The Cornerstone Forum Newsletter

The Emmaus Road Initiative
2008 / 2009

Inspiring a Wholehearted Faith in a Half-hearted Age

May News Update
looking ahead & staying afloat
A Message from Gil Bailie
Gil Bailie

Dear Friends,

Looking Ahead....

This month the Emmaus Road Initiative is making its final tour across the country for the 2008-9 series. I am tremendously grateful for the support and encouragement from all those I meet each month at the 13 venues I visit. Moreover, we are especially thankful for those friends at each venue who help us with the logistics, local advertising and all of the little details that have made this series possible. Finally, we appreciate the generosity of each host parish community that has provided a venue for our efforts through these past eight months.
 
However, just as important to our work is the connection we have made to those who participate in a virtual way through the CDs handed out to friends, downloadable MP3 audio files, and now streaming audio from our website. Randy tells me that each month we have more people downloading the free MP3 files than the previous month. As more people discover the convenience of the ERI presentations available on a portable iPod/MP3 player we expect this to grow further. We will be expanding these digital audio resources on our website over the coming months.
 
The constraints of the economic downturn are acutely felt here at the Cornerstone Forum with both Randy and I making personal sacrifices to enable the completion of the current ERI series. Looking ahead, we believe that in order to provide the resources needed to maintain our efforts we require a much larger base of support. We are exploring the opportunities for our work to be made available via broadcast media (radio/television) where the audiences are many times larger than I could possibly address by traveling around the country. While we are pursuing venues for the fall, we will be making a concerted effort to find as many broadcast outlets as we can. We welcome your suggestions, and we are grateful for your prayers.


The theme for the final presentation in the current Emmaus Road Initiative series is:

Easter in the "Meantime"
Do This In Remembrance of Me

If modernity undermined our sacramental sensibilities, postmodernity is eroding our anthropological sensibilities. Without sacramental sensibilities we lose a sense of grace, and without anthropological sensibilities we lose a sense of nature - human nature.

In this session of the E.R.I. we will reflect on the need to recognize and bear witness to the relationship between nature and grace. Since the Eucharist is where the Christian both participates in this mystery and is nourished for the work of witnessing to it, we will end with a Eucharistic reflection.

Click on these links for the locations, dates and times of the sessions.




Thank you so much for your interest in our work and for helping to make it possible.

With affection and gratitude,

Gil Bailie
Staying afloat...
Randy Coleman-Riese
From the Cornerstone Forum Executive Director,
Randy Coleman-Riese

Dear Friends,

Like so many other non-profit organizations during these days of diminished resources we are struggling to find ways to continue our work. If you are one of the many who find Gil's reflections an important part of your life I encourage you to consider making a tax deductible donation to our work, even if you can only afford $5, and especially if your gift would help us meet our matching grant goal (see below). You may make a donation on our web site with your credit card HERE, or mail a check to our address below.

And remember, anyone who becomes a annual or monthly donor either via check, cash or recurring credit card charge at the $20/month level ($240/yr) or above will receive complimentary CDs of Gil's current presentations mailed as they are produced. If you would like to support our work in this way you may click on the link in the paragraph above this, or contact me at the address/email/phone number below.

Matching Grant Update...

We are very grateful for a $10,000 matching grant from a donor who wishes to help us develop our base of support by encouraging donations from new donors, increased giving above prior year levels of current donors and donations from those who have not contributed in the past two years.

We have until the end of September to meet this goal, however in the past three months we have received almost $4,700 that qualifies for the grant. We have no illusions regarding the challenge that raising support during these trying times presents.

Both Gil and I are immensely grateful to be able to complete the current Emmaus Road Initiative series. As we look forward to the fall and the next year we will need increased support for new and more effective ways to do the work to which we are called.

Gil has recorded an audio version of this appeal for your help which can be heard on our website. You may listen to it by following the link below:


New on the Cornerstone Forum website

I have updated our 'Recommended Books' page with links to Ignatius Press for items published by them as well as author background links which I think will enhance appreciation of the material Gil has been producing in the Emmaus Road Initiative series.

And lastly, the free April ERI downloadable MP3 audio file as well as the CD available for purchase are now in the web store. And the streaming audio link to the April ERI presentation is also available HERE.

Blessings,

 Randy Coleman-Riese


Thank you for helping to make our work possible.

The Cornerstone Forum
PO Box 9249
Santa Rosa, CA 95405
Tel: (866) 506-5451 x703
Email: randy@cornerstone-forum.org