| Celebrating 25 years of walking the Walk BY DAVID E. BOHNERT UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT A United Methodist pastor and 11 of his parishioners recently experienced life- and church-transforming spiritual renewal and the development of church leadership skills through the Walk to Emmaus. The 12 joined more than 500,000 Christians in 27 countries who have participated in the Walk to Emmaus since the program was launched in 1978, according to the Rev. Stephen Bryant, editor and publisher of Upper Room Ministries, a program of the General Board of Discipleship. The Walk will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Tennessee at the Nashville Convention Center July 24-27. The program has its origins in the original walk to Emmaus portrayed in Luke 24:13-45. According to the Rev. George A. Aist, pastor of Bethel UMC in Upper Marlboro, he and 11 of his parishioners have completed the Walk to Emmaus under the auspices of Southern Maryland Emmaus, formed in 2001. There are really neat surprises for the pilgrims during the Walk to Emmaus, he said. I have seen the group grow in ways a pastor dreams of. We are now thinking about and sharing how we can be a blessing to others. These differences were noticed at the churchs charge conference, according to Aist. He said that the Rev. Mary Jane Coleman, superintendent of the Washington East District, noticed a change in focus, that the church members were no longer worried about the churchs being shut down and were now focused on mission and helping others. George, this is a different church now, she said. An important part of the Walk to Emmaus program is the weekly reunion group meetings, Aist said. We wanted to keep the spirit we had found at Emmaus. We look at the moment we felt that we were closest to Christ, he said. Other topics of discussion are the call to discipleship, missed calls to witness and plans for spirituality study and action in the week ahead. There are people in our group who have had great breakthroughs in their relationship with God, he said. Tim Reed, a lay person at First UMC in Laurel, said he first became involved in a predecessor of the Walk to Emmaus, Cursillo, which grew out of the Roman Catholic Church. Laurel parishioners first became involved through Southern Maryland Emmaus, he said. He added that the people who complete the program have a strong support mechanism for each other. We rely on Emmaus people to step in in times of need, Reed said, adding that 33 people from Laurel have completed the program. Personally, I think a lot of people should give it a try. Its the best thing I have ever done in my spiritual walk. | 
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