the national presbyterian · your very own angel says:2. rita and roy2. to contact our national...
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The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 1
The National Presbyterian
Volume 18, No 3 www.cursillo.us June 1, 2015
A News Magazine of the National
Council of Presbyterian Fourth
Day Movements and the
National Council of
Presbyterian Cursillo
The Importance Of The Fourth Day It is often stressed that the purpose of Cursillo is
found in our action in the Fourth Day. That purpose
is to Christianize our communities, to evangelize
the environment. It is true that Cursillo and Pil-
grimage are useless and meaningless, without a
successful fourth day ministry.
BUT, Cursillo and Pilgrimage are equally useless
and meaningless if no one is available or trained or
willing to take up the ministry of the fourth day.
For people to take up the fourth day ministry, at
least two vitally important - things need to happen:
They need to attend one of our Cursillo method
weekends - and that means that we need to reach
out to them and recruit them, that we need to take
active steps to help folks decide to heed the call of
the Holy Spirit and attend the weekend.
Even more important, is the fact that our partici-
pants must work through the Cursillo method trans-
formation process and begin to understand and ac-
cept their place in that ministry.
Failure for that to happen rests largely on the shoul-
ders of those talk givers who fail to deliver the talks
as they are outlined and relate to one another. The
talks, the real “short course in Christianity”, are the
means by which our participants learn about the
ministry the Holy Spirit expects of them, and be-
come committed to it! After all is said and done,
they will be convinced and convicted by the talks,
or they will not take up the ministry of the 4th day.
Talk givers need to know that each talk they give is
a small, but important portion of the teaching the
pilgrims will receive at that retreat. They need to be
aware that their talk links up in important ways
with the other talks. They need to recognize that
deciding to deviate from Dr. Keith’s outline will do
serious damage to our ministry.
The message: Actively recruit pilgrims and proper-
ly prepare your talks. Tom
National Cursillo/Pilgrimage
Training Seminar
Quotation from Eduardo Bonin: “When you let
the Weekend become the most important part of
Cursillo [Pilgrimage], Cursillo [Pilgrimage] be-
gins to die.”
Attend the National Training Seminar and
begin to see your local community/Program
and the National Programs from a different
perspective! The purpose of Cursillo/
Pilgrimage is in the 4th Day where we answer
God’s call, while living and supporting each
other in community. Where is/should be the
focus in your community? Explore these
questions and others with representatives of
your community and representatives of other
communities. Dave Hamilton
Disagreement?
No, I don’t think so. I completely agree with Dave
that the fourth day ministry is the most important
part of Cursillo/Pilgrimage.
I haven’t asked him, but I suspect he agrees with
me that the weekend is critically important to ena-
bling the fourth day ministry. We have, after all,
no magic potion, nor any magic snap of the fingers
and “Poof” - puff of smoke to create dedicated,
convicted fourth day ministry workers.
We need to recruit and train them—or forget about
the fourth day ministry. Tom
Let
Freedom
Ring!
National Training Seminars will be held:
In Little Rock, AR July 17 – 18, 2015
(Friday evening/Saturday), and
In Marietta, GA August 27 – 28, 2015
(Thursday afternoon & evening/
Friday morning)
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 2
Contents The Importance of the Fourth Day
Nat’l Cursillo/Pilgrimage Training Seminar
Disagreement?
Contents
Your Very Own Angel Says:
Rita and Roy
To Contact Our National Officers
Cartoon Page
Our National Web Site
Trends
Message From Our Past National Moderator
Movie Review: The Way
More About El Camino de Santiago
Table Skits: A Quicker Way
A Note About Sponsorship
On The Durability of Standards
Talking the Talks: Contents
Talking the Talks: The Series
Talking the Talks: # 6 Study
Talking the Talks: # 5 Piety
Talking the Talks: # 4 Faith
What is a “Church Crashing?”
Other Outreach Opportunities.
