On the Right Path The News let ter of the South ern Mary land Emmaus Com mu nity

4th Quarter 2017 Walk In the Light Volume 17 Issue 4

In tro duc ing…. The Spring 2018 La dies Week end # 58 Walk to Emmaus Week end Lay Di rec tor

Jan Drass In tro duces Janet Goodwin

I had the opportunity to catch up with Janet Goodwin recently,and wanted to share some information she shared with me asshe is preparing (already) for the Spring 2018 Walk to Emmausfor ladies in Southern Maryland. First, here’s her introduction:“Hi! I am Janet Goodwin. I worship at First Saints CommunityChurch, California Campus. I walked on Southern MarylandEmmaus #2, and I sat at the Table of Esther. CLAP"

As I did with Rich Ulrey (Weekend Lay Director for the SpringMen’s Walk # 57), I asked Janet a few questions. First, how has God prepared you to take on this role of weekend lay director?Janet replied, “Since my pilgrim walk, I have been blessed towork side by side with so many others serving as God’s handsand feet in action, to help so many others in need. I want toprepare the team, so they can help guide the pilgrims in theirspiritual journey. Together, we will help build church leaders, so God’s love can continue to be spread throughout all HISchurches.”

Second question, what experiences in Emmaus have broughtyou to this place? Janet believes that “many previous teamingexperiences and service on the Board of Directors haveequipped me to serve this community and lead the team ofWalk #58.” I should mention that Janet has previously servedas a Weekend Lay Director for Walk # 32. As you can see, sheis VERY active in supporting walks and the local Emmauscommunity.

And lastly, what can we as a community do to help you preparefor the weekend? Without hesitation, Janet told me the

Southern Maryland

Emmaus

No Gathering in

December

Next Gathering - January 20, 2018Pot Luck at 5 pm Gathering at 6 pm

at Good Shepherd UMC305 E. Smallwood Drive.

Waldorf, MD

Bring Friends, Fam ily,Neighbors. Everyone Welcome!

See you there!

see WLD page 4

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2018 Walks - West River

Men's Walk #57 April 5 - 8 Women's Walk #58 April 12 - 15

Make plans to at tend the com mu nity events for each walk:Thurs day - Spon sor’s Hour - 7:00 p.m. Sat ur day - Can dle light - 8:00 p.m.

Sunday - Closing - 4:00 p.m.

Sign up to pray forour walks (and oth ers)

on line at:www.3dayol.org

Pil grim and Team Ap pli ca tions and this news let ter may be down loaded from theweb at http://www.southernmarylandemmaus.com/

CLICK on “Doc u ments, Lists and News let ters”

Mailing Address for Southern Maryland EmmausP.O. Box 343

White Plains, MD 20695

Upcoming Events of the Southern Maryland Emmaus Community

January 20, 2018 Gathering at Good Shepherd UMC 305 E. Smallwood Dr.Waldorf. 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm.

See List of 2018 Gatherings/Events on page 6

4th Day Sem i nars

Sem i nars are held in the spring fol low ing the men’s and women’s walks. The next sem i nar date will be May 5th atHuntingtown UMC. Attendance at a Fourth Day Sem i nar is re quired in or der to spon sor pilgrims, and is highlyrec om mended for those who wish to team.

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On the Right PathDead line for next is sue is February 1, 2018. The pre ferred method of sub mis sion isas an MSWord doc u ment file or a WordPerfect file (.rtf file also ac cept able) sentvia-e-mail to the fol low ing ad dress: dbrennan6@verizon.net. Very short ar ti cles ornotes may be sent in the body of the e-mail mes sage. Please send your com mentsand rec om men da tions as well to the ed i tor, Dan Brennan, at the e-mail ad dress above.

"On the Right Path" is pub lished by the South ern Mary land Emmaus Com mu nity. Dan Brennan Ed i tor.

Emmaus Shorts

Vis it ing Santa

There were times when mymother just couldn’t take us tovisit Santa. She had 3 of us,boys that is, and with my dadworking most of the time, she

had her hands full. The nearest department storeSanta was miles away, and we only had one car. Mymom never had a drivers license, so buses were theonly transportation options.

