Monday, July 24, 2006

An "Emmaus " weekend -- without the "Walk"

In earlier postings I have written about the "Walk to Emmaus" (see, most recently, 13 July "As the Train Rolls. . ." and in depth 24 June "Walk to Emmaus. . ."). Now, "Walk" itself refers to the three-day retreat, which many Emmaus and Cursillo folks have testified was THE BEST weekend or three days of their life. And indeed, my "Pilgrim Walk" and my service on the Team for a Men's Walk in A.D. 2002 are cherished memories!

This past weekend was so full of "Fourth-Day" activities that it was almost like being on a Walk weekend!

It all began Friday evening when the seven San Antonio area Fourth Day Groups (Emmaus communities) held their semi-annual joint gathering. (Each FDG has a monthly gathering, except in the two months when all of us get together.) This took place at Oxford UMC, west of the medical district in northwest San Antonio. NWSA (Norhtwest San Antonio) was the host FDG for this gathering. Due to the bus schedule I arrived early, and to a few minutes to explore the Oxford UMC campus and the neighboring street. (The church is listed as being on Huebner, a major thoro'fare west of the med. dist., but there are actually a couple of acres of open land between the church and Huebner, and entrances into the church parking lots are on the side street.) As I looked westward the hilly neighborhood definitely had a "country" look to it, a "Texas Hill Country" look. Hence it prompted me to think of Mt. Wesley, the Methodist camp in Kerrville where my Pilgrim Walk and my '02 Team Walk took place.

The gathering was terrific! After a scrumptious & sumptious potluck meal in the gym/fellowship hall we adjourned to the fairly new sanctuary for the Worship portion of the gathering. The singing (out of "Songs", Johann Anderson's famous songbook), the Fourth Day Talk, the Lord's Supper. . . . The Spirit of the Lord was there!

Next morning (Saturday the 22d) I saw several of the same Emmaus folks, when we had the second meeting for the Team which will conduct Men's Walk #1327 in October. Like the first meeting, it was at University UMC, which is a couple of miles north of Oxford UMC. We continued our bonding into a team for presenting the gospel of God's grace in Christ, for the Pilgrims who will be on the Walk. More singing, more worship, more Talks (previews of those to be given on that Walk), more food. . . .

And then Sunday nite I attended the meeting of members of Laurel Heights UMC who have been on a Walk to Emmaus. Large congregations that have several members who have been on a Walk tend to form groups within the congregation which meet monthly, just as official Fourth Day Groups meet monthly. (They also tend to have dozens of weekly Reunion Groups made up entirely or mostly of congregation's members.) Laurel Heights is a congregation in Care Bexar FDG. I wasn't at this Sunday evening gathering due to being an official FDG officer, altho' I do hold two offices in Care Bexar. Rather, I attended more because I had visited Laurel Heights two Sundays earlier to hear Bro. Alex Alvarez preach. (Bro. Alex has a music show on KKYX-AM 680, "Sunday Morning Gospel", to which I listen faithfully each Sunday morning before leaving for church.) In the announcements on that Sunday, I had read of the upcoming LHUMC Emmaus gathering, and decided to attend.

Several folk were on vacation, so it was a small gathering. Only a score of folk attemded, a compared to a couple hundred who were at Friday's joint FDG gathering. Nevertheless the spirit of Emmaus was there, with the few as with the many. More singing, more worship, another Talk (a "Fourth Day Talk", just as the one Friday evening was). And more food. . . .

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