Planning List of Special Dates
Web Sites
Weekends Currently Scheduled
Contacts for information and applications
Cartoons: 3, 10, 12
Scriptural Reminders 9, 16, 19
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Your V.O.A.*
Says That God
Loves You
Even More
Than I Love
Chocolate—
And I Really
Do Love
Chocolate! * Your Very Own Angel
A Publication of The National Council of Presbyterian Fourth Day Movements and
The National Council of Presbyterian Cursillo
Alabama Presbyterian Cursillo Arkansas Presbyterian Pilgrimage
Austin (Texas) Presbyterian Pilgrimage Chicagoland Presbyterian Pilgrimage
Colorado Presbyterian Pilgrimage Eastern Oklahoma Presbyterian Cursillo Eastern Virginia Presbyterian Pilgrimage
Florida Presbyterian Pilgrimage Georgia Presbyterian Cursillo
Houston Presbyterian Pilgrimage Indiana Presbyterian Cursillo
James (Virginia) Presbyterian Pilgrimage Louisiana Presbyterian Pilgrimage
Michigan Presbyterian Pilgrimage-Detroit Michigan Presbyterian Pilgrimage-Lake Michigan
Mississippi Presbyterian Cursillo Nebraska/Iowa {GPPP} Presbyterian Pilgrimage North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage—East
North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage—Piedmont North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage—West
North Texas Presbyterian Pilgrimage Oklahoma Presbyterian Pilgrimage
Palo Duro (Texas) Presbyterian Cursillo Peaks (Virginia) Presbyterian Pilgrimage
Shenandoah (Virginia) Presbyterian Pilgrimage South Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage Tennessee Valley Presbyterian Cursillo
Editor—Tom Fox [email protected]
Rita, how can
I connect with a
reunion group?
Just ask if you
can plug
right in, Roy!
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 3
To Contact Our National Officers:
The National Council of Presbyterian Fourth Day Movements: To Pay Dues (Dues are now $5.00 per pilgrim after your community’s 6th weekend.)
Make checks to National Council of Presbyterian 4th Day Movements and mail to Russ McNeal,
Treasurer, 4285 Plantation Ridge Lane, Greensboro, NC 27409. His E-mail: [email protected].
To Contact Other Officers: Moderator—Kerry Goldmeyer ([email protected])
Vice Moderator—Susan Ingle ([email protected])
Secretary—Sherry Arrick ([email protected])
The National Council of Presbyterian Cursillo: Moderator—Jack Kimsey ([email protected])
Vice Moderator—Valerie Mote ([email protected])
“My apron’s green because I’m
the eat-your-veggies cha.”
“Welcome to the Fourth Day!”
“I wish these were all applications to
attend our next weekend.”
Look! There’s a Palanca!
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 4
Our National Web Site: Is accessible at:
www.days3.com, or
www.cursillo.us, or
www.presbyteriancursillo.org, or
www.presbyterianpilgrimage.org
Our national website has at last been updated—at
least the section that’s intended to help prospects
decide to attend one of our weekend retreats has.
The website itself is in two sections—the prospect
section, and a section for the fourth day—updating
of which has begun. The prospect section is itself
divided into four subsections.
Possibly the most effective use you can make of
the prospect section of our web site is to introduce
prospective pilgrims to it—sitting with them and
reviewing it, or simply giving them the address
and encouraging them to review it by themselves.
Any recruiting use you might make of it assumes
that you have reviewed it yourself,
The first sub-section contains statements and com-
ments from nine folks, most of whom had just
completed making their first weekends.
The second sub-section includes responses to
eight “FAQ”s—frequently asked questions. They
are:
What are Presbyterian Cursillo and Pil-
grimage?
What should I expect when I attend Cur-
sillo or Pilgrimage?
What is expected of me when I attend
Cursillo or Pilgrimage?
Where did Cursillo and Pilgrimage come
from?
Is it a cult?
What’s the difference between Presbyteri-
an Cursillo & Pilgrimage?
Is Cursillo in tune with the teaching of the
church?
What is the purpose of Presbyterian Cur-
sillo & Pilgrimage?
The answers stress the orthodoxy of our move-
ment and the fact that we are obliged to adhere to
Presbyterian theology, doctrine and standards.
The third subsection contains a page for each of
our communities that contains scheduled weekend
dates and contacts. There is also a link to each
community’s web site.
