Emmaus Sponsorship Information

What is Good Sponsorship?

Sponsorship involves someone who takes responsibility for another. The suffix ‘ship’ refers to the skill involved in the activity.

Therefore, Sponsorship is the skill of taking responsibility for another.

1. Good Sponsorship is the act of revisiting The Emmaus Weekend experience with the person God has laid on your heart.  It is the first act of agape before a Weekend ever begins.
2. Good Sponsorship is an act of love for God, for the participants, for the Emmaus Community, and for the church.  It is a demonstration of agape love.
3. Good Sponsorship is an important reason why Emmaus Weekends are rarely cancelled for lack of participants.  Emmaus participants want to share the gift of those three days with others.
4. Good Sponsorship is integral to some of the unique features and strengths of the Emmaus experience.
5. Good Sponsorship is the direct result of any Emmaus Community’s strength in recruiting practices.
   
   

Who Do I Sponsor?

Emmaus is for active Christians and members of churches whose own renewal will mean new energy, commitment, and vision in the church and everyday environments, for Christ’s sake.

The ultimate reason for recruiting someone to attend an Emmaus Weekend is to deepen that person’s relationship with Christ and to create an enthusiastic disciple to work in God’s kingdom.

These persons would include:

1. People who are committed to living a life that is pleasing to God.
2. Church leaders (lay or clergy).
3. People who are already on a pilgrimage.
4. People who exhibit an excitement about being a Christian.
5. Respected lay/clergy who will encourage others’ participation.
6. Dependable church members.
7. Less active church members who need rekindling and renewal.
8. Christians who are hungry for ‘something more.’
9. Diverse congregations, denominations, ethnic groups.

   Emmaus is right for many people, but not for everyone.

Who Do I NOT Sponsor?

Emmaus can be wrong for a person because of his or her religious background or emotional condition.

These persons would include:

1. Non-Christians and people with no relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ.
2. People who are not currently active members of a church.
3. People who are undergoing an emotional crisis or health problems.
4. People who decide not to make a Walk after being presented the opportunity.
5. Christians whose theology and/or practice is notably different or incompatible with the traditional theology and practice presented by the Walk to Emmaus.
6. ‘Church-hoppers’ and ‘soap boxers’.
7. People who are always looking for another spiritual high to help them ‘arrive’.

Unwise sponsorship eventually will produce a harvest that is more a burden for the church than a blessing, a movement, which has become a ‘religious fringe group’ or a parachurch apart from the established church in the community.

What Are Some Of My Responsibilities As A Sponsor?

The process of Sponsorship is simple and straightforward. It starts with PRAYER, moves to a TIME OF PRESENTATION, WAITS FOR A DECISION, and then BEGINS TO WORK ACTIVELY TO SUPPORT THE PARTICIPANT.

On the surface the process seems easy.  Fulfilling the details of the steps can be exciting, mentally taxing, physically exhausting yet spiritually rewarding.

Sponsor responsibilities include:

1. Spend concentrated time in prayer.
2. Continue to spend time in prayer.
3. Give your prospect an application.
4. Obtain the completed application.
5. Begin preparations to request the personal agape letters.
6. Contact your participant a few days before the Weekend.
7. Take your participant to the Weekend and assist with check-in.
8. Spend as much time as possible in prayer for your participant.
9. Check on your participant’s family.
10. Attend the Saturday candlelight and Sunday closing services.
11. Take the new Emmaus participant to the Post-Weekend Reunion meeting.
12. Assist the new Emmaus participant in joining a Share Group.
13. Take the new member to Gatherings.
14. Teach the new Emmaus member on how to be a good sponsor.
15. The Equal Commitment Rule.
    
    

Equal Commitment Rule

‘Husbands and wives are encouraged to make an equal commitment to participate’ in the Emmaus Weekend.  The rule helps guard against Emmaus becoming a divisive influence within a marriage and seeks to strengthen marriages.  Sponsorship of married persons involves approaching both the husband and the wife together and encouraging an equal commitment to participate.