Welcome from Your Community Lay Director

Transcription

1 November 2014 Crossroads Emmaus of Eastern Pennsylvania Crossroads Chrysalis of Eastern Pennsylvania Welcome from Your Community Lay Director As We Walk Through The Open Door. At certain times in our lives, our Lord opens some doors and closes others so that we may grow in His love and grace. This is one of those times. This will be my last Rooster Call article as your Community Lay Director. As I had announced at the Candlelights for the 58 th Walks, and in the pre-58 th Walk Rooster Call, Mary Lynne and I will be moving to upstate New York sometime in the middle of The Crossroads Walk to Emmaus Board of Directors has asked me to make my resignation from the Community Lay Director position effective with the end of the 2014 calendar year. Tracy Fasick will assume the role of Community Lay Director in this Community as of January 1 st. Please support Tracy with your service and your prayers. I would like to thank all of you for the love and support that Mary Lynne and I have received as we have both moved through many positions in Walk teams and in Community leadership in the 20 years since we took our Walks on Walk 20 in this Community. This Crossroads Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis Community will always have a special place in our hearts, and you all will be in our prayers as you, and we, move into the future in Jesus grace and love. God Bless, and DeColores! Mike Kniley Community Lay Director Crossroads Walk to Emmaus Page 1

2 Welcome From Your Community Spiritual Director Dear friends, We had another wonderful set of walks! The pilgrims were blessed, the teams were great, and the support of the community was great. Question how do we measure the effectiveness of a walk? How do we know if a walk was a success? The answer is NOT how many people cried at communion, how many spoke at closing, or how many attended 4 th day. The answer is we will never fully know! Only God will know the long term effects of a walk on the heart of a pilgrim. I found the following years ago. If everyone who attended a walk truly lived by these words, then our walks are truly successes. I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed." The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, live by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until he returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My Colors will be clear. May your colors be clear. DeColores! Mark Moore Community Spiritual Director Crossroads Walk to Emmaus Page 2

3 From the Lay Director of the Men s 58th Walk, October 2014 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2 When I sit back and reflect on the 58 th Men s Walk to Emmaus Weekend, I recall a weekend full of bonding in the Love and Grace of God. The Weekend started off on Thursday night with a group of Pilgrims that I do not recall having that deer in the headlights look that is so often used to describe the look of most Pilgrims. I saw a group of men ready and eager to find out what was ahead of them because of the gift given to them by their sponsors. We moved into the small conference room and met our new best friends. The bonds were being built early, and the presentations were enthusiastic. It was also here where we were introduced to our theme song #307 10,000 Reasons. Friday began in silence and once it was broken at breakfast time, I could tell that everyone was already feeling comfortable and willing to move as God moved them on the weekend. From the moment of the first talk all the way through the last of the day, the pilgrims were introduced to God s love and His Amazing Grace. The music leaders taught us the meaning of DeColores in a way that will not be forgotten and was full of much laughter. The posters and summaries wrapped up the day, and you could just see that they were gobbling up what the speakers were presenting to them. On Saturday we had more talks and we were introduced to the Means of Grace by Pastor Terry. This led to a very meaningful and moving Dying Moments communion in which everyone had the chance to leave something at the foot of the Cross. While the rest of the afternoon was filled with more talks and time to reflect on the special communion service, we had some laughs at the expense of the Chrysalis members at break in. While they brought laughter during the If I weren t a Christian skit, they also made us all teary eyed during the Jesus skit. Thank you to all who came out to entertain us. We finished up with more posters and skits before heading to New Hanover UMC for Candlelight. What an amazing night this turned out to be. Walking into that Church is like walking into a little slice of Heaven on Earth and a wonderful gift of Agape from the community. After giving the guys some time to reflect in the silence of the chapel, we had a brief prayer circle and song before heading back to camp. What a wonderful experience of singing together it was like a group of angels singing through those men and Reverend Pat. After candlelight we were informed that two of our pilgrims had committed their lives to Christ during their reflection time in the chapel. All praise to God for working in these men. We wrapped up Sunday with some final talks and then we headed to Andy s Court for closing. One by one each of the pilgrims got up and shared with the community what the weekend meant to them. You could tell that their lives were changed by what they experienced. They all were ready to go back and help change their world by being the hands and feet of Christ to everyone they meet. I want to take this chance to thank the members of the team for the hard work and dedication that they put into preparing for the weekend in the months leading up to the weekend and on the weekend itself. Without what you all do for the glory of God what we provided to the pilgrims that weekend could not have been possible. I can t thank you all enough for that. To the pilgrims I am truly blessed by having been able to serve you on the weekend. I am grateful to have gotten to know you and I look forward to continuing our bond throughout the years to come. I know you will go out and show the world God s love and Grace. Thank you to the community for your prayers and support throughout the team building process and on the weekend itself. Thank you to the Board for allowing me the opportunity to serve as the Lay Director for this walk. I especially want to thank our counterparts on the Women s team who were there with us step by step on this entire process. DeColores, Matt Greener 45 th Walk to Emmaus Table of Mathias Lay Director of the 58 th Crossroads Men s Walk to Emmaus Page 3

