Emmaus Way | Who We Are

WHAT WE're About

As an open table community captivated by the Gospel, Emmaus Way is both orthodox—valuing the historical narrative of Christianity expressed in texts such as the Nicene Creed—and inclusive, welcoming all who want to fellowship with us.

The core of our community life and practice is an open Eucharist table. There we find a vision of God's kingdom that isn't smug or scarce, but rather radically inclusive and rooted in love. The abundant love and hospitality of this Open Table shapes our life together as we gather for worship, commune in smaller gatherings, and connect in public spaces.

What binds us together

Emmaus Way is a Christian community comprised of and authored by our co-ministers. Just as all are welcome at our Open Table, co-ministers freely gather around a mutual commitment to our Minister's Liturgy (our rite of belonging). The entire Emmaus Way community (including our bi-vocational staff and lay leadership) shares in the work of fulfilling this highest and most essential expression of our life together.

AS CO-MINISTERS, WE VOW:

to imitate christ

in thought, word, deed, and affection.
TO FOSTER PROXIMITY and Mutuality

among our fellow ministers, seeking beauty and abundance in the diversity of God's Kingdom in our midst.
to PURSUE SIMPLICITY and SUSTAINABILITY

in our relationships to time, resources, and environment.
to COME ALONGSIDE GOD's REDEMPTIVE WORK

in Durham, as partners and participants in the embodied justice of beloved community.
TO CULTIVATE a COMMUNAL LIFE

centered in practices of prayer, contemplation, intentional conversation, spiritual discernment, creative liturgy, and dialogical study of scripture.
TO SHAPE OUR Life Together

around the radical hospitality reflected in our Open Table.

What gives us life

We're always trying to pay attention more fully to where God is at hand and at work in our midst. And we've often found our clearest glimpses of God's enlivening presence through communal, dialogical encounters with the arts, with children, and with scripture.

Our shared experiences engaging artistic complexity, childlike wonder, and scriptural interpretation give shape and vibrancy to our lived experience of the Christian life, and help keep us open to the surprising work of God.

What calls us forth

As Christians, our lives are devoted to the work of God. It is by participating in this work, to which we are called, that we engage in mission.

At Emmaus Way, we understand our mission as something that engulfs the whole of our lives. It is not something "extra" we do, but absolutely essential to who we are. We enact our mission in our jobs, when we offer hospitality to others or practice friendship, when we work for justice in our neighborhoods and city, when we speak of God's grace, and when we embody that grace in forgiveness.

In this mission, we also recognize that we cannot (nor are we called to) do everything. As a community, we have embraced some key missional partnerships, borne out of our friendships in the Durham community. Presently these missional partners are Durham CAN, Reality Ministries, and Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham.