by Max Knight

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In Emmaus and all related movements the most vital item emerging from the renewal weekend is the reunion group, sometimes called a share group. A reunion group should consist of no more than ten people, less is even better. The format, listed on a card called a service sheet, is given each Emmaus Pilgrim. It is geared for one hour and, according to the Emmaus leadership, should be followed. By using the service sheet, all reunion groups worldwide follow the same pattern.

There is a written prayer to open and a prayer of thanksgiving to close. This is the order recommended by the international office for Emmaus. 1. Review the service sheet. It covers the continued spirituality, study and action of a Pilgrim. 2. Answer the question, at what moment this past week did you feel closest to Christ? 3. At what moment did you feel you were responding to God's call to be a disciple? 4. Was your faith tested this week? 5. Talk about a future plan of action. 6. List any reunion group activities planned. 7. Pray for special needs or individuals. 8. Close with prayer.

Emmaus emphasizes that our spiritual life should include morning devotion, prayer life, worship attendance, Communion and spiritual retreat. As for study, reading of the scriptures on a daily basis is a necessity. It also suggests the reading of religious publications and that an Emmaus man or woman be regular attendees [sic] of Bible study, Sunday School class and worship service.

Action adds feet to your beliefs. "Go into all the world and preach the Good News," says the Bible. But good news starts at home. So Emmaus urges members to work daily to be better known and loved in their own family, on the job, in the Emmaus community, in a reunion group fellowship and in the Christian society as a whole.

The prayer used quite often during Walks and to open each reunion group gathering, is called the "Prayer To The Holy Spirit." Reverend Wood, first national director of Emmaus, chose this prayer after much research and praying about it himself. It is a Fourth Century prayer of the Catholic Church and was used as a prayer of celebration. It was given in response dialogue and was explained this way by Reverend Wood.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

This is biding [sic] the Holy Spirit to warm our hearts, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had their hearts strangely warmed when Jesus explained the scriptures to them.

Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.

This refers to the creative spirit, breath of God, that brooded over the waters in creation. It is the Spirit that God breathed into Adam as the breath of life. For people of God today, it is their continued Walk of salvation.

And you shall renew the face of the earth.

Renewal will take place when God's Spirit comes upon all of creation and restores God's created order.

The prayer continues:

O God, who by the light Of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful.

It is the light of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus was called the Light, that instructs our hearts. Jeremiah talks of this when he gives a message from God that says, 'I will write it upon their hearts.' Jesus said that he would send a comforter (the Holy Spirit) to teach us the meaning of everything.

Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations.

It is the Holy Spirit that brings us to the moment of sanctification where we enjoy God's kingdom. It was the hope of every good Hebrew to achieve the status of sitting under his camphor tree while contemplating the scriptures. This was the kingdom for them.

The prayer concludes with:

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

All New Testament prayers are evoked in the name of Jesus Christ.

There is no doubt, praying this prayer at each reunion group gathering brings those present into a oneness of fellowship.

"I feel the reunion group has been vital and very effective in our church," said Dr. Lee Riggs, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Greensburg, Indiana. "We have been able to establish several groups of six to ten people. I find the Emmaus emphasis has a good balance. It sends hope to your congregation to do God's work now."

The Greensburg community sends out more than sixteen hundred newsletters each month, many of these to couples. Yet, with all of this, fifty per cent of the Emmaus members do not respond by getting into reunion groups. The pastor says there is no doubt the emphasis on how vital reunion groups are to the future life of a Christian, must come during the Walk with a role model segment.

"If Pilgrims could listen to team members openly sharing their closeness to Christ," said Reverend Riggs, "it would give them an initial view of reunion groups. Then I would have the lay director finish by telling how such a group has become vital in his or her life. In fact," he added, "this could be part of the Perservance talk given on Sunday."

"It is the responsibility of a sponsor to make sure his or her Pilgrim attends the first gathering after a Walk," said Deborah Peterson of Lynn, Indiana, community lay director for the Richmond, Indiana, community. "But it is seldom done. We may have forty Pilgrims on a Walk and the next gathering, only one or two attend. Sponsors must learn their obligations and then follow through on them.

