Emmaus Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

Faculty

Retreat Dates

Application Process and Tuition

Testimonials

Emmaus Certificate Requirements

Emmaus Overview

The Emmaus two-year certificate in formational leadership is for the leader who desires to follow Jesus intimately and who recognizes a need for deeper, personal formation in the Holy Spirit. It is for those who are called to influence others in their discipleship and spiritual growth in the Lord and who want to be equipped to do so.

In the sacred space of this retreat-based community, we attend to the heart, mind and soul of the participants. We listen prayerfully and carefully to the life of God in each of us, seeking to discern what God is saying and doing. Participants are equipped by example, practice, instruction and mentoring.

The teaching is biblically based, exploring themes relevant to Christian life and spiritual maturity. Our faculty have received training and have ministry experience in diverse settings and countries.

Thank you for considering Emmaus. We look forward to the opportunity of serving you!

Who is Emmaus For?

Emmaus is for all those…

  • Who want to learn more about Biblical spiritual formation and how it is relevant for the Church today
  • Who long to discern the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in their own heart and life
  • Who desire to experience how the children of God mature into the likeness of Jesus
  • Who are tasked with pastoral responsibilities or the soul care of others
  • Who have a calling and a desire to be entrusted with the spiritual development of believers
  • Who are accompanying someone on their spiritual formation journey
Explore Formational Leadership
Click Here to Apply for Emmaus

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Certificate Program include?

  • Six thematic retreats over a 2 year period
  • Spiritually formative leadership curricula
  • Community-based learning and interaction
  • One-on-one mentoring and spiritual companioning
  • Reading and reflection assignments
  • Doing spiritual formation ministry in your setting

What will I gain in the Emmaus experience?

  • Confidence to lead as a spiritual leader, following the example of Jesus
  • Courage to lead as a change agent, practicing ways to humbly and graciously lead others into transformation
  • Conviction to lead as a discernment-based decision-maker

What equipping and training is offered?

  • Contemplative practices to shape the depth of your soul
  • Community listening to enrich awareness of who you are in Christ
  • Collegial learning that will enhance the impact of your leadership

What does the faculty provide?

  • Hospitality and facilitation of six thematic retreats over a two-year period
  • Training, teaching, worship, practical resources, and a contemplative community
  • Support and oversight as you apply what you’re learning in your ministry setting

What does each retreat include?

Each of the six retreats involve:

  • A listening community of sacred companions
  • State of soul sharing that serves as our re-introduction to one another each retreat
  • Scripture, prayer and reflective disciplines
  • Worship times as a community
  • Spacious times of silence and solitude for prayer, Scripture reading, personal reflection, or rest
  • Spiritual direction opportunities
  • Teaching on spiritual formation and leadership topics relevant to the retreat theme

How does Emmaus and Leadership Transformations (LTI) support local churches?

In Emmaus, we long to see the Body of Christ growing up into maturity in the Holy Spirit, rooted in Jesus and established in an experiential knowledge of the love of God in Christ. LTI desires to bless local churches and ministries with leaders who love reading and meditating on God’s Word, who are deeply rooted in Christ and are equipped to serve faithfully in Jesus’ name.

What is ‘Formational Leadership’?

Formational Leadership involves accompanying people in the process of being spiritually formed in and by the Holy Spirit. It requires a way of being present and attentively attuned to the actual work of God in the soul, and learning to cooperate in that work as it is taking place in real time.

Listening (rather than telling) is the primary leadership posture; discernment (rather than taking charge) is the dynamic in the leader’s role. The fruit of this disciplined and mature leadership presence is the formation of persons and communities of grace, humility, compassion who increasingly yearn after God and hunger and thirst for righteousness. These are people who are open-handed and open-hearted, who are in possession of a capacity for unity amidst diversity, for mercy in judgment, for tenderness with the weary. They are learning to abide in Christ, to walk by the Spirit, to love God with all their heart, mind and soul, and to love their neighbors as themselves.

Watch the below webinar recording, “Servant, Steward, Shepherd: Learning to Lead Like Jesus“, for a panel discussion from Emmaus faculty on what Formational Leadership looks like:

Is Emmaus right for me? What if I have additional questions?

We would be delighted to help you explore if Emmaus is right for you. Please contact Jeremy Stefano at jeremy@leadershiptransformations.org if you have any questions.

