Anonymous Servanthood


A New Year has begun and as all the other years have been, my prayer is that this will be the “best year ever”. I want to make the community aware of some changes that the board has implemented to begin in the coming walks this year. First, we will no longer sing and walk around the dining hall for Cherry Jubilee (cheesecake and cherries will still be the dessert). Second, we will not wear our name badge while serving in the dining room. Please continue to wear them when not in the presence of pilgrims.

Why? You probably ask. The bottom line is that these are things that the model recommends. We are to sing to the Pilgrims only three times during their walk. (At Sendoff, at Candlelight, and at Closing). And as to the nametags, we are to be anonymous.

The following is from the Walk to Emmaus Coordinators’ Manual “Agape is unconditional love in action. Jesus modeled a life of agape. In Matthew 6:1-8, Jesus teaches the importance of working for the glory of God rather than for the praises of others. He further tells us not to let the left hand know what the right is doing. Once people associate a name and face with our acts of agape, the acts are no longer unconditional. We have placed ourselves in a position to receive gratitude for our gift, even if we never intended to seek it. The concept of anonymous servanthood comes from the Cursillo tradition of palanca, the Spanish word for lever. In the Emmaus tradition, both agape and anonymous servanthood serve as levers to lift and move pilgrims closer to Christ.

The challenge of anonymous servanthood is to do tasks no one else wants to do with no thought of self but only the desire to serve God. Remember Jesus’ words, ‘The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve’ (Mark 10:45)

We come to anonymous servanthood with the realization that we are not in charge. We are present as support servants to be one small part of the body of Christ. We learn to lead as we learn to follow. In the act of humble service, we serve Jesus himself. As scripture teaches, ‘Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’ (Matt. 25:40)”

So I am looking forward to this year as we all take out a “clean sheet of paper, with pen in hand” and continue to learn to serve in whatever capacity He leads.

De Colores
Dyrl Greene
Community Lay Director


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