Thank you all for being a part of this Community! We thank God daily for you and pray for you. We hope you are enjoying the snow!

 

We regret that Lee Chapman has had to withdraw from serving as Lay Director for the Spring Men’s Walk. We have confirmed that Dathan Schmidt has agreed to serve as Spring Lay Director. Please keep both men in your prayers, as well as Cinamon Gehl, who is the Spring Women’s Lay Director.

 

We are happy to announce that Larry (Pete) Gehl will be filling one of the current two-year vacancies on the board. We still have two current vacancies to fill, one for a one-year term and one for a two-year term.

 

We still need regular three-year board member nominations. At this point, we have three men who have been nominated and still need women for the ballot. We have a clergy person ready to come on board. Please consider what women you know who might be willing to serve on the board. Go to the Board Nomination Form link on our website.  You can find it at the top of any page. You may nominate yourself or another person with whom you’ve spoken about a board position.

 

The Community will have a new Community Lay Director and a new Community Spiritual Director for 2026. Scott Smooth (Oops—make that Scott Smith) will be your new CLD and Levi Bridges your new CSD as of January 1.  Beth True will be leaving the board at that time.

 

The Chrysalis flights were this weekend, and we understand that they went extremely well. We are pleased for the success of this group!

 

If you’re planning to sponsor a pilgrim on the spring walk, we ask that you not delay in talking to them and getting their commitment to attend spring walk #135 or #136. We need to see a solid number of pilgrims committed by the end of the year in order for the LDs to plan their team formation meetings. We will not accept pilgrim application that are submitted later than the Tuesday before each walk, as this can cause logistical issues for the team who is serving.

 

Mark Cary, our community trainer, has conducted sponsorship training via Zoom and the link to the recording is at the top of the Sponsorship Information page on the website.

 

One last thing: you’ve heard that past lay directors may not serve in the conference room and that clergy is limited to serving only in clergy roles. Additionally, a potential board member need not be a past Lay Director, nor must they be a long-time Community Member. We need fresh ideas and new people to help guide the Community.

 

These are not Upper Room rules but are “rules” that were made by past boards. Going forward, we will not be observing these. Brittany Sky, the Director of Emmaus Ministries has said that in short, none of these “rules” appear in the official Emmaus Ministries Manuals. The guiding principle throughout the manuals is discernment—selecting team and board members whose gifts and servant hearts best support the mission of Emmaus.

 

Again, thank you for being part of this community. Be safe as you gather around your tables during this Thanksgiving season.

 

DeColores!

Rynn (rynn.cooper@comcast.net or 812.345.4927; no answer? Leave a message)

2025 CLD

Hoosier Hills Emmaus