Emmaus Faculty

Dr. Jeremy Stefano
Dr. Steve Macchia
Jovin Adjeitey
Jovin Adjeitey
Dan DeRoche
Gail Edmonson
Dr. Gary Franklin
Marcos Leon
Suz Skinner
Suz Skinner
Dr. Sanda Tomuletiu
Dr. Brenda Woods
David Wu

Emmaus Retreat Dates

2023 - 2025 ONLINE RETREAT - via Zoom

All retreats are held at 10AM - 4PM ET
Spiritual Formation: Sep 20-21, 2023
Spiritual Practices: Dec 6-7, 2023
Spiritual Rest: April 10-11, 2024
Spiritual Leadership: Sep 18-19, 2024
Spiritual Discernment: Dec 11-12, 2024
Spiritual Community: Mar 26-27, 2025

2024 - 2026 EMMAUS RETREAT

Application season for the 2024-2026 Emmaus cohort begins January 2024. Click the button below to be added to our notification list for when applications are being received in January.

2024 - 2026 ONLINE RETREAT - via Zoom

All retreats are held at 10AM - 4PM ET
Spiritual Formation: Aug 27-28, 2024
Spiritual Practices: Oct 29-30, 2024
Spiritual Rest: Apr 8-9, 2025
Spiritual Leadership: Aug 26-27, 2025
Spiritual Discernment: Oct 28-29, 2025
Spiritual Community: Mar 24-25, 2026

Add me to Emmaus 2024-2026 Notification List

Emmaus Application Process & Tuition

The Emmaus 2023 – 2025 cohort is full. Application season for the 2024-2026 cohort will open in January 2024. Click here to be notified when applications are being received for the 2024-2026 cohort.

Emmaus 2024 – 2026 applications are now being accepted. Applications for the 2024-2026 cohort close on July 31, 2024.
Fill out and submit the online application along with a $50 application fee. 

Tuition:

  • $3,100 for the ONLINE two-year certificate program*.
  • An additional $250 non-refundable deposit is required upon acceptance to the program.

* Tuition is payable in 1, 5, or 20 installments. Limited scholarship aid is available, upon request.

What’s included in Tuition:
Six retreats, teaching materials and resources and personal mentoring throughout the program

Note:
Each participant is responsible to acquire approximately six books per year.

Contact Jeremy Stefano at jeremy@leadershiptransformations.org for any questions.

Apply for Emmaus

Testimonials

“Every part of the Emmaus experience proved not just valuable to me in my spiritual leadership journey, but transformative.”
— Abigail, Pastor of Arts and Spiritual Formation
“I had developed a long term habit of doing ministry in my own strength. I knew Holy Spirit empowered ministry was possible, but I was having great difficulty getting there until my time in Emmaus."
— Dan, Senior Pastor
"The most important task of spiritual leadership is hearing Jesus. Without his voice, our congregations are only hearing our voices. And that's not saying much. In Emmaus, I received the gift of being surrounded with trusted voices that enabled me to hear the most trusted Voice when I needed it the most."
— Dave, Lead Pastor
"In Emmaus, I've learned to embrace silence and solitude because God meets me in those places."
— Sara, Executive Pastor
“In my life, the main benefit of being part of Emmaus, is learning how to listen."
— Iain, Community Life Elder
"The Emmaus experience reminded me after almost 30 years of ministry that maintaining spiritual disciplines is not enough...you need a band of brothers and sisters who are engaged in the same journey. This journey has provided me with wise counsel, spiritual healing, and inspiration for continued ministry. I would strongly advise any spiritual leader who wants to finish well in his or her calling to be a servant of Jesus to consider being a part of the Emmaus journey."
— Tim, Pastor

Please contact Jeremy Stefano at jeremy@leadershiptransformations.org if you have any questions.

Can't find what you're looking for?

Jeremy Stefano

Director of Emmaus, Director of Abide, & Minister of Spiritual Formation

Jeremy offers spiritual direction, leads retreats, teaches on spiritual formation topics and serves as the director of Emmaus, a Certificate Program in Formational Leadership, and Abide, a Certificate Program in Spiritual Formation. He also works with students of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary at the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building. The heartbeat of Jeremy’s calling is to encourage Christian leaders in the cultivation of their relationship with God. He has served various churches as pastor and interim pastor. He and Bethany, his wife of 35 years, have been blessed with eight children and five grandchildren. They make their home in Massachusetts. He has a Licentiate in Theology from the Cape Town Baptist Seminary in South Africa, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Regent College in Canada and a D.Min. in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary in Portland, OR. “Friendships have been a source of grace in my life. It is a gift to serve in LTI alongside those who value the priority of rich and enduring relationships with each other.”

