Board had recently received new manuals and planned a study group to review changes and
implications of the manual. He gave us some tips on making the board environment more
positive, as well as helping the community feel more connected and aware of the issues of
Emmaus Ministries expectations. We all need to remember WHY Emmaus exists: To build
leaders within the churches of our communities.
Regarding the meetings, and with Stephane’s encouragement, the Board is open to community
members attending these in order to see what board meetings are like and encourage new
community members to consider taking a time to serve on the Board. It is always helpful to have
a rotating portion of the community on the Board. Actually, the board must always be made up of
3 classes of 5 persons, with one class rotating off every year. Optimally, each class must contain
at least 1 clergy person.
We also discussed the Model, or manual, of the Upper Room/Emmaus Ministries (UR/EM),
because several things have occurred along the years in EOTR that have strayed from the model
and the model has recently been updated. All Emmaus communities sign a covenant with
UR/EM to be faithful to the covenant, which is the “how” of running our events. As Stephane
explained, the manual was created with a lot of thought and effort, trial and error, to save
communities “from ourselves”, so that we don’t labor over all the how-to’s and can’t spend our
time and effort on the “why” that we offer walk events. We have gotten away from the why,
which is to strengthen pilgrims’ relationships with Christ, to return to their churches and families
with a new fire and new leadership abilities and commitment. When pastors at these churches see
how Emmaus is the light and send back these pilgrims with that fire to help pastors and their
churches, those pastors will be more supportive of the Emmaus program.
For this reason, sponsorship is very important, being careful not to attempt sending someone to
an Emmaus event too soon. Pilgrims must be persons already part of a church, not people
looking for a religion or wanting to debate yes or no on church. Sponsors need to keep the “why”
in mind when they look to sponsor someone, and remember the full commitment of sponsoring
the pilgrim – up to, through the walk and after the walk to include the gathering and a reunion
group.
The UR/EM changed their support structure for communities in January 2018. Currently they
have 20 “communicators” who service 15 communities each. That person checks with the
communities once a month. They are looking to continue to build the support structure by
recruiting a training in each local Emmaus community. UR/EM is actually looking forward to
recruiting and training someone from within EOTR who will help equip the community to deal
with the “how” of the program. Stephane also explained that while the organizational structure
of the Upper Room/Emmaus Ministries brings it under the United Methodist Church, the Upper
Room does not receive UMC apportionment funds. The UR/EM supports itself from sales of
their program materials, books, funds from communities…
Some changes will take a little time – one cannot change a path all at once without causing a lot
of ripples. Currently there are certain changes, at the direction of Stephane, that you will see
happen:
1) there will no longer be a Team Angel. There will be a new position called a media tech who
runs the power points in the conference room.
2) In order for a growing number of persons to experience the progressive servanthood model,
team Selection will be done according to the model. There will not be applications posted to
apply to serve, instead team members will be invited to serve based on current progression
records. Team selection will be done with input from the weekend leaders, the Team Selection
Committee, and the Board of Directors, all using the community’s database. The Board of
Directors will give final approval.
3) Per UR/EM, past lay directors will be encouraged to serve on the newly formed ‘outside
team’ which will be implemented to give the on-site team the ability to attend Team dedication
on the first day of the walk and closing service at the end of the walk. Outside team will help only
as needed, but will greatly enhance our weekend retreats. Outside team is a wonderful form of
agape to the cloistered conference room AND to support teams.
Note that the Columbine community is attempting to restart and UR/EM is working with them to
accomplish that goal. EOTR has been given the honor and privilege to help by hosting some of
their pilgrims, who will then later serve on some of our events for training so they can return and
start hosting their own events. This means that EOTR also has the responsibility, a MUST, to
reflect the MODEL of Emmaus events. We are strongly encouraged to continue to grow in
grace, and to allow ourselves to be used by God to be God’s hands and feet to each other and to
pilgrims who come to us. Remember the “why”, and GRACE always.

Rev. Stephane Brooks
Spiritual Director of Emmaus Ministries
Upper Room Ministries
1908 Grand Ave. Nashville, TN 37212
www.UpperRoom.org
877-899-2780 ext.7189

Team Selection taken directly from the Emmaus Ministries/Upper Room Community Manual

Team members bring a broad range of God-given talents and gifts to glorify God, build up God’s
reign, and renew the church. Within this spectrum of individuals, all team members share commitment to
Christian discipleship, church renewal, and apostolic action.
Given that a person affirms this basic commitment, another weighty consideration in team selection
includes participation in the following Fourth Day activities:
• Regular church attendance;
• Involvement in a local church;
• Support of Emmaus Gatherings;
• Ongoing participation in an accountability group;
• Servant hood ministry behind the scenes of Emmaus events.

Team Formation
Team formation largely follows a spiritual formation process. Teams don’t just happen! A Team
Selection Committee that consists of a member of the Emmaus board who serves as committee chair, the
Community Spiritual Director, and several members of the Community (non-board members) prayerfully
select the team members.

The board selects the Lay and Spiritual Directors for the event; the Lay and Spiritual Directors then
participate in the selection committee process. The Team Selection Committee chooses the remainder of
the Conference Room Team, which consists of four Assistant Spiritual Directors; three Assistant Lay
Directors; one Table Leader and one Assistant Table Leader for each pilgrim table in the conference
room; one to three musicians; and a Board Representative. Emmaus events fall under the authority of the
Board of Directors of the local Emmaus Community. The local board comes under the authority of The
Upper Room Emmaus Ministries Office, a division of the Discipleship Ministries agency of The United
Methodist Church. This relationship provides the continuity from the Emmaus movement through the
local Board of Directors to the particular Emmaus event, an essential continuity that maintains the
consistency of the Emmaus experience. It also assures that the time, talent, and energies of individual
Community members are employed appropriately.

Uniformity in Emmaus events is integral. Communities conduct their Emmaus events according to The
Upper Room Emmaus models, which the Emmaus Ministries Community Manual explains fully. Leaders
use the Walk to Emmaus Directors’ Manual, which assures consistency in the order of events and the
honoring of covenant with The Upper Room. The Walk to Emmaus Directors’ Manual provides specific
directions for the event.

All teams differ. Therefore, although some team members may have experience, the team-formation
process includes explanations and discussions of the concept, dynamics, progression of thought,
philosophy of, and team behavior on the events. These reminders serve every team well—no matter how
many times some members have served on previous teams.

Before agreeing to serve on an Emmaus team, each team member will prayerfully consider the following
commitment and willingly accept the level of commitment required. I understand and accept the
commitment and responsibility to attend all Emmaus team meetings for any team on which I agree to
serve and to be present throughout the entire Emmaus event (except for emergency or health situations).

The Emmaus of the Rockies community is in need of an Outside Support Team. These servants of Christ would make themselves available to assist the Walk during First Walk set up; for both Walks – Sponsors Hour, Candlelight, Closing and Clean up; and then Last Walk clean up and trailer packing. This would be a great help to the overall success of each Walks. This is a way to serve without having to pay or devote the time of an entire weekend.  Come and help when you are able. If you are interested, we are looking for leaders and servants to be a reliable source of support for the Walks. Please contact our Community Lay Director if interested.

Member Churches & the Community