The fourth subsection gives a brief explanation of
what it takes to start a new community. The main
reason it’s listed in the prospect section is to give
prospective pilgrims some feeling of just how se-
rious and substantial our movement is.
The fourth day section of our web site is accessed
by adding /4thday.htm/ to any of the four above
addresses (e.g. www.cursillo.us/4thday.htm/).
It will contain sections to help us recruit and spon-
sor pilgrims—as well as outreach information. It
will also have information in support of fourth day
activities, weekend operations, inspiration, con-
nections—calendar and contact information. It
will also have archival sections—containing our
basic documents (By-Laws, License information,
etc) and copies of past Cursillistas.
At the present time, the fourth day section is in
chaos, but will emerge soon in useful form. At this
writing, the first part of the Fourth Day section—
”Outreach, Recruiting and Sponsorship” has been
loaded to the web site. The next section—the
Fourth Day—should be uploaded soon. Tom
Don’t forget to sign up on the Prayer Banner for
our upcoming weekends.
June 4 to 7 Houston # 76
June 18 to 21 Eastern Virginia # 20
June 25 to 28 Louisiana # 10
July 10 to 12 Houston Celebration
July 31 to August 2 N. Texas Celebration
July 31 to August 2 S Carolina Cross Tng Go To www.prayerbanner.org
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 5
Trends
In June 2011 we had 24 communities—12 of
which were Pilgrimage and 12 Cursillo, one of
which had quit holding weekends.
In June 2015, we have
24 communities, 17 of
which are Pilgrimage
and 7 of which are Cur-
sillo. Two of these 24
communities are no
longer holding week-
ends. Several now hold
only one weekend a
year.
A survey taken in 2011
gave estimated average
participant attendance at
our weekends of 28.
Four years later, commu-
nity reports submitted to
our March national
council meetings aver-
aged just 18 pilgrims per
weekend. That’s a 35 % decline in just four years!
There are no doubt several reasons for our decline.
Yes, the economy has played a part, probably a
substantial part—but there are other factors as
well.
Perhaps our programs have been “watered down”
with some of our local communities being led by
3rd or 4th generation cursillistas who may not
have been given as thorough an understanding of
the process and purpose of the Cursillo method as
our earlier leaders were. As a result, there may be
less stress placed on adhering to the basics of Dr.
Keith’s manual and more on the “warm and
fuzzy”.
Perhaps, with the increase in ecumenical participa-
tion, our base of reformed theology and doctrine
has thinned out a bit.
Maybe we don’t communicate with the fourth day
as effectively as we once did. I have asked to re-
ceive community newsletters, but receive only
three or four. It may be that some of our commu-
nities simply haven’t mustered the people or re-
sources to communicate regularly with the fourth
day, limiting contact instead to occasional prayer
or fund raising requests. Maybe this is in response
to general unhappiness about our declining attend-
ance, or to other causes.
Maybe it’s simply a matter of the difficulty of
finding someone willing
to take on the job of pre-
paring and distributing
communications.
We need to realize that if
we do nothing to keep
Cursillo and Pilgrimage
in front of the Fourth
Day—we should not be
surprised if the Fourth
Day folks don’t remem-
ber to recruit pilgrims,
attend Ultreyas, partici-
pate in reunion groups
and work in the fourth
day ministry. If we for-
get the fourth day—the
people of the fourth day
will forget our move-
ment.
The mission of the church—and of our move-
ment—has not changed.
The Holy Spirit is still calling people to our week-
end retreats. Maybe the problem is that we no
longer try as hard to help people hear the Holy
Spirit’s call as we did in the past.
What will you do to help reverse these trends?
Be a trend mender and bend a trend: recruit pil-
grims! Tom
Our National Training will be
offered at least twice more this year:
Dates Place Contact
7/17 – 18/15 Arkansas Contact: Clay Parton
8/27 – 28/15 Atlanta Contact: Valerie Mote
The Atlanta training event will be offered
in conjunction with our national council
meetings.
Cursillo
Attending our national training will be
easier and more informative than just
trying to read up on it!
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 6
overcoming those challenges often lies in revital-
izing and strengthening the existing Fourth Day.