4 From the Lay Director of the Women s 58th Walk, October 2014 My dear women of the 58 th walk to Emmaus, it s been a few weeks since we came together at camp Innabah, since we laughed together, cried together, told stories together, and listened to some really bad jokes together. I want to ask you how is your soul doing? How is your study coming? How has your prayer life changed? How have you been moved to action? We shared this weekend about where we were, where our comfort zone was, and where we want to be. We shared where these things line up, and where we know we are being called to more. I write today, to encourage everyone in the Crossroads community to remember remember the talks about God s grace, about our need for Christian community. Remember the challenge of growing in study, in prayer and in action. Some of us have only heard these messages once, some of us have heard these messages more times than we can count. No matter how many times I hear these messages, there is still new truths in them for me. This year I was given the challenge of sharing with the pilgrims about our Christian community, and within that community the importance of reunion groups. My pilgrims have you looked for a reunion accountability group? Sponsors, have you invited your pilgrims to join your reunion group? If you don t have a reunion group that you re part of, can you find an hour a week to spend with your pilgrim, going through the reunion group card? Prior to this weekend, I did not have a reunion group. I have various small groups that I meet with for different purposes, but I did not know what was missing by not partaking in a reunion group. For the past 4 months, I ve been part of an accountability based reunion group. I did this in preparation to share with the women of Walk 58 about the importance of a reunion group, and in return I have reaped the benefits of all that a reunion group has to offer. I knew it would be beneficial to become closer friends with some women I was close to at church. I knew it would give me some real life experience to share in my talk. My most unanticipated benefit from my reunion group has been a sense of peace that has flooded my soul. I do not have words for the peace that has surrounded me. I have always known God s presence in my life, but this group helps me to feel His peace that passes understanding in a new and fantastic way. I thank you all for sharing your pilgrims with me. I thank my team for the amazing grace they showed me, and their willingness to serve in any and every way needed. I thank my friends and family for all the ways you reached out and supported me as I helped to lead this Emmaus weekend. This was truly an amazing weekend, with the potential to be life changing. I challenge you to remember our joy, our laughter, our tears, and to find the way to make this weekend change your life. De Colores, Elysa PS in case you lost that reunion group card, or need a reminder Page 4

5 New Members of the Crossroads Walk to Emmaus Community Richard Bowden 154 Shed Road Douglassville, PA Kevin Carr 4427 Somerset Lane Aston, PA Miki & Eric Chelton 407 Calais Drive Sellersville, PA David Clendaniel 19 Potter Street Warminster, PA Debra Deck 1010 Weavertown Road Lebanon, PA Marie Direso 400 S. Orange Street, Apt 7 Media, PA marie.direso@gmail.com Rita Eisenhour 565 Cherry Street Lebanon, PA reisenhour@yahoo.com Dave Evans 307 West Brookhaven Road Brookhaven, PA fire5037@comcast.net Ann Frehulfer P.O. Box 145 Brodheadsville, PA afrehulfer@msn.com Mason Gehring 1577 White Bear Road Birdsboro, PA MWGehring@hotmail.com Amy Griner 2010 Robert Burns Drive Aston, PA amy.griner@verizon.net Christine Hall 2345 Overlook Drive Aston, PA chall143@yahoo.com Kathleen & Dana Ingerto 848 Meadowood Lane Warminster, PA kingerto@gmail.com danageye@gmail.com Anne & Frederick Koelble 637 Lexington Road Warminster, PA standrewssundayschl@gmail.com tedkoelble@gmail.com Karissa Kuser 767 Bayberry Drive Breinigsville, PA KKuser1912@gmail.com Dana & Louis Lopes 173 Blue Mountain View Drive Fredericksburg, PA lopesy@comcast.net Jim McKay 27 East Glenolden Avenue Glenolden, PA jmckay@rcn.com Tara Pascal 123 Sugar Maple Road Barto, PA curleetea@gmail.com Shelly Sobel 204 Hickory Lane Douglassville, PA rsobel@thesobels.net Carl Stumpf 50 Main Street, P.O. Box 1186 Quentin, PA aussiecjs@comcast.net Heather Wallace 416 Bow Lane Gilbertsville, PA heather29@comcast.net Page 5

