Walk to Emmaus 12/01/2010
 
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   At this Fall's recent Charge Conference, our District Superintendent, the Rev. Dr. Gerald Thurman, spoke enthusiastically about the Walk to Emmaus retreat experience offered by the Upper Room ministries of The United Methodist Church.
   On the home page of our website, I have posted links to the Upper Room's information about the retreat and to the local "community" (area persons who have attended a Walk to Emmaus retreat) website. Both sites have helpful information, but still perhaps don't answer all your questions.
    So for the moment just let me tell you that my Walk to Emmaus retreat was one of the top three most impactful spiritual events in my life!  And you'll find person after person who has "made their walk" to offer similar enthusiastic praise.  What one gets out of the weekend will vary for each person, but most persons will affirm that they connected to God on a deeper level than ever before.  And God has an amazing way of meeting us at just the right area in our life!
    Persons who wish to attend a weekend need a sponsor (someone who has already attended the retreat). I will be honored to be your sponsor; or, if you know someone else who has already been on a Walk, I bet they'd love to be your sponsor, too. 
    Interested?  Realize that the Walks are very popular, and sometimes there is a waiting list!  The next Walks offered by the Georgia Foothills Community (the group in our area) is March 17-20 for men; March 24-27 for women (Men and women attend separate weekends, but Emmaus is designed that both husbands and wives participate on their respective weekends.)  So don't delay!  It would be best to go ahead and put your application in; you will be contacted when there is an opening and you can confirm then your continued interest and availability to participate, or you can ask to wait until the next retreat.
    Questions?  Though Emmaus is hard to describe, there are no secrets and I'll be happy to tell you more and to answer any questions you may have.
    The next step is to let me hear from you!
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    I know it seems early to be thinking about such things, but for our next Confirmation experience for our young people, I would like to use the Retreat model for Confirmation.  Instead of us having a quarter-long series of classes, we will have 2-3 Trinity sessions.  Most of our learning and inspiration, however, will take place on a weekend retreat held at inspirational Camp Glisson.  With a large number of youth attending from Methodist churches across our Conference, more dynamic presentations can be offered.
    We will need to firm up our commitment to attend by mid-January, so I need for families with rising 6th-7th-8th graders to be in conversation about "is this the right time for my youth to give serious consideration to what it means to be a Christian in preparation for making a public profession of faith in Christ and being confirmed or baptized.  Then I need to hear from you so we may build our list of attendees so we may make our registrations. 
    The Confirmation Retreat will be Friday evening through Sunday morning, February 25-27, 2011 at Camp Glisson.  Cost is $110.00 per youth. If funds are a concern, please speak to me privately; no one should miss out because of money!  Additionally I will need one adult male and one adult female to attend as chaperones (provided we have both guys and girls attending).
    Youth who make faith decisions at this time in their life are blessed to have spiritual resources to help them through the challenges of youth and the decisions that they will be making about their future - college, career, friends, family, where to live, etc.  May God be at work in our young people's lives to draw them to Himself!
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    Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life is the best-selling hardcover non-fiction book of all times. I'm sure that because it addresses a most basic human question, "What on earth am I here for?" 
    Over the next several weeks, we're going to explore God's five purposes for every man, woman, and child. They are discerned by reading the scriptures and detecting that these five words frequently occur in the Bible, particularly the New Testament.  It's no secret . . . the 5 purposes are worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism.  But understanding them and applying them to our lives takes some study and reflection.
    Each Sunday in September and October (with one exception in October for the Hall Schools Fall Break) we're going to consider each of these God-given purposes. You will benefit so much more if you read along with us in The Purpose Driven Life book; we have copies available (and only $8.00!).
    May our spiritual adventure be a blessing to you and to our church!
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   Confirmation is the Christian rite that gives individuals who have been previously baptized (as an infant or young child) the opportunity to now make their public profession of faith, confirming for themselves the faith that led their parents to claim God's acceptance of their young child.  Confirmation Class is a period of considering the doctrines of the Christian faith, the possibility of spiritual birth, and the implications of following Christ in daily living.  For persons who have not been baptized, Confirmation Classes still afford the opportunity to consider the same and to be baptized rather than confirmed as they make their public profession of faith in Christ.
   I am exploring the possibility of a Confirmation Class to be offered this Fall.  Though often our Confirmation Group is for rising 6th graders, this time we're looking for still others -- were you not ready when the Class would have normally been offered for you, have you become a part of Trinity since then, etc.?  Be aware that due to the diverse ages that might respond, the classes offered may vary from the usual — grouping persons by age, offering different classes for different age groupings.  It may be as different as having just 2 in the group (small class size = fewer sessions); or, for just one person, having 2-3 meetings with the Confirmand and his or her family — the possibilities are endless!  Right now the most important thing is to be in touch; we'll go from there!
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