The Emmaus Fellowship was started in 2004 by three families that wanted to work together to bless one another and the city of Madison.  There have been many discoveries in our own journey together.  We have learned and continue to learn that participation is vital to Christian worship, struggle breeds growth, forgiveness is the way to peace, faith is a lifestyle, God’s lead is sometimes difficult to follow, service is our true calling, God works in spite of us, there are not many easy answers, the good news of Jesus is really good, and the list goes on.  In other words, we are learning what it means to be the church. 

Our desire is to involve others in this journey of discovery.  We believe that all people are created and loved by God and that God seeks relationship with all creation.  Those who follow Jesus share in his ministry of loving the world and continue his mission of bringing the reign of God on earth as it is in heaven.  Emmaus wants to be a catalyst for God’s kingdom of justice, mercy, trust, hope, and compassion.  We believe this is cultivated and bears fruit in our shared service, forgiveness, learning, and communion with God.

These values take shape in home churches.  These are ongoing communities of faith sharing life in Christ and blessing our Madison neighbors and neighborhoods.  The larger fellowship of Emmaus also gathers for learning, communion, encouragement, and celebration. 

Association: While Emmaus Christian Fellowship is an autonomous church, we have received much needed support from and are associated with the Churches of Christ.

 

CHILDREN

Children are an important part of the church.  They are included and valued as members of the community.  While we emphasize intergenerational learning, there are times when the children are given special attention while the adults have a time for teaching and prayer.  They usually go to separate rooms for learning or do an activity outside. 

We are all at different stages of spiritual formation and we have much to learn from one another.  We have found that the inclusion of our children in important times of worship and study brings life together with faith.    Our times together are not always smooth or without distraction, but neither are our lives.  We are also hopeful that our children will see the sincerity of our faith and our concern for doing the will of God.   We believe that seeing adults struggle together over the important matters of following Jesus will help children better understand mature faith and the Christian way of life.  It is precisely the times of eating, laughing, crying, and worshiping together in the context of a wider family – young and old together – which show children from an early age how people live in Christian community, and what it means to be at home with one another and for one another.

 

HOME CHURCH

Emmaus home churches are ongoing communities of faith intended for sharing life in Christ and blessing our Madison neighbors and neighborhoods.  The primary goal of a home church is to develop a common life under God, in which the kingdom of God becomes visible in grassroots communities and overflows into the lives of our neighbors.  Together the communities are responsible for both mission and spiritual formation.

Mission is defined as blessing neighbors and engaging culture with the message of Jesus.  This involves studying the Bible with anyone who is interested.  We believe that the biblical story of God and humanity is a story all people are involved in at some level.  Our effort to share the significance of this divine story, most fully written in the life of Jesus, is motivated by our own experience of journeying with Christ.  The great themes of redemption, justice, and selflessness are most fully known in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Mission also entails serving our community.  The purpose of our service is simply to be helpful and care for all that God has created.  We are committed to serving wherever the Lord leads us.

Spiritual Formation in a house church grows out of sharing life in Christ.  It involves several elements like encouraging one another in our journey with God, sharing material and spiritual blessings, praying together, sharing burdens and joys, sharing meals, and ongoing spiritual formation projects.

HOW ARE HOME CHURCHES CONNECTED? 

The home churches with Emmaus stay closely connected primarily through a weekly gathering.  The gathering is still quite participatory, but it is also an opportunity for more formal teaching, led worship, reading, and prayer.  The gathering enables the sharing of communion as the recognition of the larger body of Christ and our common host.  The larger fellowship also stays connected through the Internet.  Whether it is posting a community member's need or just an on-line discussion, this site provides the opportunity to share in the giftedness of the larger body.  Since Emmaus is seeking to be network of several home-based communities, the way that these groups work together and treat one another is an important part of our Christian message

 

WHERE DID WE GET EMMAUS?

The village of Emmaus appears in Luke 24 as the place to which the resurrected Jesus walks with two of his disciples.  The disciples are kept from recognizing Jesus.  As the three men walk along, Jesus reveals the meaning of God’s story and the role that Jesus himself plays within the story as the Messiah or Christ.  When they arrive at the village of Emmaus, Jesus shares a meal with the disciples and when he blesses and breaks the bread they recognize him.  They say to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”  We love this story because it signifies not only our ongoing journey with Christ and the way he teaches us about God, but also because of the way we continue to recognize him when we share the communion meal together.  We share the story of walking and communing with the resurrected Lord.  We are learning as we go and God continues to lead.