That means renewing our focus on Reunion
Groups, following the Piety, Study and Action
structure of the Reunion Cards, and properly
structuring our Ultreyas so as to nurture and en-
courage the Fourth Day.
The good news is that Peaks Presbyterian Pilgrim-
age is in better shape than many communities. Our
Ultreya structure is good and we have some very
strong Reunion Groups.
Where we really need to place our emphasis, how-
ever, is on encouraging new Pilgrims to join or
form Reunion Groups. We must emphasize the
importance of the 14th and 15th Talks, which tell
the Pilgrims how to continue what they have expe-
rienced with a balanced Christian Life through
Piety, Study and Action, and to challenge them to
do so when they return home.
Peaks Presbyterian Pilgrimage is a gift from God
and we are all blessed to be part of it. Through it,
God has changed my life forever; and without it,
my Reunion Group, and our Ultreyas, I would
fade like a flower without water.
Thank you all for the trust you have shown in al-
lowing me to represent Peaks Presbyterian Pil-
grimage on the National Council of Presbyterian
Fourth Day Movements for all these years. May
God Bless You all abundantly.
God Loves You and so do I. De Colores!
Bill Cowen (PPC #18)
Message From Our Past National
Moderator
This is a message from Bill Cowen that appeared
in the Peaks Presbyterian Pilgrimage newsletter
for May, 2015. It was addressed to his fellow
fourth day members in the Peaks Presbyterian
Pilgrimage community.
For 16 years, I have had the honor and privilege of
serving as the National Representative of the PPP
Community to the National Council of Presbyteri-
an Fourth Day Movements. I was there in 1999 in
Douglasville, Georgia, when God brought together
the Presbyterian Cursillo and Pilgrimage commu-
nities to form our National Council, and I have
attended each of the bi-annual meetings (except 2
or 3) since.
The high point of my experience on National
Council was the privilege of serving as the Moder-
ator of the Council in 2012-2014. In that capacity,
I had the further honor and privilege of attending
the National Fourth Day Forum of all the major
Fourth Day Movements in the World – Catholic
Cursillo, Kairos, Presbyterian Cursillo and Pil-
grimage, Tres Dias, Via de Cristo, and Walk to
Emmaus. Most of these communities are active
world-wide and have an astonishing number of
member communities.
What I have learned in all of this is that Cursillo
Method Weekends work in all denominations, cul-
tures, languages, and demographics. And when
that method is followed as designed, the very posi-
tive work of the Holy Spirit can be expected from
those Weekends in each particular Fourth Day
community.
It is important to remember that the Cursillo Meth-
od format has been tried, tested, and proved many
times over. And, it is very important to guard
against drifting from the format and structure en-
trusted to us by those who came before us. Time
and again, following that Method has resulted in a
strong Fourth Day, strong Reunion Groups, and
strong Ultreyas. In the end, the focus must be on
building Disciples and sending them out to
Change Our World.
We are not alone in facing challenges in recruiting
new Pilgrims. However, the collective experience
of the world-wide Fourth Day communities is that
It takes a lot of people,
doing a lot of work
To build a fourth
day ministry.
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 7
Movie Review: The Way
The training programs—the short courses—that
inspired those who devised our Cursillo de Chris-
tiandad weekend retreats were originally designed
to train leaders for a massive young men’s Catho-
lic Action pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James the
Elder in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella
in northwestern Spain.
The shrine is the final resting place of the purport-
ed remains of St. James which were placed there
some 700 to 800 years after his death.
The young men’s pilgrimage, long delayed by the
Spanish civil war and later by neutral Spain’s de-
fensive precautions during WWII, finally took
place in the late 1940’s. Altogether, some 70,000
young men made the pilgrimage; 700 of whom
were from the island of Mallorca—the birthplace
of Cursillo.
The movie, The Way, has nothing to do directly
with Cursillo, but does demonstrate the deep and
vital impact that making the pilgrimage had on
those young men who then returned home and
founded Cursillo de Christiandad—and still has on
pilgrims today.
The Way stars Martin Sheen and features his son,
Emilio Estevez, who is also the movie’s director.
The story begins with Sheen’s son departing for
Europe and beginning to walk the pilgrimage.
