From July 12-13, 2024, the international TEC family gathered at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX, for TEC’s annual event, Encounter 2024. The theme “On the Way” invited participants to consider who is traveling on their faith journey with them. With the help of our TEC family, we may better be able to see Jesus joining us on this journey, just as those who walked the road to Emmaus came to recognize him.
Keeping with the theme, Encounter participants were divided into pairs and invited to complete the Emmaus Walk journal sheet, which was developed by the Spirituality Ministry Team and added as a prayer service for TEC’s Rise Day in 2021. Reflection questions and sharing allowed partners to get to know each other a little better.
Saturday began with a guided “field trip” to Community First! Village, led by Nickie Moncada from TEC of Central Texas. Encounter participants were able to tour this master planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing along with a community for those who have experienced chronic homelessness. Learning about this special village highlighted how this group is accompanying their neighbors on their journeys, inviting the Encounter group to reflect on how they can stretch themselves to do the same in their own communities.
Upon returning to campus, keynote speaker Fr. Gregory Plata, OFM, spoke about “offshoot journeys” that are woven into the primary journey of life, which can be fun or challenging, and often bring a fear of not belonging. He noted that TEC fits into these journeys by inviting us into a community where the emphasis is not on “me” but on “we.” Fr. Greg encouraged everyone to look out for younger generations who can feel isolated in individualism, with TEC serving as a means to bring people together.
Following the keynote, Encounter attendees chose between a formation session and a spiritual session. The formation session explored how to be servant leaders during team training, weekend preparation, and the TEC weekend itself, while the spiritual session examined different pilgrimage aspects of life and included an artistic opportunity to decorate a finger labyrinth.
After vigil Mass, everyone enjoyed a Texas-style barbeque Agape Dinner. The TEC Conference honored Dcn. Bob Sondag (Peoria TEC) and Chris LaRosa (TEC New Orleans) with the 2024 Heritage Award. The evening concluded with the close of the silent auction and plenty of music, singing, and socializing.
Thank you to the local volunteers from TEC of Central Texas for all their hospitality and hands-on help, and thank you to the national Encounter Ministry Team for their months of planning! As always, thank you to those who attended, prayed for, and donated to the event—you keep the TEC movement alive!