6 Help for Pilgrim Packet Preparation Your help is needed to prepare the Pilgrim Packets that are given to each new Pilgrim on Sunday of their Walk weekend. Karen Bartkowski, who has been preparing the packets for several years, has found it necessary to give up this position, as she has started several new things in her life Thank you Karen! Packet preparation requires a couple of hours of work before each set of walks to print the pages for the packets, and stuff them in envelopes. Access to a computer with internet access, , and a printer is required for this job. If you think that you may be interested in filling this need for Pilgrim Packet preparation, please contact Tracy Fasick at tlfasick@gmail.com or Thank you. New Board Members Listed below are the results of the Crossroads Walk to Emmaus 2015 Board of Directors election which was held at the Women s Candlelight for the 58 th Walk: Re-elected to a second three year term: Chuck Addis Alan Donaldson Mary Wilson Elected to their first three year term: Matt Greener Joanne Miller Not elected this year: Donna Craft Cheryl VanLierop I would like to thank all of the members of the Board of Directors for their faithful service during this past year, and I would like to thank Chuck, Alan, Mary, Matt, Joanne, Donna, and Cheryl for being willing to appear on the ballot, and to serve if elected. Please support all of the members of our Board of Directors as they lead this community in CONTACT INFORMATION Crossroads Emmaus and Chrysalis Communities Key Contacts Emmaus Community Lay Director Michael Kniley 529 Waterside Circle Lebanon, PA (717) mkniley@comcast.net Emmaus Community Spiritual Director Rev. Mark Moore 149 Davis Road Coatesville, PA (610) mmoore@asburylv.org (Emmaus Team applications go to Lou) Lou Phillips 12 South Hershey Avenue Leola, PA (717) loujanphil@frontiernet.net Emmaus Community Registrar (Emmaus Pilgrim applications go to John) John Keenan 739 Main Street Phoenixville, PA keenanjlj@verizon.net Chrysalis Community Lay Director (Chrysalis Team applications go to Jan) Jan Schubauer 3079 Turnpike Road Elizabethtown, PA heybratcat@yahoo.com Chrysalis Community Registrar (Chrysalis Caterpillar applications go to Belinda) Belinda Ogitis 592 Carlisle Drive Morrisville, PA Bonat616@verizon.net Crossroads Emmaus Board of Directors Michael Kniley, Tracey Fasik, Assistant Community Rev. Jim McNair, Spiritual Director Lou Phillips, Pre-Emmaus Chair Maryann Griffith, Gathering Liaison Dave Cappuccio, Treasurer Nancy Guenther, Past Community Lay Direc- Cindy Carpenter, Secretary Rev. Mark Moore, Jan Schubauer, Chrysalis Community Rev. Rick Andrews Spiritual Director Sherry Kuhfuss, Post-Emmaus Chair Mary Wilson, Weekend Coordinator Alan Donaldson, Assistant Treasurer John Keenan, Registrar Chuck Addis Thanks, and Blessings, Mike Kniley Brian Billman Ed Hedemark Eric Ressler Curt Erb Alma Tootie Hine Page 6