Sheen’s character, the widowed father, an ophthal-
mologist, is devastated to learn that his son died
tragically en route.
He flies to France to claim the body, learns about
the pilgrimage which his son had begun, and
then—in his grief—decides to undertake to com-
plete the pilgrimage his son started, spreading his
son’s ashes along the way on “El Camino de San-
tiago” - the Way of St James.
The movie is well made, very believable—almost
a documentary about the details of making the
pilgrimage. Sheen’s character, a lapsed Christian,
could not have explained his actions, other than as
perhaps some sort of memorial to his son.
Played over several hundred miles in France, over
the Pyrenees and into Spain, the story shows his
very gradual softening and acceptance of those he
meets along the way—and his eventual bonding
with other pilgrims.
The benefit to me of watching this movie was
gaining an insight into the deep spiritual impact
made on the pilgrims who made the journey, who
walked “El Camino de Santiago” and, by infer-
ence, upon the young men of Mallorca who found-
ed our Cursillo de Christiandad.
The movie itself is not particularly religious in
nature—and is in fact rated PG-13. Although I
honestly don’t recall anything especially unto-
ward, it did raise the issues of drug addiction and
abortion. It just seemed to emphasize the deep
spiritual impact on the pilgrims.
I ordered the movie DVD on line from Daedalus
Books (salebooks.com). I imagine that it is also
available from Amazon and other sources.
More About El Camino de Santiago
For more information about “El Camino de Santi-
ago”, you might want to read the book To the
Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago de
Compostella by Kevin A Codd, which is reviewed
in the February, 2013 Cursillista.
The May, 2015 issue of National Geographic
magazine has a story about the Camino—with pic-
tures and a map. The story reveals that, the last
few years, between 183,000 and 273,000 people
have made the pilgrimage each year.
...and, if you really want to immerse yourself in
the Camino de Santiago, Daedalus Music
(salemusic.com) offers a CD (#57115) of “the
multicultural music of the pilgrims and minstrels
that emerged from these pilgrimages…Using vo-
cals, lute, fiddle, harp, percussion, and hurdy
gurdy, the group Spielleyt recreates the vibrant
musical life of these medieval pilgrimage routes.”
What do you think, would any of our Cursillistas
or Pilgrimistas want to take a crack at walking El
Camino? I hear it’s only about 500 miles. Tom
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 8
A Note About Sponsorship
This information from His Light, the newsletter of
South Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage is worth
passing on.
Not quite sure how sponsorship works? First, re-
member that Pilgrimage is a Christian retreat tai-
lored for Christians who would benefit from
a deeper walk with and knowledge of Christ. It is
meant to be a growth experience for Christians
rather than a conversion moment for non-
Christians.
If you have offered to sponsor a new participant,
please don't be apprehensive about answering his
or her questions. You can certainly explain the
messages and love without spilling the de-
tails. Pilgrimage isn't a secret! But the way we
go about showing the abundant love of Christ
is an awesome thing for participants to experience
at a retreat. SO don't give away the surprises that
make it special.
Should you encourage financial aid if the par-
ticipant is unable to pay? We continue fundrais-
ing throughout the year and at our Ultreyas
and events in an effort to reduce both participant
and staff cost. We also hope that sponsors may be
able to help with financial concerns or coordinate
funding through their home churches.
YES, you may certainly pay for a participant's
weekend anonymously if you'd like. Participant
and staff fees may be paid by Paypal at our web-
site:
You might direct a future participant to our web-
site (www.scpresbyterianpilgrimage.org)
Please note: Paying the fee for a specific partici-
pant is not tax deductible—but you didn’t do it to
generate a tax deduction did you? In any event, a
contribution to your community’s scholarship
fund is deductible, provided you don’t designate a
specific participant as the recipient. Tom
Table Skits: A Quicker Way
Table Skits for presentation after dinner on Satur-
day can take a lot of time to prepare. I believe I’ve
found a short cut, which has been used three times
successfully.
If your table group agrees early on a skit, that’s
great; if not, try something like this: God has as-
sembled a committee of high ranking angels to
discuss a problem, or problems affecting the
Church. Each member of the table group—except
the pilgrim who will play God—is given a sug-
gested topic to talk about at the meeting. Some
examples from past skits are
The suggestion to add additional legs to the
stool, besides piety, study and action. (e.g.
bell choir, tidy Sunday School rooms, etc.)
