What do these stones mean?

"There are no land or peoples safe when any land can become the promised land and any people the Canaanites."

— Kate Common, Undoing Conquest


“This history is not your fault, but it is absolutely your responsibility”  

— Nikki Sanchez, "Decolonization is for Everyone"

“What do these stones mean?”  is the question that is placed in the mouths of the future children of Israel in the book of Joshua (4:6) and it is a question that remains important in our current moment of historical erasure. Telling full and true stories of our origins is necessary for creating a liberating future. So, what do we do with our religious origin stories that have been used for so much harm? In our sacred scriptures, the God who liberates in Exodus is the same God who instructs the Israelites to conquer the Canaanites in the books of Joshua and Judges. In this series, we will explore the stories we’d rather ignore or discard because it feels impossible to redeem them. We’ll wrestle with how they’ve led to harm - even created the religious rationale for genocide, what other origin narratives or counter-stories might be present we could lift up, and we will call forward other threads of our sacred scriptures that could help us to weave a more liberating social imagination.

Series Resources

Emmaus Way is committed to engaging the Gospel in creative, embodied, and communal ways—from reading and art to dialogue and service. Find below some of the resources that are shaping our current series.

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Scripture & DIALOGUE Questions

All are invited to hear and discern the Word of God together in dialogue at Emmaus Way each week. While the communal and embodied experience of dialogical preaching can't quite be recreated outside of the Sunday gathering, follow along here with the scripture passages and dialogue questions that are guiding our weekly conversations.

  • Name: Naming Harmful Histories and Stories of Origin
    Joshua 4:1-7 & 24:1-13
    • What's an origin story that has shaped your family history or the place you grew up?
    • What do these stories of conquest have to do with us? Are they our responsibility?
    • What do you expect to find in them?
    • How does this passage make you feel when you read it?
    • What does this passage say about God and how God acts?
    Songs to Listen to... [Can be heard on the Series Playlist]
    • There is More Love Somewhere, Bernice Reagon Johnson
    • We Will Make No Peace with Oppression, Porter's Gate
    • Graveyard, Feist
    • Clean Up, Pedro the Lion

  • Remembering: All Saints & Haunted Memories

    Joshua 23:2-9

    • Did you grow up with any similar dominant local, state, or regional mythologies of "Firsting" and "Lasting"? What were its components and what do you conclude its principal message?
    • Can you think of other instances where you have the notion that the U.S. is a New Israel, engaged in a divine covenant and tasked with exercising dominion? If so, how do you reckon with that inheritance personally?
    Songs to Listen to...[Can be heard on the Series Playlist]
    • Meanness, Nathan Evans Fox
    • Golden Embers, Watchouse
    • This Land Is Your Land, Woody Guthrie
    • How Can I Keep from Singing, Robert Lowry, Pete Seeger, Doris Plenn
    • Gold Rush Brides, 10,000 Maniacs

  • Inviting Counter-stories to Conquest

    Joshua 6:20-21, 24-25; Judges 1:19-21; Deuteronomy 10:17-21; Story of the Highland Settlements by Kate Common

    • Why was this story (conquest in Joshua) written? Is this tactic familiar?
    • What in these counterstories stands out to you?
    • What's different or complex about the stories being told?
    • Does it matter what really happened?
    • Can inviting counterstories help prompt a new imagination? If so, how?

    Songs to Listen to...[Can be heard on the Series Playlist]

    • Derecho de Nacimiento, Natalia Lafourcade
    • Give Peace to Every Heart, Taizé
    • Father, Let Your Kingdom Come, Porter's Gate
    • Why We Build the Wall, Anais Mitchell
    • Let It Be, The Beatles


  • Coming soon.

  • Coming soon.

EWAY Youth & Kids

During this series, Emmaus Way Youth (sixth through twelfth graders) are exploring their relationship with technology in different ways.. Emmaus Way Kids (preschool through fifth graders) are exploring stories from Exodus. If you have questions about the youth, kids, or preschool programs or how to get your child involved, please don't hesitate to reach out to us here.

Join Us

We hope these resources offer just a few more avenues to engage with the Word of God and the work of the Spirit in our life together. Please join us on Sundays to dialogue around these sacred topics together. Find out more about where and how we gather here. 


If you have questions for us or if there are any accommodations you might need in order to fully participate in our community, please contact us here.