two people sitting together studying the bible.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is the most important job in Emmaus

Emmaus Community members want to share the gift of their Walk to Emmaus experience with others. The quality of sponsorship influences the health of the Walk, and the health of our community.

Good sponsorship uses discernment in inviting or recruiting participants. Good sponsors do not set out simply to recruit anyone with a willingness to attend.

Good sponsorship embodies the personal commitment of the Community to each participant and provides personal acts of agape during the event for the participants. 

Good sponsorship offers a strong link to the participants’ Fourth Day experience after each event. Sponsors stand ready to answer participants’ questions, be faithful friends, and provide perspective. 

Who can be a sponsor?

Any person who has participated in a Walk to Emmaus can sponsor a person so long as he or she (1) understands the aim and responsibilities of sponsorship and (2) can fulfill them for the person he or she would sponsor.

Who do we sponsor?

The Walk to Emmaus is for active Christians and church members whose personal renewal will bring fresh energy, commitment, and vision to the church and everyday environments for Christ’s sake. Those sponsored could include the following:

  • Church leaders (pastors and laypersons) who will bring new vision, commitment, and understanding to their congregations and who need the renewal and grace that Emmaus channels.
  • Dependable church members who serve as the quiet backbone of the church.
  • Less active members who need their awareness of grace rekindled and their commitments renewed.
  • Christians who hunger for “something more” and who want to grow spiritually.
  • Members and leaders who represent a cross-section of the church and will help Emmaus remain theologically sound, centered on the essentials of common faith and open to different perspectives, members of diverse congregations, denominations, and ethnic groups.

The Walk to Emmaus is right for many people—but not for everyone. The religious background or emotional condition of some people may make Emmaus an unwise discipleship tool for them.

  • Some examples of questionable sponsorship:
  • Non-Christians or persons with no interest in the Christian faith or the church.
  • Christians whose theology and/or practice notably differs from traditional theology and practice represented by Emmaus. This includes Christians who have specific dietary restrictions and sabbath celebrations that the Emmaus experience cannot provide, members of groups who will feel a need to defend the uniqueness of their beliefs throughout the event, and persons who do not share belief in traditional doctrines of the faith basic to the major denominations of the church.
  • Persons undergoing an emotional crisis (for example, family breakup, job loss, severe grief) or who are psychologically unstable.
  • Persons whose behavior pattern is to disrupt. Sponsors require assurance that the people they sponsor want to attend for the right reasons.
  • Persons whose family members do not want them to participate. Sponsors do not allow the Emmaus experience to become a point of division between a person and his or her spouse.
  • Persons who decide not to attend an Emmaus Ministries event after being presented the opportunity. A potential sponsor need not feel like a failure if a prospect says no. 

How do I sponsor someone?

Sponsors have specific tasks and requirements. For a pilgrim to register for a Walk, a sponsor registration is also required. Prayerfully choose a person to sponsor and invite them on the Walk. Share your Walk experience with them.

Once the pilgrim has registered, please complete your sponsor registration form, and additional sponsor information and duties will be sent to you via email. 

PRAY! PRAY! Then pray some more! Sponsorship is an act of love for God, for the participants, for the Emmaus Community, and for the church. It is a living demonstration of agape love. Through sponsorship, we become instruments of God’s design and grace.