Emmaus Encounters: Building Community On the Road
The Emmaus Story
Now, on that same day, two [disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”
He asked them, “What things?” [Jesus’ followers then told him the story of Jesus’ death, and reports of his resurrection; Jesus, not yet known to them, opened up scriptures to them, foretelling these events]. When he was at the table with them, [Jesus] took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
Luke 24: 13-19a, 30-31
Overview
Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School has a deep institutional history of travel seminars and border-crossing immersion trips to places like India, Israel, Ecuador, and Kenya. After relocating to New Haven, Connecticut, Andover Newton sought to reimagine travel seminars and the educational experience afforded to students. Through the “Leading with Love Campaign,” Andover Newton introduced “Emmaus Encounters: Building Community on the Road.”
Through its mission, Andover Newton teaches future ministers how to build community. Like the two disoriented travelers on the road to Emmaus following Jesus’ crucifixion, students, churches, and other communities of faith find themselves disoriented today. The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, as well as the impact of polarization in society have drastically altered the academy and churches alike.
If one were to name the singular ministerial competency most needed in the world today, it would be building community. Andover Newton is uniquely situated to create and share new knowledge on how community is built and to enable its graduates to bring people together over the course of their careers in ministry.
Rooted in the Christian faith that holds communities together, Andover Newton is discerning how best to address, learn about, and confront the disorientation of our times. Some learning happens in classrooms yet even more can happen when the Andover Newton faculty and staff guide students in the creation of community-building initiatives, journeying with them as they learn-by-doing.
It was within this context that Andover Newton introduced the innovative community-building program, Emmaus Encounters: Building Community On the Road. Emmaus Encounters is now an annual travel seminar for students enrolled in the Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School’s academic program. The seminar provides students with the opportunity to build community within groups, build bridges in previously unfamiliar contexts, and challenge students to reflect theologically on what they learn.
Through Emmaus Encounters, students learn how to:
First, “talk to strangers” and build meaningful relationships;
Second, shift worldviews from “strangers” to becoming “neighbors;”
Third, develop language to make theological meaning out of building community;
Fourth, adopt a pro-community attitude and develop skills
Hawai‘i and Puerto Rico
From 2022-2025, Emmaus Encounters traveled to Oʻahu, Hawai‘i, and explored the legacy of ANS Hall of Fame honoree, HenryʻŌpūkahaʻia (1792-1818). ʻŌpūkahaʻia (pictured top right), was a Native Hawaiian scholar and Christian convert whose life helped catalyze the 19th-century Protestant missionary movement to Hawai‘I and today inspires Emmaus Encounters.
Emmaus Encounters Hawai‘i had a profoundly positive impact on ANS and demonstrated that there is incomparable value to learning how to cultivate and sustain community in a physical environment where there is a both a complicated institutional history and a vibrant coalition of educational, cultural, and faith partners.
In 2026, while continuing to nurture and cultivate its partnerships in Hawai‘i, Andover Newton Seminary and Emmaus Encounters welcomes the first of a three-year journey to Puerto Rico to deepen its impact and understanding of Latin America.
From Oʻahu, Hawai‘i, to San Juan, Puerto Rico Andover Newton has made several key discoveries through Emmaus Encounters over the last four years:
First, participants complete the program able to lead a travel seminar similar to Emmaus Encounters immediately upon graduation, in their own postgraduate ministry settings.
Second, community can be built not just between people and institutions, but across time, and therefore, students learn how to help their institutions reckon with their past.
Third, there is incomparable value to learning how to cultivate and sustain community in a physical environment where there is a both a complicated institutional history and a vibrant coalition of educational, cultural, and faith partners actively engaged in community building today.