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Minnesota
Emmaus Community Organized 1991 |
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March 2004 |
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A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST AHEAD |
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Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
I bring you greetings from the
Minnesota Emmaus Board of Directors. I also want to share with you the
feelings of excitement and determination that I sense from this year's board
members. They are ready and willing to serve you, the Community; to be
proactive, not reactive; to have foresight rather than accept the status
quo.
In preparation for 2004, I found
myself reflecting on the state of our Community; where we have been, where
we need to be, and how we are going to get there. I see us as a growing,
sometimes struggling community. I see us experiencing the growing pains of a
large community, where we can easily become fragmented, communicate less,
and gradually become disinterested. There is so much work to be done, yet so
much that can be accomplished. Last Fall I conducted a planning session for
current and future board members. After much brainstorming, we developed a
separate vision statement and a mission statement. Next we discussed our
goals and action items that would be in concert with these statements. While
our focus at this time should be on more broad, future-oriented challenges,
we still have many administrative deficiencies to overcome. We need to
update the bylaws, review our Emmaus handbooks, improve the consistency of
the Walk weekend policies and procedures, and improve the communication
throughout the Community via an updated database, website and newsletter.
On a much greater scale, we need
to revitalize our |
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Community members, leading to a more
vibrant Fourth Day community; improve and promote reunion groups/monthly
gatherings; expand our outreach program to include church members of all
denominations and other Fourth Day movements. We need to project our growth
into the future and determine our best course of action. Rather than take a
sabbatical from putting on Walk events to allow us some time to "regroup",
it was decided to push forward with more Walk dates and sites, making the
weekend experience available to more pilgrims and community members. Now we
need to staff those Walks with the right mix of people in accordance with
the Upper Room guidelines, decide how to approach the shepherding of new
communities, and provide adequate training to our Community in terms of
sponsorship, Walk involvement, and Walk follow-up.
This is an exciting time to be a
part of the Minnesota Emmaus community. I strongly urge all of you to
support the Community with your prayers. Keep the pilgrims and team members
of Walks #61 and #62 in your prayers. And please show your support by your
presence at Candlelight and/or Closing, by your agape gifts, letters and
snacks, and by your financial contributions to our scholarship funds. As it
is written in Matthew 9:37, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are
few." With your prayers and active participation, we will all reap a very
bountiful harvest!
Jim Rottinger
Community Lay
Director |
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AGAPE DINNER
In an effort to maintain
consistency between our Men's Walks and Women's Walks, and between our
various Walk sites, the Minnesota Emmaus Board of Directors has decided to
serve a chicken entrée for the Agape dinner at all of our future
Walks. Apparently the tradition of having prime rib dinner on Saturday at
the Men's Walks has its origin with our Community's earlier weekend events
held at the Good Counsel Retreat
Center in Mankato. While this
change may deflate the expectations of some future team members, we must
remember that the Emmaus weekend is being held primarily for the pilgrims,
and they have no anticipation of the wonderful Agape meal that has been
prepared for them. (It should be noted that continuing to have a prime rib
dinner on the weekend would have resulted in increased fees charged by one
of the Walk sites, and possibly a higher registration fee for our pilgrims
and team members). |
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DYING MOMENTS
Do you remember your pilgrim
Walk, and the impact that the Dying Moments communion service had on you?
Pretty powerful, huh? Did you also ask yourself, at the time, why you were
eating someone else's sins when you took the bread representing another
person's dying moment? As I am sure what was explained to you by the weekend
Spiritual Director, once the morsels of bread are consecrated, they
no longer represent our dying moments, but rather they become visible signs
of Christ's body. Then when we receive the consecrated bread, we
receive not a person's dying moment, but Jesus Christ. This symbolism
conveys the mystery of Jesus Christ making Himself one with us in our inner
deaths, and raising us to new life with Him. It also conveys the truth that
we cannot receive Jesus Christ without receiving our neighbor in need. When
we receive the body of Christ, we are made one with Christ and one with each
other in the love of Christ. |
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FOLLOWING THE
MODEL
Each year our Community is
required to sign a Letter of Agreement, indicating that we are agreeing to
conduct the Emmaus program in a manner that is faithful to the 15 statements
contained therein, and to become an Upper Room "Walk to Emmaus Community".