Articles by Jeremy Stefano

Steve Macchia

Founder & President

Steve is a graduate of Northwestern College (IA) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. and D.Min.). His prior ministry includes serving on the pastoral staff at Grace Chapel (Lexington, MA) and as president of Vision New England. Since July 1, 2003 Steve has served as founder and president of Leadership Transformations, director of the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building, and adjunct faculty in the Doctor of Ministry department at Gordon-Conwell. He is the author of sixteen books, including The Discerning Life (Zondervan Reflective),  Baker bestseller Becoming a Healthy Church, and Crafting a Rule of Life (IVP). He lives in the Boston area with his wife Ruth and is the proud father of two grown children, Rebekah and Nathan, daughter in-love Ashley, and papa to his beloved granddaughter, Brenna Lynn and twin grandsons, Aiden Joseph and Carson Stephen. “My soul comes alive singing the great hymns of the church and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. I’m in awe of God for fulfilling the dream for LTI that he birthed in my heart, for the team he has assembled, and the transformational impact experienced in the leaders and teams we serve.”

Detailed Biography
Articles by Stephen Macchia
Author Website
Schedule a one-on-one with Steve

Jovin Adjeitey

Jovin Adjeitey

Emmaus Faculty & Selah-East Faculty

Jovin delights to lead others to experience God’s life-changing love and power through the ministries of prayer, the Word, and attentive listening. She does this through offering prayerful, hospitable spaces and experiences to leaders across cultures who have become weary and need to be re-directed to hear the voice of God.

She lives in Ghana, West Africa. Though her educational background and degrees are in Hospitality, things took a turn when the Lord led her in a different kind of hospitality than expected. She spent the last two decades in full time vocational ministry with InterVarsity USA (an Interdenominational campus ministry) serving international students and scholars, and later InterVarsity Staff. She understands what it’s like to live in a different culture and serve many cultures. Her ministry experience includes speaking, training, and working with different cultures, spiritual formation, intercession and prayer ministry.

She trained as a Spiritual Director through Leadership Transformations’ Selah Certificate Program. For fun, she enjoys a good cup of tea and loves to express hospitality through cooking for others. “The ministry of LTI was meaningful to me during a Kairos moment in my life. I am blessed to serve with this remarkable team.”

Dan DeRoche

Emmaus Faculty

Dan enjoys being the senior pastor at Crossview Church in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. He has 25 years ministry experience which includes serving as a missionary in Lisbon, Portugal. He loves encountering God, getting lost in His wonder, and introducing others to Jesus. Prior to ministry, Dan served in the United States Air Force and is a war veteran. He has a bachelor’s degree from Judson University, a master’s degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is ordained in the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA). He is married to the love of his life, Pam, and they have two adult children. Dan enjoys hanging out with his family, reading, golfing, coffee
conversations, and going for walks in nature. He is a dog lover and has a pug named Theo. “As a pastor, I heard of this idea of ministering out of the overflow of what God is doing in your own heart, but I never really experienced that as a regular practice until I enrolled in the Emmaus program. There I learned spiritual formation practices like noticing God’s presence, being more attentive to my soul, responding to God’s invitations, and remembering that I am dearly loved by God. I am grateful for LTI, and I am excited to walk with friends on the Emmaus journey.”

Gail Edmonson

Emmaus Faculty & Abide Faculty

Gail Edmonson has a deep longing to create space for people to feel safe – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. After serving for 18 years on her church staff in various positions including Director of Leadership Development and Director of Spiritual Formation, she entered private practice as a spiritual director. She delights in offering spiritual direction for individuals and groups, giving leadership to monthly gatherings for spiritual practices, and facilitating soul care retreats. Gail holds a Bachelor of Science degree in interior design from Baylor University. She received spiritual direction training through Leadership Transformations’ Selah Certificate Program as well as certification in spiritual formation leadership through Leadership Transformations’ Emmaus program. Additionally, Gail holds a certification in Death, Dying, and Grief from Tyndale Spiritual Formation Centre.

Gail and her husband live in Katy, Texas. They have three adult children and seven growing grandchildren.

“I am deeply passionate about the ministry of LTI because of the ways the Lord has used both Emmaus and Selah in my spiritual formation. Therefore, my gratitude for LTI and its leadership runs deep. It is an honor to serve alongside these grace-filled men and women.“

Gary Franklin

Emmaus Faculty

Gary Franklin has been a pastor since 1980. Today he serves as the teaching and vision pastor for Grace Church in Fayetteville, Georgia. He’s been in this role since 2007. He also served as the pastor of the same Grace Church in 1990’s.  He also serves as the Founder/President of The Leader’s Heart, Inc. which is a non-profit through which he provides spiritual friendship and direction to ministry and marketplace leaders.

Gary has been married to Verna for 44 years. They have three grown children and four grandchildren with a fifth arriving later in 2022.