I understand all of that now, but back then my onlyconcern was, “How is Santa going to know what I wantfor Christmas?” There were letters, but I didn’t trustthem to reach the North Pole in time, and myhandwriting was atrocious (not much better now). Still, I would scribble a few notes, but even as we mailed them I would tearfully express my concern that Santa wouldbe in the dark. But my mom would always remind me,“Don’t worry, Santa knows what you want forChristmas.” I wanted to believe that, but I had doubts.“How, mom, how is he going to know if I don’t tell him?” Ever the calm one, she would say, “Well, you know howthe song goes, ‘He sees you when you’re sleeping. Heknows when you’re awake...? He knows your wishesas well.”

It’s not hard to see how a young child might ascribemystical powers to the man with the red suit and thewhite beard. My belief was reinforced by a popularmovie of the day, “Miracle on 34th Street.” There is amemorable scene where department store Kris Kringlehas a little girl on his lap who doesn’t speak English. The girl’s mother is amazed when Santa begins to

speak to the child in Dutch. At that moment I thought,“OK, Mom, you’re right.”

I always felt a little awkward visiting Santa after that. After all, I couldn’t speak Dutch, and his beard bothtickled and scratched. But my belief that he would know what I truly wanted was comforting in those years whenwe couldn’t get to the department store (no malls inthose days.)

As heartwarming as Santa may be, in the end, he’s justa creation of our imagination. But as Christians wedon’t have to rely on our imaginary friends to know ourevery need. What we truly want and need is known byour Father in Heaven. Psalm 139:4 reminds us, Evenbefore a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, youknow it altogether.

No letters are needed, no photos required, and no tripsto overcrowded shopping malls have to be made inorder to receive the gifts that God has in store for us. We have only to pray and to believe that we will becared for by the true giver of gifts.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a letter I need tofinish before Christmas, but one I won’t need to mail.

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Southern Maryland Emmaus - Leadership & Service

Re sources on Our Web Site

Visit http://www.southernmarylandemmaus.com for these and other com mu nity re sources:

• Southern Maryland Emmaus Leadership Roster & Board of

Directors

• Southern Maryland Emmaus Prayer Points of Contact

(PPOC)

On The Right Path

This is the newsletter of the Southern Maryland Emmaus Community. It is published quarterly, available on lineat our website:www.southernmarylandemmaus.com

The link to the newsletter is emailed to community members through PPOCs. If you do not have a PPOC, contactJan Drass at jdrass@maranatha.net

South ern Mary land Emmaus isaf fil i ated with the In ter na tionalEmmaus Move ment of The Up perRoom, Nash ville, Tn. Emmaus is apro gram of fer ing of the Upper RoomInternational Walk to Emmaus Office. Our pur pose is to in spire, chal lenge,and equip church mem bers forChris tian Ac tion.

Prayer Co or di na tor

Jan Drassjdrass@maranatha.net

following 5 things: “First, bathe the team and pilgrimsin prayer (before, during and after the walk). Second,SPONSOR! Don’t just sponsor but be a GREATsponsor!! and pray! Third, provide/make agape and pray.Fourth, send letters to both team and pilgrims and pray!Fifth, support the weekend events (candlelight andclosing), to be a living witness of God’s love. Oh, did I saypray?”

I think you can get a glimpse of this servant-leader’s heartand her vision for the team and pilgrims. Thank you, Janet,for serving! We are behind you praying and supporting you!

WLD from page 1

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Good Shepherd UMC

Christmas Cantata

The Good Shepherd Chancel Choir, with accompanying orchestra, willpresent “Little Lion, Little Lamb” a Cantata for Christmas by HeatherSorenson, on Sunday evening, December 10 at 7 PM in the Sanctuary. Therewill also be music by the Singing Hand handbell choir and the children’schoirs. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. A reception willfollow. For additional information, please call the church office at301-843-6797.

Nativity Drive Thru - December 9, 6 - 8 pm

Ex pe ri ence live scenes based on the bib li cal sto ries of the birth of Je susfrom the com fort of your ve hi cle. Then join us in the Fel low ship Hall forcrafts, games, food & fun for peo ple of all ages. Please bring do na tions ofnon-per ish able food items for the South ern Mary land Food Bank

La Plata UMC

Christmas Can tata - Sunday, De cem ber 17 at 11:00 am

The La Plata United Meth od ist Church Chan cel Choir will be per form ing"Holy Night of Mir a cles" a can tata by Jo seph Mar tin. Di rected by Pat Dayand ac com pa nied by Linda Dent Mitch ell and Anne Ma rie Patterson.

