Thoughts from Our Community Lay Director (CLD).

What a great August Board meeting we had! The highlight for me was Board approval of the Community Volunteer positions and the Volunteers to fill many of those positions. I was particularly pleased that every Board member has volunteered for a service position! Please review carefully the Community Volunteer page in this Newsletter – note who is serving already and prayerfully consider where you might be willing to serve. Contact me at k4guj@aol.com if you want to volunteer – I will gladly submit your name to the Board for approval.

What a wonderful Gathering we had this month! It was well attended, much color was on display and the singing was fantastic. Those present were enthusiastic in their worship and the closing altar call and Communion were much to His glory. I smile in my recollection and look forward to our September 11th Gathering when the music will be lead by the Men’s FE-80 Music Team at Fairview at Charlotte Street. My prayer is I see you there.

By God’s Grace, we have our Team’s identified for our Fall Walks! The Men’s and Women’s Weekend Lay Directors and Lead Spiritual Directors have been working for the last 6 months with  your Team Selection Committee to accomplish Leader Training, to select and recruit their Leadership Team and Team members, and make their Team assignments. All this preparation will culminate in ten weeks of Teaming and then……the WEEKENDs!

What about after the Weekends? What about the critical few months early in the new Community member’s 4th Day? What about the first Gathering when the Pilgrims join together one last time to greet the Community? What about the 4th Day Follow Up training when the new Community member learns how to Sponsor, Team and Serve on the Board? I think we all agree that the 1st Gathering and 4th Day Follow Up are essentials in the 4th Day experience of our new Community members and dramatically effect whether they will bond and integrate with the Community. So how are we doing as a Community in this critical area of service to our new members? Well….over the past year’s four Walks we have had 85 pilgrims become new members of our Community. Of those 85 new members, only 30 have come to the Gathering following their Walk – roughly 1/3 of our new members attended that 1st Gathering and even fewer have continued to attend. That’s not so good, but even more serious is the attendance at 4th Day Follow Up – an essential in order to Sponsor, Team and serve on the Board. Only 6 new members have attended the last two 4th Day Follow Up sessions held in May and August. While it is the responsibility of Pilgrim Sponsors to bring their new members to these important activities, it is also the responsibility of the larger Community to encourage both the Sponsors and the new members to make the effort to attend in order to bond, benefit and progress in their 4th Day.

On an encouraging note, on recent Walks our WLDs have been reaching out to new Community members to Team and the Spring and Fall Walks this year have seen many new faces. The Team Selection Committee has been stressing that at least 1/3 of each Team be Teamers with 2 Walks or less experience. For Example, our Spring Men’s Walk had 8 Teamers who hadn’t teamed before. That’s great!

Did you see the request in last Month’s Newsletter for a volunteer for a daily Internet prayer chain? The Board has wholeheartedly endorsed this position and you will see the request again this month. If you have a passion for prayer and the time to do a daily Internet prayer posting of shared cares, concerns and praises from the Emmaus Community, please contact me and I will recommend you to the Board. Be in prayer as Teaming begins for the Men’s FE-80 and the Pilgrims whom God will send. Pray also for the Women’s Team FE-81 that will begin Teaming shortly.

De Colores,

Dick Barnett

Fairview at River Club

Fredericksburg Emmaus #7, Table of Mark

* The positions marked with an "*" are specific officers of the Board.  These individuals are elected by the Board from the membership of the Board to fill the positions as necessary.  The year in ( ) next to the Board members name indicates the year they will come off of the board.  A given year on the Board starts on 1 July and ends the next year on 30 June. The Board runs between 2 calendar years (e.g., 2009-2010 = 2010) so the (year) designates the ending Board year.