That any church gaining 10% membership
increase in a single year will be entitled to the
miracle of having three straight years of win-
ning seasons for the church softball team.
The installation of an ATM machine in the
church lobby that will skim 10% for the
church general fund.
Special discounted tithes at 8% for new mem-
bers this month only, as an incentive to new
members.
Each table group member can come up with their
own proposal. The group can help with suggested
ideas for individual members to advocate.
The skit ends with God—hopefully played by the
most articulate of the pilgrims—resolving the dis-
cussion by pointing out the facts and stressing the
time honored scriptural wisdom—that there is no
need for such changes, that we must adhere to
God’s traditional teaching.
The first time we used this idea, we got very
lucky—one of the pilgrims at our table was a pro-
fessional actor—who had a continuing role on a
popular national TV series. Regally attired in
Camp Pinnacle bed linens, he set us all properly
straight!
Remember, the purpose of the skit is to help firm
up the pilgrims’ understanding of what has been
taught through the first two days of the weekend
retreat—and to demonstrate their understanding of
it. It also helps establish the fellowship of the
group.
For this reason, the “outcome” of the skit needs to
support the traditional teachings of the church, not
to promote some radical new ideas. Tom
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 9
On The Durability of Standards
In preparing his manual for our Presbyterian Cur-
sillo method ministries, as part of his work toward
his Doctor of Ministry degree, Dr. Fred Keith re-
lied quite a lot on standards of the reformed
faith—most especially on scripture.
While preparing to write an article on the third of
the fifteen talks—the Laity talk—I found that he
had included a number of references to the PC
(USA) Book of Order, as well as a number of Bi-
ble verses. None of the Bible verses—all 1900
years old or older—have changed, of course.
The Book of Order references, however, are an-
other matter. Since Dr. Keith’s work is dated
1989, I had to find a Book of Order from that era.
Since I was ordained an elder in 1981, I felt confi-
dent that I had such a vintage work, but I didn’t.
Our church library did yield a 1990-1991 version.
(As it turns out, it was originally my wife’s copy!)
While none of the citations had changed from the
immediately previous version of the B.O.O., 1988-
1989, to the 1990-1991 version they all have now
changed—–according to the 2011-2013 edition.
The G-1.000 chapter from 1990 titled
“Preliminary Principles”—which consisted of the
five sections G-1.0100 thru G-1.0500 has now
become scattered among at least sixteen of the
forty three sections of chapters one thru three,
numbered F-1.01 thru F-3.04. There have been
some significant text changes, as well.
As far as the Laity talk is concerned, we simply
cannot disregard Dr. Keith’s Book of Order cita-
tions—they need to be included in the talk. The
information contained in those citations is as vital
to the meaning of the talk now as it was when it
was first written.
In the article about the Laity talk which is ex-
pected to appear in the August issue of the Cur-
sillista, the content of those citations will be at
least summarized. Until then your best bet is to
obtain a copy of the 1990-91 B.O.O. or one just a
bit earlier. I have scanned the 1990 version, run it
thru OCR and translated it to MS Word. If you
are going to be giving the Laity talk, please feel
free to e-mail me and request a copy of the
scanned version of the first five chapters of the
Form of Government from the 1990-1991 version
of the PC(USA) Book of Order. You can contact
me at [email protected]
But, this matter is even more important than just
resourcing the Laity talk. Our national by-laws
specify that our movement “...upholds the re-
formed theology and doctrine of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), specifically the denominational
understanding regarding the equal calling of wom-
en to all areas of ministry.”
That stipulation applies equally to our Cursillo and
Pilgrimage communities. The same language is
found near the bottom of page two in the by-laws
of both the National Council of Presbyterian Cur-
sillo and the National Council of Presbyterian
Fourth Day Movements—both of which were
amended and ratified in February, 2006.
It seems significant that our God-crafted standards
have held firm so far for nearly two millennia or
longer, while our human crafted standards have
fractured within a quarter of a century.