Handbell Con cert - Christ mas Eve

The La Plata United Meth od ist Church Car il lon Choir will per form a spe cialcon cert at 7:00 pm on Christ mas Eve. Di rec tor Cheryl Reckeweg in vites all to at tend.

Huntingtown UMC

Christmas Can tata - De cem ber 15th and 17th at 7:00 pm

Christ mas Can tata en ti tled “The Heart of Christ mas” on De cem ber 15th & De -cem ber 17th. Both dates start at 7 pm. We also have a Chil dren’s Christ masWork shop De cem ber 23rd 10 am. They will be mak ing items for less for tu natechil dren.

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2018 Gath er ing / Fel low ship Sched ule

All Gath er ing Meals are Pot Luck

Jan u ary 20 Good Shep herd UMC 5:00 to 7:00 PM

305 E. Smallwood Drive, Wal dorf, MD 20602

Feb ru ary 17 Com mu nity With A Cause 9:30 AM Break fast to 11:30 AM

Loff ler Se nior Ac tiv ity Cen ter, 21905 Chan cel lor’s Run Road Great Mills, MD

March 17 Bethel UMC 5:00 to 7:00 PM

3 Swanson Up per Marlboro, MD

April – NO GATHERING DUE TO WALK

May 5 4TH Day Huntingtown UMC 4:00 to 7:00 PM

4020 Hunt ing Creek Rd. Huntingtown

June 16 Nichols-Bethel UMC 5:00 to 7:00 PM

1239 Murray Rd, Odenton, MD

JULY / AUGUST SUMMER BREAK NO GATHERING

Sep tem ber 15 Nichols-Bethel UMC 5:00 to 7:00PM

1239 Murray Rd, Odenton, MD Hosted BY: Linthicum Hgts. UMC

Oc to ber 20 Olivet UMC 9:30AM Break fast to 11:30 AM

13575 Olivet Road, Lusby, Mary land

No vem ber 17 Wa ters Me mo rial UMC 5:00 to 7:00PM

5400 Markell Rd, Saint Leon ard, MD 20685

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South ern Mary land Emmaus Board of Di rec tors Meet ing High lights

The Boardmeets monthly, and here are the highlights frommeetings in September through November:

A Nominating Committee, with Margaret Kolbe chairingthe group, created a list of potential Board members forthe annual Board election that took place in November.Ballots are being counted and results will beannounced in late December.

The Board is working to create a yearly budget with theinput of all Committee Chairpersons, with a goal ofhaving a completed budget projection for 2018.

A new Weekend Lay Director was voted on for Walk#58, and is in process of calling potential teammembers.

A Fall Fourth Day Seminar was held October 21 atGood Shepherd UMC in Waldorf.

A schedule for 2018 Monthly Gatherings was finalized.

Dwaine Waltrip has begun the process of meeting withinterested community members about outreach,including to the local churches without Emmauspresence.

Team and pilgrim weekend fees were increased afteranalyzing the cost per person of the walk. Teamweekend fee is $240. Pilgrim deposit is $40 andsponsor cost for the weekend is $200. Both team andpilgrim applications have been updated and areavailable on the website and in hard copy at thegatherings.

Discussion has started on possibly changing walksfrom Spring to Fall. More discussion planned atupcoming Board meetings.

Friend Us on Facebook! Blairlee Owens - New Administrator

My name is Blairlee Owens. I worship at Trinity United Methodist Church in Annapolis and I walked on Southern Maryland Emmaus Walk #30 and sat at the table of Ruth. (clap) Ihave recently taken over as the Administrator for our Southern Maryland EmmausCommunity Facebook Page. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/154818234532686/)The page has been "up" for years, but there has been little activity on it. With this

announcement, I am hoping that many of you will friend us! I plan on posting information from the Upper Room about Emmaus as well as information about the Southern Maryland Emmaus Community. By keeping theinformation current and up to date, as well as interesting, I hope to use this social media tool to help expandour communication reach to more members of the community. There are a few basic guidelines we will follow-like you do have to have attended a 3 day walk to be a friend of the page. All comments and info will beapproved before being posted. Feel free to pass this info on to others in Southern Maryland Emmaus. Pleaselike our Facebook page and send me any information you would like to me to put on our page. Please let meknow if you have any questions!