The Emmaus Office, in turn, agrees to recognize our group as an "Emmaus
community" and to support out ministry in various ways. Abiding by the Upper
Room guidelines is not legalism but rather an acknowledgment of the great
amount of prayer that went into the creation of the Walk to Emmaus, the vast
experience of those in leadership at the Upper Room, and the direction and
blessing of the Holy Spirit upon this movement.
The Walk to Emmaus experience is
one person deep. Each pilgrim experiences it one time, and one time only.
That one time may be a life-changing experience (right then or over a
period of time), or it may be an affirmation of the pilgrim's walk with God
before the Walk weekend (leading to little change). The pilgrim's experience
is largely the result of the interaction between the Holy Spirit and the
pilgrim. The actual events of the Walk simply provide a setting where the
interaction can occur. We kid ourselves as team and board |
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members if we believe that what we add to
the model can have a significant, positive impact on the interaction between
the Holy Spirit and all of the pilgrims.
A community tradition often
starts from a motive that in effect said "it meant so much to me on my Walk"
or "it would have meant more to me if we had done it this way on my Walk".
The model does work. It works for pilgrims because it is new and fresh for
them --- and because what they physically experience is so minor compared to
the interaction between them and the Holy Spirit. When we try to change it,
we are trying to give others our experience, which means we don't
trust the Holy Spirit (and the minor contribution from the model). It's
nothing more than ego. We must voluntarily surrender our "right" to be in
charge and to make changes, so that we can then truly become free to follow
where the Holy Spirit leads. We already have a model in place that provides
for selfless servanthood, that glorifies God, and that loves the pilgrims.
Even still, there is much room within the model to allow for certain local
flavor and traditions.
The Walk
is not ours, but God's. We need to realize that the best that we can give
God is to get out of the way and let Him work. |
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SUPPLIES NEEDED
Have you ever wondered where all
of the various conference room supplies come from? These items are paid out
of our general fund, and then are stored in our trailer until the Walk
weekend. We will gladly accept donations of any of the following items,
which can be delivered to the home of Nancy Sjoquist at 3141 Hennepin Ave S
in Minneapolis. Please contact her in advance at (612) 825-3576, or by
e-mail at
nsjoquist@sjoquist.com. |
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TREASURER'S REPORT
As of the end of February 2004 I
am happy to report that our Community is solvent and that all bills have
been paid. Our current cash balance should be adequate to publish the
current edition of the newsletter. However, in order to keep our future
costs down, we will need to continually increase the number of Community
members who can receive their copy of the newsletter via e-mail. |
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·
200 napkins
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200 Styrofoam cups
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100 votive candle refills
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60 pocket-type folders
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50 pens
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80 sheets of poster board
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100 colored markers
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60 large grocery bags |
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200 small paper snack
plates
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30 boxes of facial tissue
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3 reams of copier paper
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60 brown envelopes, 9x12
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1,000 sheets of ruled paper
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3 packages of colored construction
paper |
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Each of our present Walk sites
have increased their camp fees for 2004. In an effort to be responsible
stewards for our Community, the Board has decided to increase the
registration fee for pilgrims and team members to $135.00 (beginning with
the upcoming set of Spring Walks). Even at this rate, our total receipts
will fall short of the total cost for a specific Walk weekend; and this is
if every Walk participant pays the full amount of their fee! When the Board
is required to further subsidize a Walk due to only |
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There are also supplies that are
ordered from the Upper Room for each Walk. You can make a donation toward
the cost of any of the following items: |
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partial payments having been received or
no fees paid at all, it severely hampers our ability to provide any type of
scholarship for those pilgrims who truly need |
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small purple books
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reunion group service cards
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Pilgrim crosses |
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Day Four books
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Emmaus brochures
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hand cross for the speakers
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team manuals |
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financial assistance to attend a Walk.