What issues our movement may resolve in the fu-
ture with reference to these by-law stipulations, or
by amendment to our own By-Laws, are not clear,
but will require that attention be paid to the drift of
PC(USA) reformed theology and doctrine.
You are no doubt aware that the “...reformed the-
ology and doctrine…” of the PC(USA) includes
the Book of Confessions and Book of Order as
well as other teachings—all subordinate of course
to the Holy Bible. Tom
Born Again
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless he
is born again.’” “How can a man be born
when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely
he cannot enter a second time into his moth-
er’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I
tell you the truth, no one can enter the king-
dom of God unless he is born of water and
the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the
Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be
surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born
again.’ (John 3:3-7 NIV)
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 10
Talking The Talks: The Series
A series of articles—one for each of the 15 talks --
was begun in the October issue and continues in
this issue. Talks 7 thru 15 were featured in earlier
issues and Talks 4 thru 6 are featured in this issue.
The purpose of our weekend retreats is to help the
participants understand and take up the work of
Christianizing their environments in the fourth
day. A supremely important part of this work at-
tempted in our Cursillo and Pilgrimage weekends
is the information, encouragement and under-
standing provided to the participants by our talk
givers.
Each talk is, in fact, intended to connect with spe-
cific points in other talks as part of the effort to
influence the pilgrims’ fourth day ministry. Fail-
ure to give the talk with the intended emphasis
and detail damages the process of transforming
folks into the active ministry of the fourth day.
Please note that nothing in these articles supplants,
supersedes or in any way changes anything in our
manual, which was prepared by Dr. Fred Larkin
Keith and approved by his faculty committee at
Columbia Seminary and by our councils. These
articles are in no way “official”, they are simply
an attempt to help the talk givers get closer to the
mark. It is essentially a retelling of Dr. Keith’s
outline in text form—for the sheer value of repeti-
tion, and in the hopes that a new perspective, per-
haps from a slightly different point of view, might
be gained. Again, however, these articles are not
to be seen as replacing Dr. Keith’s outlines —far
from it—they are to help us understand and speak
from the outlines. My hope is that their use will at
least nudge the talk givers closer to Dr. Keith’s
outlines.
If there are perceived to be differences between
these articles and Dr. Keith’s outlines—it is Dr.
Keith’s outlines that are correct and my articles
that are wrong.
The Roman numerals in brackets (e.g. [VII]) are
intended to help the talk giver coordinate these
texts with Dr. Keith’s outlines.
It is my hope that the use of these articles by talk
givers will help strengthen our talks and help
make them more effective instruments in the crea-
tion of our fourth day ministry. Tom
Talking The Talks—Contents So far, articles have been published about twelve
of the fifteen talks. This is where to find them:
# Short Title Issue Page
15 Tomorrow Oct, 2014 7
14 The Three Days Oct, 2014 14
13 Christian Community Dec, 2014 7
12 Christian Life Dec, 2014 4
11 Evangelization Feb, 2015 12
10 Leaders Feb, 2015 6
9 Obstacles April, 2015 10
8 Action April, 2015 9
7 Sacraments April, 2015 7
6 Study June, 2015 11
5 Piety June, 2015 13
4 Faith June, 2015 15
The remaining three articles are expected to be
published in the August issue.
Go on. Express yourself. Become a music cha!
The thing I most like about
attending an Ultreya is all
the old familiar faces I see.
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 11
Talking the Talks: # 6 Study: Learning the Way
The Study talk is the first talk of the second day of
the Cursillo method spiritual retreat. The theme of
this second day is “In Christ”. It begins the effort
to help the participants encounter Christ, discover
the truth of Christianity and find guidance in the
teachings of the Christian faith.
Study, in this context, is not just a matter of ac-
quiring knowledge—”book learning”—about the
Bible. It includes that, but much more. It is part of
growing our faith, of maturing in Christ. It impacts
our living in Christ. It is not about knowing the
Bible—it is about knowing our triune God—with
the aid of the Holy Bible—the guide book handed
down to us by God.
The person giving this talk introduces study as the
second of the three legs supporting our Christian
life: Piety, Study and Action.
