Day 1131: Friday, April 21, 2023

Refresher: Notes from our March Retreat to read for tomorrow's retreat:

About our Retreat on Saturday, April 22, 2023:

Our next community meeting/retreat day is Saturday, April 22 at Enid's home from 9:30-4:00. We have planned what we think will be a good day and hope as many of you as possible will come. Our format is very much like the first day we had, including concentric circles, small groups and large groups.

We will be taking a close look at the topics that surfaced in our first meeting with plenty of time for everyone to share and have input. One difference is that we will conclude with a short Eucharistic celebration (not a full liturgy).

Logistics: Please RSVP to Patti England so we have a sense of numbers. (peng...@sonic.net - or - 707-217-8481)

Bring your own brown bag lunch and drink. We will provide coffee/tea and morning and lunch treats

Directions to Enid and John Macken's Home:

Enid and John Macken 233 Twin Pillar Way Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Phone: 707-539-6475

Directions to our house

From Santa Rosa go east on Highway 12 past Farmers Lane. From Sonoma go west on Highway 12 past Mission Blvd.

Turn onto Brush Creek Rd. - first signal after Farmers Lane or Mission Blvd., depending on whether coming from Santa Rosa or Sonoma. It will be a left turn for those coming from Santa Rosa; a right turn from Sonoma.

Continue on Brush Creek Rd past Montecito Blvd. At Badger Rd. (stop sign) the street name changes to Wallace Rd. Stay on Wallace Rd.

Turn left at Twin Pillar Way - Second street on the left (two stone pillars) after the intersection of Badger Rd. and Brush Creek/ Wallace Rd. (Your GPS should work to get you to Twin Pillar Way.) Cross the bridge and go up the hill. Our house is about 0.4 miles from the bridge. Keep to the middle road at the section where driveways go off to the left and the right.

Continue up the hill. Our house and driveway are on the left in front of our neighbor’s gate. Look for signs with 233 posted. Twin Pillar Way is a one lane road. Cars going up have the right of way. Cars coming down need to back up or pull over if they meet someone.

Here are the notes from the first retreat in March, graciously compiled by Victoria

Results of OUR EMMAUS ONE DAY RETREAT March 4, 2023:

"Who Do We Say That We Are?”

A day of discernment and a chance to connect, communicate, contemplate and possibly make changes to our community.

March 4, 9:30-4:00

NOTES from the

Large Group Discussion afternoon portion of our day:

"Who Do We Say We Are As A Beloved Community?”

(Each person spoke, in a brief go-round, offering one or two topics that they would like to see the large group discuss during our afternoon together)

• The importance of seeing our community as a “web of relationships and connections.”

• Engaging in small groups; having simple soup suppers to foster closer connections.

• The importance of having guest speakers, for our community, as well as outreach.

• Spiritual should be at the top of our Emmaus list.

• Our community needs to create an equitable division of workload.

• Emmaus is where I can be intimate in my sharing with myself and others.

• Ways to encourage sustained dissent possibilities.

• Issues on aging, and our support of one another as we age.

• Ways to make global connections with what we are doing as a small faith community.

• How Emmaus can clarify the expression of our action and presence as a faith community so that others know what we stand for.

• Through our baptism, we are all called to priesthood; how do we express our individual priesthood?

• How do we respond when people ask us, “What is Emmaus?” What is our Vision / Mission Statement? What are ways to clarify how we see ourselves and how we express this to others? (Bookmarks, internet access, etc.?)

• Ways to simply be a small alternative, inclusive Catholic / Faith Community sharing a meal together.

• Emmaus ends in “us”! Develop a short, simple statement that evokes our inclusion, conversation and openness.

• Ways to be more welcoming, share our good news and do outreach that all are welcome here at Emmaus.

• We are small “c” catholic. What does this mean?

• Catholic-ish; with more of an interfaith component.

• What does Conscious Aging mean, and how can we be more conscious in our aging?

• See Emmaus as a group of “heart-centered spiritual seekers” and prefers the small intimacy that our current numbers foster.

• What is happening to the organizational aspects of Emmaus: i.e: Board meetings; treasurer, secretary; need to look at the operational aspects of Emmaus (especially as a 501-C3, what are the legal requirements)?

• To look at where we are going. Are we sustainable over the next 5 years? Are we thinking about “legacy” and “succession” planning?

• Are we thinking about the emphasis on Catholic with a big “C” rather than questioning a more interfaith / multi-denominational approach?

• Do we need a “definition of terms” in order to express and see what “priest” or “healer” actually looks like?

• The need to be free to share my deepest self and be held / loved by this Emmaus community.

• What is the social action that Emmaus takes, and how does it show up? (Sam Jones, caring for ourselves and each other, etc.,).

• When we first began our discussion, liturgy was not mentioned…why?

• How can we highlight and promote the "incarnation aspect” of our faith?

• How might the Liturgy Committee be more robust in training and encouraging presiders so that our liturgies become more of a group effort rather than an individual enterprise?

• It’s important to remember that we are all coming out of three years of COVID and how that has affected, and is still affecting, everything.

• Are we the Catholic Church or something else?

• Can the Liturgy Committee meet more frequently to discuss developing more creative aspects of our liturgies?

• Catholic / Christian: how do we deal with the impacts that these terms generate, especially in this era when “Christian” is being combined with nationalism, etc.,?

• What are the possibilities of creating small regional groups (spirituality groups, book study groups, etc.,) and how these might help in our desire for more intimacy and connections?

• Of all that we have been discussing, 5 areas seem to be surfacing:

• the desire for more INTIMACY/ CLOSER CONNECTIONS

• LEGACY

• LITURGY

• OPERATIONS

• IDENTITY

…and how meeting again as a large group, or in selected small groups, might help in the deeper processing of these areas of concern and interest.