We very much appreciate all of
the contributions that we receive from our Community members, primarily
those attending the Candlelight and Closing ceremonies. Also, |
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Upper Room daily devotional
guides |
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anyone wishing to make a separate
financial donation can |
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The on-site Agape team is usually
responsible for providing the communion elements and getting the group
photos developed. |
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do so by sending a check to Shawn
Mickschl, our Emmaus Treasurer (9917 Rich Rd, Bloomington, MN 55437). We
thank you in advance for providing the means to those less fortunate who
desire a closer relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. |
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BANNERS NEEDED
Anyone who has recently served on
an Emmaus team may have noticed that some of our banners are looking rather
old and ragged. Many of them have been used since the early days of our
existence, almost twelve years ago. What a wonderful gift of agape it would
be for an individual, a reunion group, or members of a local church to make
a banner for our community. Think back and |
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remember
how you felt on your pilgrim Walk when throughout the weekend more and more
banners (visible signs of time, effort and sacrifice by various groups and
Emmaus communities) were prominently displayed as examples of the widespread
body of Christ. There can be no end to the many ways that we can express our
love to the pilgrims. |
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FUTURE WALK DATES
This year's Board of Directors
has established as one of their major goals the selection and communication
of an advance schedule of future Walk dates and sites. This will allow
Community members, both lay and clergy, to appropriately plan for their
possible involvement in upcoming Walks, especially as it pertains to
providing sponsorship for future pilgrim candidates. Listed below is a
schedule of our Community's confirmed Walk dates and locations.
Men's Walk #61 March 25 - 28, 2004
Ironwood Springs (Stewartville)
Women's Walk #62 April 15 - 18, 2004 Ironwood
Springs (Stewartville)
Men's Walk #63 October 28 - 31, 2004 Lake Koronis
(Paynesville)
Women's Walk #64 November 4 - 7, 2004 Lake Koronis
(Paynesville)
Men's Walk #65 January 20 - 23, 2005 Ironwood
Springs (Stewartville)
Women's Walk #66 January 27 - 30, 2005 Ironwood Springs
(Stewartville)
Men's Walk #67 April 21 - 24, 2005 Lake
Shetek (Slayton)
Women's Walk #68 April 28 - May 1, 2005 Lake Shetek
(Slayton)
Men's Walk #69 October 27 - 30, 2005 Lake Koronis
(Paynesville)
Women's Walk #70 November 3 - 6, 2005 Lake Koronis
(Paynesville) |
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REGISTRATION
UPDATE
At the time of this writing, we
have 16 men and 17 women confirmed for Walks #61 and #62, respectively. In
accordance with the Upper Room Emmaus handbook, we will no longer conduct a
Walk with fewer than 20 pilgrims. A total of 36 pilgrims would constitute a
full Walk, so there is still room for many more candidates to sponsor.
The Registrar has been receiving
numerous registration forms without an accompanying sponsor form. It is
imperative that we receive both of these forms, along with the $15.00
deposit. There are many important questions that need to be answered on the
sponsor form to ensure that all of the |
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Men's Walk 61 |
Women's Walk 62 |
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respective pilgrim's needs will be
taken care of before, during, and |
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Pilgrims |
Sponsors |
Pilgrims |
Sponsors |
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after the Walk weekends. (Please |
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Bill Burdick
Dwight Ferguson
Mike Heuberger
Ray Kerkow
Clyde Lund
Arthur Roberts
Clay Ruggles
Craig Schafer
Kevin Sikkink
Scott Simpson
Mike Slagenweit
Rennie Smith
Jim Stiles
Daren Weier
Howard White
Mike Wuehler |
Rev. Jo Watkins
Michael Moberg
Stanley Mikles
Will Heath
Lowery Smith
Keith Holm
Ike Eichorn
Adam Geyer
Rick Phillips
Dick Lenz
Don Budd
Lowery Smith
Rev. Jo Watkins
Mary Reed
Allan Cox
Don Budd
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Donna Dempewolf
Karen England
Anna Hart
Dianne Hennes
Marietta Heuberger
Shelley Kerkow
Barb Kough
Teresa Lohse
Gladys Marzahn
Cheryl Perkins
Laura Renken
Linda Rhode
Ginny Ruggles
