Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long
as ever you can.
John Wesley
| Text size: +/-Emmaus
What is Emmaus?
'Emmaus aims for an engagement with God rather than a brush with the church.'
Revd Michael Slade
Emmaus: The Way of Faith is a course designed to welcome people into the Christian faith and the life of the church. It aims to involve the whole church in evangelism, the nurture of new believers and ongoing Christian discipleship. It is rooted in an understanding of evangelism, nurture and discipleship modelled on the example of Jesus in the story of the Emmaus Road.
The Emmaus approach
In his report Finding Faith Today, John Finney, one of the authors of Emmaus, found that most people:
- come to faith in Christ through relationship with a group of Christians;
- become Christians gradually, over a period of time -'Damascus road' conversions are quite rare;
- find entry into church life reasonably easy - if they come with a friend;
- find that 'belonging' to a church comes before 'believing', and not the other way round.
How does Emmaus work?
Taking this research on board, Emmaus encourages a journey of faith that is life-changing, enduring and that has an impact on the community of believers, as well as the individual. The Emmaus course progresses through three stages - contact, nurture and growth.
It begins, in Contact, by encouraging the vision of the local church for evangelism and giving practical advice on how to develop contact with those outside the church. The full programme includes a 15-week Nurture course that covers the basics of the Christian life and four Growth books that help Christians to deepen their understanding of Christian living and discipleship.
Ninety percent of the Emmaus course materials have now been fully revised with updated contents, new covers and a CD-Rom that contains all the handsouts as Acrobat.pdf files as well as PowerPoint presentations and additional material.
There is also a CD-Rom that contains Emmaus samplers in Acrobat.pdf and PowerPoint format, along with material on Alpha and a new pre-Alpha course for church leaders and members. If you would like a copy please e-mail Charles Freebury.
www.e-mmaus.org.uk
