Southeastern Indiana Emmaus Community
On the Journey February 2021
Volume 2, Issue 1
2021 Spring Walks Cancelled At their January meeting, our Community’s Board of Directors voted to cancel our scheduled spring Walks, due to the ongoing COVID restrictions. The decision came after brainstorming other possible options and researching how other Emmaus communities are adhering to the state guidelines.
determine if they can be held.
“It was a bittersweet decision, but what we felt was ultimately in the best interest of our Community members,” explains Community Lay Director Mary Beth Doll Jones.
The Men’s Fall Walk will be held Oct 7 –10 and the Women’s Walk will take place Oct 14 –17. A decision in late spring would enable the teams to schedule and complete team training.
“While many people in our counties are now able to receive the vaccine, there are simply too many ongoing restrictions that we felt would prevent a spirit-filled Walk.” The Board has retained the Fall Walks for now, with a final discussion and vote to be held in late spring to
“The hope is that, by that point, the social distancing restrictions will be able to be eased enough that those Walks can be held,” explains Mary Beth.
Community Monthly Gathering:
We plan to resume our monthly Community Gatherings, as COVID pandemic guidelines permit. For the foreseeable future, these will be hybrid gatherings, with people able to come together in person and through Facebook Live. Details will be shared on our Facebook page and website.
Mary Beth adds, “The Board appreciates your understanding and patience. It was difficult to cancel these Walks as we know they have such a positive impact for people. However, we feel the safety and health of the pilgrims and team must be the priority.”
Reading Scripture in New Ways This information was originally shared Feb. 7, 2021 on Karen Hartley’s blog, titled Sharing Horizons: Exploring the Great Unknown Together. Hartley is a retired United Methodist Minister, who grew up and served churches in Ohio. Click here to visit her blog: https://sharinghorizons.com/ I am always looking for new ways of reading scripture. I love to read the Bible and have read the whole thing many times. But sometimes it starts sounding all the same. Read that, remember that, boring! The Bible is anything but boring and I want to be sure I’m reading it with attention and intent.
When I was a pastor, we had liturgists who would read the scripture every Sunday. One Sunday the liturgist was a teenager named Heidi. Heidi was very outgoing and you never knew what she would say or do. On the Sunday she was liturgist, the scripture was the genealogy from Genesis 5. I’m not sure why I had that particular scripture on that day. The sermon is long gone from everyone’s memory. But Heidi’s scripture reading lingers on and makes me laugh each time I think of it. Continued on page 2
Mark Your Calendars for the 2021 Fall Walks: At this time, we are still planning to hold our fall Walks. The Men’s Fall Walk will be held Oct 7 – 10 and the Women’s Walk will take place Oct 14 –17.