7 Chrysalis News We have our teams for February in place. Team meetings will begin in November. All we need now are the caterpillars. If you are thinking of sponsoring a youth for the flights now is the time to get your applications in. They are available on the Chrysalis website or at Emmaus events this fall. All applications must be received by Dec 1. If you know of youth you could sponsor but are not too familiar with what Chrysalis is, we can arrange for a board member to visit your church or youth group with a presentation telling about what Chrysalis is and to answer any questions that people might have. I can be contacted at Fly With Christ, Jan Schubauer Chrysalis Community Lay Director A Word for Rev. Beverly Andrews regarding Kairos Outside Please be aware of the following website: 3dayol.org. From November I will be serving as one of two Spiritual Directors for Kairos Outside of Eastern Pennsylvania. This is a 3-day retreat, similar to the Walk to Emmaus, for women who have either been incarcerated themselves, or who have loved ones who are, or have been, incarcerated. These women bear great burdens and the retreat is designed to shower them with the love of Christ. If you go to the website above and scroll down the listings, you will find Kairos Outside of Eastern Pennsylvania. When you click on the dates, November 14-16, you will enter the listing for the Prayer Vigil which covers the entire weekend in prayer. If you would sign up to pray, wherever you wish, for these women and for the team presenting this retreat it would be a wonderful gift of love. The listing of the prayer vigil will be shared with the guests to show them how Christ's love comes to them through people they don't know and may never meet who are praying for them. For anyone who is available the night of November 15th to come to NE Philadelphia, there is an event, similar to candlelight, for the I believe. If you'd like to come and share this agape, please contact me or Candy for specific time, location, etc. [pastorbevta@gmail.com; or candace.eckart@bracketglobal.com] I know you'll do what you can. Believe me, every prayer and every candle will do great good that weekend! Thank you and God bless, Bev Andrews Keep Us Up-to-Date This edition of the Rooster Call marks the first time that nearly every copy of the newsletter will be distributed by . This means if you want to keep receiving the Rooster Calls you must notify us if you change your address. Any change should be sent to curterb@aol.com. If you know anyone who does not have access to and would like to receive the Rooster Call by postal mail, please have that individual send his or her home address to: Curt Erb, 93 W. 5th Street, Pottstown, PA Page 9 Page 7

8 Dear Crossroads Emmaus and Chrysalis Community members, As the year draws to a close and the holiday season approaches, we cannot help but think about how truly blessed Innabah has been throughout the year. This year, 2014 marked our 85 th anniversary and we look forward to celebrating many more years at this, special place. For many of us attending our Walk or Flight at Innabah, they have made this camp very special and scared ground. Like many of our churches, Innabah is also facing financial difficulties. In order to continue to grow as a ministry and to share this sacred place with even more people, we are asking that you collaborate with Innabah to spread the message of Jesus Christ by considering a year-end donation to help offset the costs that go into running Innabah. We are asking that you pray for Innabah, and ask you to donate whatever amount the Lord would lead you to give. No matter how much you choose to give, every gift will be used to continue to change lives and help bring others to the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ. Blessing to you in the upcoming holiday season and thank you in advance for your support of our ministry. In His Service, Innabah Site Committee and Emmaus / Chrysalis Community members: Barb & Ed Hartman Lansdale UMC Carlen Blakstone Asbury UMC, Allentown Wendy Schroeder Faith UMC, Lititz Maryann & Rich Griffith Christ UMC, Broomall Sandy Minnick Ephrata First UMC Donations may be sent to: Camp Innabah 712 Pughtown Road Spring City, PA Memo Line: Crossroads Walk to Emmaus/Chrysalis Resources There are ways of staying connected to our Emmaus Community in addition to the Rooster Call and your Gathering. If you are not a member of our Facebook group, please become one. You can do a search for Crossroads Walk to Emmaus of Eastern PA and request to join. Those of you who are already members of the group, check your Facebook News Feed on a regular basis, as there are frequent postings. In addition to Facebook, periodically check our website at Here you ll find information about our Emmaus and Chrysalis communities, back copies of recent Rooster Calls, information on our Gatherings and Scholarship funds, downloadable team and pilgrim applications, a calendar of upcoming events, and links to the prayer wheel and website where you can volunteer to serve on upcoming walks. Page 8

9 The Rooster Call of Crossroads Walk to Emmaus 93 W. 5th Street Pottstown, PA Address Service Requested November 2014 Crossroads Emmaus of Eastern Pennsylvania Crossroads Chrysalis of Eastern Pennsylvania Future Walks and Flights Chrysalis Walk #26 Emmaus Walk #59 Emmaus Walk #60 April 23-26, 2015 October 8-11, 2015 February 19-22, 2015 April 30 - May 3, 2015 October 15-18, 2015 Next Steps Rush Next Steps Rush 4th Day Workshop March 7, 2015 May 16, 2015 TBD TBD Cedarville UMC Please plan ahead! Team applications must be submitted 9-12 months prior to the Walk weekend on which you would like to serve. Note that Team Selection is in February or early March for Fall Weekends and in September for Spring Weekends. All applications must be submitted BEFORE Team Selection for your chosen Walk weekend. Page 9