Emmaus Formation Centre

“The gift of developing my own relationship with God”

Honoured to hear from our recent graduates about how their time at Emmaus has impacted their relationship with God.

Perhaps you are in a season where you are being invited to a deeper spiritual formation.
Emmaus may be the next step for you on your journey.

Check out our website www.emmausformation.ca to see the programs we offer or email us at [email protected]

🍃 Resting 🍃

A pause in this hurried world.
An invitation to go against the messaging that we are not enough, that there is not enough. That we need to push harder and cannot allow ourselves to stop.

We are invited to “come away with me by yourself to a quiet place and get some rest” Mark 6:31

Hearing from our Alumni is one of our favourite things at Emmaus.
Emmaus trains students in their own spiritual formation and helps us remember that our formation is not done fully in isolation. We need each other to encourage and learn from.

As iron sharpens iron.

Can rest be found in our day and age?

At times it would seem an impossible goal to include rest into a monthly or even weekly rhythm.

We know what we prioritize is what often is accomplished.

So how do you find rest in your schedule?

Meditating on God’s word through prayer, scripture reading is always one of the best ways to bring peace and rest to our mind and our spirit.

As you begin your week we would like to offer a few verses to accompany your spiritual practice of rest.

Psalm 4:8
Psalm 91:1-2
Psalm 116:7

“Another tool in my toolbox” is one way Emmaus has helped one of our graduates.
We love to hear how Emmaus impacts our students, especially after they graduate.

Have you graduated from Emmaus? How has your time impacted you and your relationship with God?

As we continue in July we want to focus on the spiritual practice of rest.

Planning for a time or rest is so important.
Making sure you have something planned on your day of rest to help take your mind off of your past week and week ahead is vital.

Taking a walk, time in the garden if that’s life giving, connecting with friends, playing games with your children, reading, etc.

Try one activity this week during your time of rest and let us know how it went!

We asked our graduating class of ‘24 how their time at Emmaus had impacted their relationship with God and have received some wonderful answers that we hope will encourage you.

July begins and for many a new rhythm begins as summer time, vacation time , becomes part of our plans.

This month we wanted to highlight the spiritual practice of Rest.

Do you have one day a week where you focus on rest and delight?
If not, could you try to choose one day this week and notice how you feel after?
If you do have a day, how long have you had this practice and how has it formed you?

Happy Rest day!

Yet another example of God’s glory. Amen?

How do you discern the presence of God in your life?

A spiritual director can help us to discern the ways that we notice Gods presence in our lives.
How would you answer this question?

We are all being formed by something.

A spiritual director may ask what rhythms, or patterns, or habits, help sustain your relationship with God.

Do you have a practice that you find helps keep you connected to God?
We would love to hear about it! Please share in the comments or in the story. 👇🏽

Questions can help us to dig deeper into our understanding.
Spiritual directors often ask leading questions to help us notice what God may be doing in our lives.

When you think of God, what picture comes to mind?
We would love to hear from you!

As we approach graduation day for our Emmaus students we wanted to share with you some reflections from their time with us.

We are asking our graduates how their time at Emmaus impacted their relationship with God.

If you have attended Emmaus, how would you answer the question? We would love to hear from our alumni as well!

Questions are so helpful and can help allow us to understand what God is up to in our lives.

Do you find asking/being asked question in a direction session helpful?

Emmaus Formation Centre is a hub for church spiritual formation and direction resources.

Spiritual directors are sent out to help churches begin spiritual formation ministries through ½ or full day teaching retreats, as well as beginning a group spiritual direction ministry—while mentoring key individuals to continue the group beyond Emmaus’s involvement.

Contact Emmaus if your church wants to know more about beginning a spiritual direction group, or would like training for staff in the area of spiritual formation, please contact Sandra Broadus at

[email protected]

This prayer has been prayed by many over the years.
Although it is attributed to St Francis, the prayer was not written by him.
Still, the prayer is very much in line with what he stood for.
Which part of this prayer do you feel most drawn to today?

“What is your first experience of God?”

For the next few weeks we are exploring questions asked by a spiritual director.
We would love to hear from you!

Graduates of Emmaus, have you ever used this question in a session with a directee? Was it helpful? Let us know in the comments 👇🏽

🎓
Graduation for the students of Emmaus is coming up next month!

Join us on Facebook to watch our 2024 graduating class end their time as students and join the ever growing Alumni of Emmaus!

Spiritual Guide is another phrase people use to describe a spiritual director.

What are some other analogies you have found helpful to describe spiritual direction?

We have a 3 year course that trains students in spiritual formation and spiritual direction.

Our school is entirely online and has grown over the past few years and now has students from across the world enrolling.

Come check us out on our website and see if Emmaus is a good fit for your next steps!

Richard Foster says that “In spiritual direction there is absolutely no domination or control”.

The beauty of spiritual direction is that the director is God. There is no need for domination or control by the director, just listening to the directee and the movements of God.

Emmaus Formation Centre is very focussed on spiritual direction .
We trains spiritual directors and we also offer spiritual direction in various forms.
If you are interested in connecting with a spiritual director or would like to know more about what spiritual direction is please connect with us here or check out our website :
www.emmausformation.ca

We deepen our love and communion with God
Through the practice of spiritual direction.

Have you had an experience with spiritual direction?
How has it impacted you?

Have you felt a stirring to deepen your journey with God?
Have you felt a calling to the ministry of spiritual direction?
Emmaus Formation Centre might be the right next step for you!
We are a completely online school that offers a 2 and 3 year program. Our first 2 years are a focus on you spiritual formation. The third year is a full year of training to be a spiritual director.

Connect with us here or on our website if you have any questions.

Another definition of spiritual direction, as one Christian helping another which enables that person to pay attention to Gods communication to him or her.

Lord teach us to pay attention to the way you communicate to us today.

Guide us in truth. That is the heart of spiritual direction.
God, guide us in your truth as we listen.

Amen.

What is spiritual direction?

Peterson’s definition is another great one. Two people agreeing to give God their full potential and responding in faith.

Spiritual Direction is always about pointing us to the true Director, God, and allowing Him to form our life.

Emmaus Formation Centre believes in this model. The first two years at our school, our certificate program is focused on spiritual formation. The third year is when we dive into spiritual direction.

We are grateful to accompany our students in their formation journey.

If you think Emmaus may be a good fit for you in your journey we would love to hear from you!

You can check us out on our website or message us if you have any questions.

There are many definitions of what spiritual direction actually is. In her book Spiritual Direction 101, Teresa Blythe defines spiritual direction like this ;

“Spiritual direction is the exploration of a person’s spiritual path with someone trained in listening, deep reflection and discernment.”

Does this definition ring true for you?
Is there a definition of spiritual direction that you find useful? We would love to hear it in the comments.