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Southern Maryland Emmaus Community

Reunion & Accountability Groups

The Reunion Group Coordinator, Ellen Bertelsen would like to hear about any activeGroups in Southern Maryland. If you are having difficulty finding a Reunion Group, contact Priscilla Rollins. Experience the Fourth Day feeling.

Calvary UMC, Waldorf Women Thursday - 5 p.m. location varies contact Cheryl Merkle rdcemerk01@aol.com

First UMC, Laurel Men Saturday - 7:00 a.m. Women Saturday - 8:30 a.m.

First Saints UMC, California Campus Women Mondays 5:00 p.m. (home setting) contact Sheila Hanson perseey98@gmail.com

Good Shepherd UMC, Waldorf Co-Ed Wednesday 6:00 p.m. at restaurants call Linda Ford 301-645-6408 Men Thursday 6:00 p.m in Chapel. Women Monday 7:00 p.m. (not at church) contact Margaret Kolbe 301-870-8946 Women Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Women Thursday 6:00 p.m. (not at church) contact Linda Adgate 301-645-3845 or Becky Collier 301-932-3131

Grace Notes Thursdays, 3:00 p.m. Contact Pam Grace 301-475-3446

La Plata UMC, La Plata Women Thursday 6:00 p.m. at the church Men Tuesday 6:00 p.m. at the church Contact John Hastings ccso355@yahoo.com

Lexington Park UMC, Lexington Park Co-ed Tuesday 7:30 a.m. Bob Evans Restaurant Co-ed Thursday 11:30 a.m. (home setting)

Linthicum Heights UMC, Linthicum Heights Co-Ed Saturday 8:30 a.m.

Naval Air Station, Patuxent River Men Wednesdays 11:30 a.m.

Nichols-Bethel UMC, Odenton Co-Ed Wednesday 6:30 p.m.

Olivet UMC, Lusby Co-Ed 1st Sunday of the month 12:15 p.m. at Olivet UMC Good News Center

Pisgah UMC, La Plata Women Wednesday 6:00 p.m. (home setting) for information contact Patti Flesher 301-743-2271

St. Paul UMC, Lusby Women Monday 7:00 p.m. Old Fellowship Hall Men Monday 7:00 p.m. Old Fellowship Hall Mixed Monday 7 or 8 p.m. contact Rich & Mary UIrey 410-326-6446 or Everett Baker 410-326-6234

Shiloh UMC, Bryans Road Co-ed Tuesdays 6:30 p.m. (home setting)

“Walk in the Light” - South ern Mary land EmmausVisit us on the web at www.southernmarylandemmaus.com

"Were not our hearts burn ing within us while He wasspeak ing to us on the road, while He was ex plain ing

the Scrip tures to us?”

Luke 24:32

In for ma tion on the South ern Mary land Walk to Emmaus, as well aspil grim and team ap pli ca tions may be found on our website:

www.southernmarylandemmaus.com

Southern Maryland EmmausP.O. Box 343

White Plains, MD 20695

Southern Maryland Emmaus Board of Directors 2017

Community Lay Director/Chair - EllenBertelsen

Assistant Community Lay Director/Facilities/Sponsorship - Dwaine Waltrip

Past Community Lay Director - Dale Merkle

Treasurer - Priscilla Rollins

Secretary/Historian - Lorenda Walton

Community Spiritual Director - KenValentine

Agape Coordinator - Phil Day

Asst. Agape Coordinator - Open

Team Selection - Kathy Slagle

Assistant Team Selection - John Hastings

Community Events Coordinator/Fourth Day Coordinator - Margaret Kolbe

Asst. Comm. Events/Reunion Groups - Open

Registrar/Pilgrim Selection - Gordon Piscacek

Assistant Registrar - Connie Shepherd

Communications/Directory - Jan Drass

Music Director - Jim Risley