Emmaus Groups resume in late September

St. Stephen’s Church has offered Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as our primary means of children’s formation for nearly 15 years. As Catechesis spreads throughout the world, there is a danger of reducing the work to scholastic formulas and didactic skills. In reminding us of what is truly essential in offering this work to children, Gobbi points the way for every one of us to enter the secret of childhood, the way of becoming like children ourselves and thus entering the kingdom of heaven. This is work undertaken with deep seriousness and sincerity of heart in which adults and children alike are discerning the inner voice of the True Teacher, sensing that we are all, as Cavelletti says, “a carrier of God’s secret.” As adults, our own spiritual formation is informed by the desire to enter more fully into the Kingdom of God, into union with Jesus. It’s a bit of a radical notion, but it is precisely what Jesus taught, that the model of a child listening to God can be fruitful in our own lives, and it can actually show us the way.

You are invited to read and further explore Listening to God with Children. In a collaborative offering between St. Stephen’s and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte, we will delve into the secret of childhood, of how the child models the listening stance of prayer as a response to God’s initiation of prayer. We will seek to be better attuned not only to the spiritual lives and potential of children but to the Inner Voice in each of us. With an emphasis on creating sacred space and time in the home, we hope this experience will indirectly prepare parents and the broader parish for virtual offerings in the extraordinary and challenging year to come.

In reminding us of what is truly essential in offering this work to children, Gobbi points the way for every one of us to enter the secret of childhood, the way of becoming like children ourselves and thus entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

I will facilitate this offering with St. Stephen’s staff member Allison Seay, on Zoom, Thursdays, 8:00-8:45 p.m. beginning September 10 and ending on October 22. For more details and or to register, please contact Allison at aseay@ststephensRVA.org. To purchase a copy of the book, visit the Web site of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at https://tinyurl.com/y3lqwnhm or go to our Web site for a link, ststephensRVA.org/gobbi. ✤ Anna Hurdle is the director of children’s formation at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte, where Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has been offered for more than 25 years. Anna is wellknown throughout the country for her expertise and regularly works with our staff and trains our catechists. by Cate Anthony and Allison Seay

Staying spiritually connected with people who are committed to care for each other has never been more important. At St. Stephen’s Church, groups of six to 10 parishioners, called “Emmaus Groups,” meet weekly for the purpose of tending to their spiritual lives and growing in authentic community. Each group has one or two leaders who have received training in facilitating small groups, and the core of the gatherings is attentiveness to the spiritual growth of participants and the experience of authentic community. These groups have been gathering at St. Stephen’s for many years now, and while we cannot meet in exactly the same way we have met in the past, Emmaus Groups will be offered this fall.

We live in a world so overwhelmed by sound and fury—especially in these days of pandemic and national unrest. Emmaus Groups are a radically counter-cultural means of reorienting our attention toward God within our hearts and our community. Like the disciples who encountered and traveled with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus, so we are always traveling with each other and with Christ. Sometimes it is necessary to stop and join in attentive hospitality with each other, in order for our eyes to be opened and the voice of Jesus to be heard. In these days, it is our particular hope that these groups will offer a safe space to seek God in the midst of collective isolation, anxiety, and sorrow. The co-journeying of the life of faith has taken on renewed urgency.

As we all know all too well, the pandemic has radically changed every facet of human life—and Emmaus Groups are no exception. While we are aware of some ways that the groups might change in format for this time, we also believe that their importance will only increase. It is the spirit of these groups to offer safe space for members to delve deeply into the spiritual life, accompanied by trusted peers. This kind of community-making and companionship remains the heart of the Emmaus Group ethos.

Emmaus Groups gather during 10-week “Covenant Periods,” one in the fall, one in the winter, and one in the spring. The fall 2020 Covenant Period begins the week of September 28 and ends the week of November 30. We anticipate that Emmaus Groups will meet primarily on Zoom for this covenant period. Clergy and staff are in conversation about the possibility of allowing small groups to reserve space on campus to meet masked and at a physical distance, but we are still working through the logistics and potential risks of doing so. We know that Zoom is not an ideal format for the kind of intimacy and vulnerability so integral to Emmaus Group gatherings—and yet we still believe that such intimacy can take place in this format, especially when undergirded by a strong desire to connect with one another that so many of us feel in this time of physical distance. To join an Emmaus Group, please contact Cate, canthony@ ststephensRVA.org or Allison, aseay@ststephensRVA.org. ✤