Aldersgate is the oldest community in Florida. For those of you non-Methodists who don’t recognize the name Aldersgate, Aldersgate was the name of the street in London where evangelist John Wesley, years after he had been ordained, went to a small group Bible study and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit for the very first time. He is quoted as saying that he came away from that meeting with his heart “strangely warmed” and his incredible ministry took off from that night. The name Aldersgate symbolizes the goals of your Emmaus board. We want you to come away from here with your hearts “strangely warmed” and we want your ministry to take off from here. We held our first walk in 1980. Since that time 8 communities have spun off ours and we still remain the second largest community in the United States. Aldersgate extends from Gainesville in the north; continuing down the west coast to Clearwater, St. Pete & Tampa; traveling east through Kissimmee-St. Cloud to Melbourne and back up the east coast through Titusville.
Each area is represented on the Aldersgate board by a representative chosen by that community. The board signs a covenant agreement each year with The Upper Room in Nashville that we will follow their guidelines to assure that your walk is exactly the same as walks held all over the world. The Aldersgate board is a group of average people who love the Lord and are willing to serve Him by praying and working hard to select and train leadership to continue this program. Each walk has a board representative working with the leadership team to insure that the Upper Room guidelines are followed, thus preserving the integrity of the walk. Over 8000 pilgrims have journeyed through our program in the past 24 years.