‘Emmaus aims for an engagement with God rather than a brush with the church.’
Revd Michael Slade

For a quick two minute guide to the Emmaus course click on the powerpoint presentation.
Introduction to Emmaus (.ppt file, 167Kb)

Emmaus: The Way of Faith is a course designed to welcome people into the Christian faith and the life of the church. It aims to involve the whole church in evangelism, the nurture of new believers and ongoing Christian discipleship. It is rooted in an understanding of evangelism, nurture and discipleship modelled on the example of Jesus in the story of the Emmaus Road.

The Emmaus approach

In his report Finding Faith Today, John Finney, one of the authors of Emmaus, found that most people:

• come to faith in Christ through relationship with a group of Christians;
• become Christians gradually, over a period of time - 'Damascus road' conversions are quite rare;
• find entry into church life reasonably easy – if they come with a friend;
• find that 'belonging' to a church comes before 'believing', and not the other way round.

How does Emmaus work?

Taking this research on board, Emmaus encourages a journey of faith that is life-changing, enduring and that has an impact on the community of believers, as well as the individual.

The Emmaus course progresses through three stages – contact, nurture and growth. It begins, in Contact, by encouraging the vision of the local church for evangelism and giving practical advice on how to develop contact with those outside the church. The full programme includes a 15-week Nurture course that covers the basics of the Christian life and four Growth books that help Christians to deepen their understanding of Christian living and discipleship.

Use the main menu, towards the top-right of this page, to go to the Core publications section for full details of the books that make up the Emmaus programme.