Gary has a passion for spiritual formation which was awakened in 2005. It changed his spiritual journey and his pastoral ministry. “I’ve been part of two Emmaus communities and enjoyed privilege of sharing those experiences with members of my church staff. The rhythm of community with other leaders has been enriching and centering.“

Marcos Leon

Emmaus Faculty, Abide Faculty, & Selah-West Faculty

Marcos has served as a Team Leader for Faithwalking since 2007. He facilitates and coaches the Faithwalking curriculum in English and Spanish, leads the communications team, and oversees the training for coaches. Marcos is also part of the Emmaus Online faculty team at LTI. Additionally he serves as a counselor and has a passion for spiritual direction. Marcos was born and grew up in Ecuador, but now lives north of Houston in Porter, TX with his wife Julie and four children. He loves nature, good stories, and road trips with family. His education includes a Masters in Hotel Administration in Spain and a Masters in Counseling from Houston Graduate School of Theology. He also received his training on the Enneagram from Crosspoint Ministry and is a graduate of LTI’s Selah program. “Selah facilitates an encounter with God. The integration of a solid biblical foundation in the teaching, the humble spaciousness of the discipline of silence, and the faith-filled loving attitude of the leaders invites the soul to listen to the Spirit of the Living God.”

Suz Skinner

Suz Skinner

Emmaus Faculty, Abide Faculty, & Spiritual Formation Associate

Suz received her degree in Art Education from Pennsylvania State University, received theological education from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary through CCO and IVCF campus ministries, and completed the Selah Certificate Program in Spiritual Direction. After serving in campus ministry, Suz has also served on church staff teams, in both youth ministry and adult discipleship ministry. In addition, Suz has worked as a visual arts instructor, for over two decades. Currently, Suz serves LTI at the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and on the faculty team for the Emmaus: Certificate in Formational Leadership. As both an artist and a spiritual director, Suz offers creative soul care and spiritual direction in her art studio. Five clever grandkids, along with their loving parents, continually bless Suz and her husband, Joel. Suz loves to fill her kitchen with friends and good conversation and is always refreshed by an oceanside walk. “God continues to use the grace-filled people and the attentive spaciousness of LTI to shape me for Christ’s Kingdom.“

Sanda Tomuletiu

Emmaus Faculty

Sanda is from Romania and she currently lives in her hometown, Sibiu. She has a Ph.D. in communication from Duquesne University (U.S.) and is a graduate of LTI’s Emmaus program. Her interest in spiritual formation, discovered while teaching at Wheaton College, deepened after she moved to Lithuania to provide leadership for the new communication major at LCC International University, a Christian university serving students from the former Soviet Union. Since her return to Romania, Sanda’s heart has been with the local church, where she provides teaching and spiritual companionship to women. Her desire to be better equipped for accompanying others in their walk with God led her to pursue training in spiritual direction with LTI’s Selah program in Europe. Books and dogs are Sanda’s faithful companions, gardens and forests – her life-giving spaces, while deep friendships and conversations are her soul food. “Finding LTI’s Emmaus program was like finding home. The spiritual discipline of holy restraint, of again and again returning to Silence in order to notice the Spirit’s movement, has entered my life for good.”

Dr. Brenda Woods

Emmaus Faculty & Abide Faculty

Brenda has spent her career as a physician and has now entered a season of “re-purposement” with a call to accompany others in their walk with Christ. She is married to David for 42 years. They have 4 married children with a total of 10 grandchildren who are a joy and delight! She is active in her local church serving as an elder and facilitates the spiritual direction training program that has raised up spiritual directors in her congregation. She discovered LTI during the pandemic, and the Soul Care retreats and workshops were a lifeline while practicing medicine at that time. Because of this experience with LTI, she completed the Emmaus program and is currently an intern with Selah to continue to be formed as one who listens well and joins others as they journey with God. She graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Dallas Theological Seminary. She enjoys time with her family, reading, painting and being outdoors especially if water is involved! “I am experiencing God in a new and powerful way. Instead of working hard for Him, almost as His employee, I now operate out of a deep and abiding knowledge that I am His dearly loved child. Everything I do in His service now flows out of gratitude and in response to His love. I see His activity surrounding me and have an ever-growing awareness of His continual presence in my life. This has brought me to a place of rest and contentment that I did not realize existed.”

David Wu

Selah Senior Faculty, Emmaus Faculty

David serves as Senior Faculty of Selah, LTI’s Certificate Program in Spiritual Direction, and Emmaus, LTI’s Certificate Program in Formational Leadership. He is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.,’11) and Selah. Prior to his ministry with LTI, David was involved with overseas missions in East Asia, church planting, and pastoral ministry in the local church. David is passionate about creating prayerful and hospitable space for others to listen to God, whether through leading worship corporately, facilitating soul care retreats, or one-on-one spiritual direction. For fun, David enjoys long hikes, playing the guitar, gluten-free cooking, and pulling weeds. David and his wife and three kids make their home in Sugar Land, Texas. “I first encountered LTI at a soul care retreat during a very low point in my life and ministry. LTI was my spiritual paramedic at just the right time. Today I am so grateful to serve with this incredible team of loving and compassionate soul care-givers.“