Kathleen Schafer
Sue Simmons
Dawn Stack
Cara Weier |
Carole Wolf
Mary Kay Paine
Polly Stave
Jane Spencer
Sheila Mikles
Robin Heetland
Don Budd
Beth Tomlinson
Karen Olson
Don / Gloria Budd
Dave / Deb Serrano
Jacky Larkin
Gloria Fiegal
Tammy Geyer
Rev. Jo Watkins
Diane Truax
Mary Reed |
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contact Jim Rottinger if you need updated
forms)
Please keep all of the pilgrims,
team members, and their families in your prayers, as well as those who have
yet to say "yes' to the call of being a part of the upcoming Spring Walks. |
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2004 Board of Directors
Jim Rottinger Community Lay
Director 952-892-6199
Michael Stelck
Secretary
507-282-4069
Shawn Mickschl
Treasurer
952-250-5581
Jeff Adams Former Community Lay Director
507-344-0324
Ginger Amos
Outreach
715-294-2995
Rodney Beckman Set-up /
Tear-down 507-634-7972
Rev. Don Budd
Clergy
507-452-3351
Bonnie Chant
Communications 651-686-6480
Rev Jim Crecelius Community Spiritual Director
507-532-4024
Keith Holm Entertainment/Child Care/Worship
651-345-3458
Sue Lehrer
Registrar
763-755-7331
Nick Nickerson
Nominations 763-780-4957
Maggie Rein
Education/Training 651-405-0698
Molly Reko Team
Selection 651-454-2208
Nancy Sjoquist
Agape
612-825-3576
Open Position Gatherings/Reunion Groups
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AGAPE SERVICE
Do you feel called to be a part
of the upcoming Walk weekends at Ironwood Springs? We desperately need
servants who are willing and able to devote their time and effort behind the
scenes. There are a multitude of opportunities in which to serve: set-up on
Thursday, take-down on Sunday, serving the Agape dinner, praying with the
speakers, cleaning the dining room after meals, and sorting agape items, to
name a few. We do need several people who are able to stay the entire
weekend, as well as those who can come for short stints and perform specific
duties. If you are able to serve any part or all of the upcoming Men's or
Women's weekend, please contact Jim Rottinger at (952) 412-3594.
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MN Emmaus Community
Monthly Gatherings
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This
Minnesota Emmaus newsletter is published for the Minnesota Emmaus Community©
2004
To submit ideas and information
please contact: Bonnie Chant
1656 Hickory Lane
Eagan, MN 55122
651-686-6480
e-mail: bchant@larkinhoffman.com |
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Dakota
4th Saturday - 5:00 p.m. - First UMC
Madison, SD
Mankato
1st Thursday - 7:00 p.m. - alternating
Hilltop UMC or Belgrade UMC
Craig & Diane Zimmerman 507-385-0250
Jeff Adams 507-344-0324
Don Putzier 507-345-1553
Northern Twin Cities
3rd Friday - 6:00 p.m. - Blaine UMC
Beth Tomlinson 763-755-8366
Northwestern Wisconsin
2nd Friday - 7:30 p.m. - Menomonie UMC
Sallie & Sarah Ward 715-235-3956
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Rochester
4th Friday - 7:00 p.m. - Bethany UMC
Rick Phillips 507
Southeastern Minnesota
Lake City UMC
Keith Holm 651-345-3458
Southern Minnesota
1st Friday - 7:00 p.m. - First UMC
Austin, MN
Southwestern Minnesota
Wesley UMC, Marshall
Jodel Crecilius 507-532-4024 |
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* * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WEBSITE UPDATE *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We are happy to announce that after several attempts, our Minnesota
Walk to Emmaus Community website is up and running. The website address is
www.mnemmaus.org.
While our site is somewhat rudimentary, we will be continually updating and
improving its contents, adding new features and information. Please check
out our site when you get a chance and give us your feedback.
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APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE
A local tradition that has surfaced over recent years in our
Community is the use of the single clap as a means of applauding after an
Emmaus-style introduction (Name, Church, Walk, Table). While the original
decision to use this method of response may have been with the best of
intentions (as a way to conserve time), it has grown to replace what should
be an expression of love, support and encouragement for the pilgrims… an
unlimited expression! Therefore, the Board has decided to
reincorporate a full round of applause for the pilgrims before they give
their testimonies to the Community at Closing. In a spirit of cooperation
and charity, we look forward to hearing your joyful applause. |
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