Sponsorship

Sponsorship: The most important Job

Why do we

Sponsor?

Whom do we Sponsor

Suggestions for Sponsors

Checklist for Sponsors

Wise and Unwise Sponsorship

Questions &Answers

Registration

Why do we sponsor? What is our aim?

The aim of a sponsor should not be "to get all my friends to go," to fill up the weekend, to fix people's problems, or to reproduce one's own religious experience in others. Rather, the aim of the sponsor is to bring spiritual revitalization to Christians who will, in turn, bring new life and vision to the work of the church in the congregation, home, workplace, and community. The aim of sponsorship is to build up the body of Christ.

Two kinds of sponsorship: wise and unwise

Wise sponsorship is purposeful and prayerful; unwise sponsorship is haphazard and undisceming. Wise sponsorship will eventually produce a balanced, theologically centered movement of the Holy Spirit which is integrated into the life of the church in the community and which is honored by a variety of churches as an effective instrument for conveying God's grace, the call to committed discipleship, and our unity in Christ.

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. At best, such groups benefit the individuals involved, but have no impact upon or relationship with the churches in the community, thus forfeiting the purpose of the Emmaus Movement. At worst, such groups benefit themselves at the expense of the church, breeding division instead of unity within the body of Christ and intolerance instead of tolerance among Christians of different religious expression.

Whom do we sponsor?

One's awareness of, and commitment to, the purpose of   Emmaus influences who is sponsored
and how they are sponsored. Emmaus is for active Christians and members of churches whose own
renewal will bring new energy, commitment, and vision in the church and everyday environments,
for Christ's sake. That could include:

·         Church leaders (pastors and laypersons) who will bring new vision, commitment and
understanding back to their congregations; and who need the renewal and grace Emmaus channels;

·         Dependable church members who are the quiet backbone of the church;

·         Less active members who need their awareness of grace rekindled and their commitments renewed;

·         Christians who are hungry for "something more" and who want to grow spiritually;

·        Members and leaders who represent a cross section of the church and who will help Emmaus remain sound theologically, centered on the essentials of our common faith, and open to different perspectives; and

·    Respected laypersons and clergypersons whose participation, support, and leadership will encourage others to take the Walk and will build a sound, balanced leadership base for the movement in the community.

Emmaus is right for many people, but not for everyone! In some cases, Emmaus can be wrong for a person because of his or her religious background or emotional condition. In other cases, a person can be wrong for Emmaus because of the negative effect he or she will have on an Emmaus weekend or because of the divisive influence they will bring to the church. Sponsors should be sensitive to these factors. Some examples of questionable sponsorship are:

·        Non-Christians and persons with no relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ;

·     Persons undergoing an emotional crisis (family break-up or severe grief), or who are psychologically unstable;

·      Persons who decide not to make a Walk after being presented the opportunity. A potential
sponsor should not feel like a failure if a prospect says no. Perhaps the timing is not right.
Perhaps God will renew them in some other way. Remember, the Walk to Emmaus is not the
way to renewal for every Christian;

·      Christians whose theology and/or practice is notably different or incompatible with the traditional theology and practice represented by the Walk to Emmaus. For example, Adventists who will want to be faithful to Saturday Sabbath and strict dietary stipulations; members of independent groups who will feel a need to defend the uniqueness of their beliefs throughout the Walk; persons who do not accept other kinds of Christians; or persons who do not share belief in traditional doctrines of the faith basic to the major denominations of the Church and to Emmaus;

·         "Church hoppers," members who continually have an ax to grind against the church; persons
who will use Emmaus as a tool to divide the Body, to further their own theological agendas, or
who will create an "Emmaus church;" and

·         Persons who are always looking for another spiritual high or another experience to help them "arrive."