Current Series: 

Poetry & Possibility


It’s possible that we can say something more meaningful about God, our world, and ourselves through poetry than we can in treatise, theology, or creed. Perhaps a poem is the most engaging and beautiful way to say what resurrection really looks like and to show why it matters.

This series will take us through many themes – resurrection, hope, encounter, relationships, creation, protest, and shifting perspectives. In this series, poems will be our dialogue partners and our teachers. Sometimes scripture will also make an appearance and at times the poem itself will be a reinterpretation of a scripture. But each week, we will let the poems read us – wondering what the poem is telling us about ourselves, our world, and our relationships with each other.

Series Resources

Emmaus Way is committed to engaging the Gospel in creative, embodied, and communal ways—from reading and art to dialogue and service. Find below some of the resources that are shaping our current series.

  • READINGS & MEDIA

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Scripture & DIALOGUE Questions

All are invited to hear and discern the Word of God together in dialogue at Emmaus Way each week. While the communal and embodied experience of dialogical preaching can't quite be recreated outside of the Sunday gathering, follow along here with the scripture passages and dialogue questions that are guiding our weekly conversations.

  • Psalm 126
    “In the Woods, 22nd of September,” Rainer Maria Rilke 

    “No Time To Wait,” José Oliveraz 

    “Breaking Waves Like A Stone," Loma 

    “Four Quartets, East Coker V,” T.S. Eliot 

    “Won’t You Celebrate With Me,” Lucille Clifton 


    • Where did you find or hear resurrection in these poems? Feel free to call out a word, image or line. 

    • Why is that an image/word/idea of resurrection for you? 

    • How has your understanding of resurrection expanded or been more finely tuned out of these poems? 


    Writing Prompt: An Invitation To Try

    We invite you to try to write a poem, prayer, or prose (however brief) describing what resurrection means to you. Dare to engage with your inner poet. If you feel stuck, begin with your senses—what does resurrection look like, feel like, sound like, smell like or even taste like?



  • "Give Ear To My Words, Psalm 5," Ernesto Cardenal

    • What do you want for? What do you long for?
    • Where do you see your wants and longings in this poem?  Or if not your exact wants and longings, how does this poem create some permission for you to acknowledge your wants and longings in this time and place?

    • How would you describe your wants and longings now after Cardenal’s poem? 

  • "Book of Genesis," and Let Kei Miller

    • What are your favorite sounds or words in this poem?
    • What is a God who loves "let there be" like? 

    • Maybe there isn't a book written just for you, but suppose there was. What would it say? What would it make possible?

  • "Beyond Chitchat," Heather Lanier

    "What It Looks Like To Us and the Words We Use," Ada Limon

    "Gate A4," Naomi Shihab

    • What line, word, or image won't let you go? 
    • What do these poems say about relationship and encounter? 

    • What feels familiar that these poem infer about relationship and encounter? What feels surprising or discombobulating?

    • How are you feeling differently about relationship and encounter because of these poems? 

  • "Poppies," Mary Oliver

    "Ancestors," Ada Limon

    "To Think of Italy While Climbing the Saunders-Monticello Trail" Kiki Petrosoni

    • What line, word, or image won't let you go? 
    • In what ways do these poems remind you we are not alone but interwoven with creation?
    • What, if anything, does that interwoven connection shift?

    • How might these poems be making a difference in your response to creation and climate disaster? To what are you being invited, however small? 

  • "Of Course She Looked Back" by Natalie Diaz

    Genesis 19

    • What does Lot’s wife see and hear in this poem?

    • How does the teller of a story change the story?
    • Where are we being asked to look away and finding it impossible?

    • What story is being told by Diaz that isn’t present in Genesis?


EWAY Youth & Kids

During this series, Emmaus Way Youth (sixth through twelfth graders) are exploring Easter Stories. Emmaus Way Kids (kindergarten through fifth graders) are exploring Stories of Elijah and Elisha, and retelling them through different storytelling mediums. And Emmaus Way preschoolers are exploring Easter Stories. If you have questions about the youth, kids, or preschool programs or how to get your child involved, please don't hesitate to reach out to us here.

Join Us

We hope these resources offer just a few more avenues to engage with the Word of God and the work of the Spirit in our life together. Please join us on Sundays to dialogue around these sacred topics together. Find out more about where and how we gather here. 


If you have questions for us or if there are any accommodations you might need in order to fully participate in our community, please contact us here.