Sharon Martin, a leader of an Emmaus reunion group at Centerville, Indiana, helped start one for women only. It has proven very successfu1 and meets once a week, generally in one of the women's homes.

"The women share their concerns and we pray about them," said Mrs. Martin. "What is said there, stays there. It also gives us a chance to have a fellowship like the one we had when we were a table of women on our Emmaus Walk."

Henry Mauschbaugh meets with his reunion group of men at a restaurant in East Peoria, Illinois.

"The group that participated on the weekend with me, our particular table, ended up as our reunion group. After twenty years, we still are meeting, although there are only three of the original table members left. But as one dropped out, we picked up one or more of the new Emmaus members and kept our group intact. Since most of our men are retired," he said, "we drink coffee, follow the service sheet format and generally finish in an hour. But if there is something we want to discuss further, being retired gives us a chance to do so."

The future success and growth of the church may well depend on the continued establishment of the small group idea. People are more comfortable in small groups. Where a man or woman might feel overwhelmed in a large group and not speak out, the small group tends to allow even the most shy person to take part.

"This movement is spreading throughout our country," said Lutheran pastor Paul Borg. "And there is no doubt it is sanctioned and filled with the Holy Spirit. As it grows in numbers, the future security of our nation as the center of world Christianity is enhanced. We are in the very beginning of a transformation that may be greater than any we have ever known."

Reverend Borg sees renewal growing through small groups. He said, "Most people are not aware of this moment in history. In two thousand years there never has been a time so ripe for renewal than at this moment. Historians already are writing that the movements now blossoming around our globe will have a greater impact on the world than was seen during the sixteenth century Reformation.

"The idea is the small group concept. People who are the heartbeat of the church meeting in homes or restaurants during the week to listen to each other and to study and pray together. The movements we are talking about emphasize this in what we call our Fourth Day. To me it is the most vital aspect of our weekend, emphasizing and reemphasizing the importance of getting into a reunion group."

There are other movements that emphasize the small group principle. Bill Beckham has written a book on it called, The Second Reformation, and Dr. James Newby has one he entitled, Gathering Of The Seekers.

"It is not a new idea," said Reverend Borg, "but is one that once again is changing lives. It unleashes people to the ministry. But there is a problem most all face when they return to their church where the pastor has not been involved in a weekend. His attitude generally is, 'Relax, you'll cool off in a few days.' So, instead of having a church or parish where the people are indeed the priesthood of all believers, as our Walk teaches, doldrums set in once again. This is where the Fourth Day experience is so vital. The Via de Cristo movement, as well as the other related movements, deal with the issues of the heart, the very body of Christ."

One of the earlier proponents of this small group idea was the late Dr. D. Elton Trueblood, Quaker theologian and philosopher at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.

"Dr. Trueblood has communicated the idea on several occasions," said the Lutheran pastor. "Trueblood said, 'The church, in many arenas, must be smaller before it can be substantially stronger.' And by church, Dr. Trueblood was referring to the gathering of the people and not the building in which worship is held." Reverend Borg continued, It was Jesus himself who shared with us not only Himself as a master with a message, but also the model for us to follow. Via de Cristo is trying not to destroy the church structure, it is trying to shore it .up.

"I can be tired, down in the dumps from a busy week and sometimes find it takes a supreme effort to attend my reunion group," said Kathy Wambo, a member of the Richmond, Indiana, community. "But when the hour is over and we head for home, I find myself on cloud nine, once again, ready to face the world. Only Jesus can do that for an individual and I feel his presence when we gather each week as Christian friends."

As Reverend Borg said, this may well be the most important aspect of the Walks and should be promoted by every community and cultivated by every member.

Max Knight is a retired pastor and newspaper writer.

Excerpted from The Emmaus Experience by Max Knight, (c) 1999 by Max Knight. Use by permission.   [ISBN No. 1-57860-033-2]

The Emmaus Experience may be purchased by sending a check or money order to Max Knight, 5672 Sugar Grove Road, Greens Fork, IN 47345.

Cost of the book is $17 including shipping and handling. The publisher is Guild Press of Indiana.