In simple terms, the purpose of study is learning
what God expects of us! It is how we are to learn
about the life we are expected to lead in accord-
ance with God’s revelation and purposes. It is
knowing, understanding and appropriating the pur-
pose and meaning of life.
For our pilgrims (and us) to be enabled to fulfill
our purpose of reforming our communities—of
evangelizing our environments in accordance with
the Kingdom of God, we must guide them (and
ourselves) in discovering God’s will throughout
the rest of our lives. This talk, therefore, is intend-
ed to do more than just cause pilgrims to take up a
program of Bible Study-it is intended to raise
study to the level of learning God’s expectations
of us in our lives as Christians.
To this end, the talk will provide guidance on how
to study. The talk stresses three principal points:
1. Christian study is not just the academic study
of Christianity.
2. Study must focus on the revelation of Christ in
scripture and in the world.
3. Our study each day is intended to transform us
in the image of Christ.
[I] We often describe groups of people like collec-
tions of parts, bits and pieces—a soprano, alto and
baritone—a manager, salesman and accountant,—
a butcher, baker and candle stick maker - etc. Or
perhaps a heart part, a mind part, a spirit part—it
reads like a parts list—like the parts of a piece of
furniture that requires assembly; or a selection of
auto parts.
That’s not right, of course. Our minds are not inter-
changeable; we can’t send off for a replacement for
a broken heart; we can’t buy a rebuilt spirit as a
replacement part at an auto parts store.
To think of ourselves, or our roles in life, in terms
of the individual functions of body parts is wrong.
You can mount a car engine on a test stand and run
it by itself—but you cannot run your heart without
its guiding mind, and that heart must influence the
actions of its mind—soften and control them. The
mind and heart must connect spiritually to the crea-
tor—otherwise they are like an unmanned, rudder-
less ship, adrift without purpose—without guid-
ance. A human person is a whole being, God
formed!
“”...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen 2:7 NIV)
[II] We are authentic humanity—created by God,
by the ideal given to us by God. We are to under-
stand this ideal, to grasp it in our minds and hold it
in our hearts
“Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.” (1 Tim 1:6 NIV)
And we are to let this ideal be formed by God’s
spirit, and to incorporate it wholly into our living.
Remember the importance, the impact, of the ideal
from the first talk, yesterday morning. Remember
that true ideal—yours by conviction—your true
motivation. The ideal you are discovering by analy-
sis of your life. That ideal should transform our
thinking and it should transform our actions.
[III] So, study is important—and far more than just
a mere academic pursuit of information. God has
given us minds with the ability to learn, to reason,
to consider, to understand, to plan. Study is open-
ing our whole being, our whole capacity to reason,
in position to accept and serve God’s truths.
Continued On Next Page
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 12
No, it’s not just academic—it’s not just to get a
passing grade in some three credit “life skills”
course. It is understanding and acquiring a place in
life—in God’s active purpose of our lives. It is to
find our place in God’s scriptural assertion of our
lives.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in right-eousness, so that the man of God may be thor-oughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV)
[IV] Why, then, do we need to study Christianity?
To learn about God’s love for all—to know God’s
love and how to share and respond to God’s love.
We must also learn how to realize our potential as
children of God; to understand how we are to con-
form and comply with the mind, the heart and with
the will of God—so that we may grow in our rela-
tionship with our God in Christ.
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 NIV)
[V] So, after all, we need to study! We need to
learn the truth, to help us proceed with our growth,
our sanctification– our growth in the Body of
Christ—to grow in faith; for, as we grow—as we
mature—so must our faith.
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1 Cor 13:11 NIV)
[VI] Alright then, just how do we go about this
study? How do we undertake to learn what we
have to know for our faith, for our growth, for ma-
turing in our understanding and relationships with
God? What is our curriculum? What do we study?
Well, first of all, there’s God’s revelation. We
should study God’s word as revealed to us.
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly ac-count for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1-4 NIV)
Continued From Previous Page
“Some day, when you’re very old, like me,
you’ll go to Cursillo. Then you’ll understand!”
Not only that, but we should study God’s handi-
work—the world around us which God has creat-
ed for us.
There are many sources we can use to study what
God has provided for us. There are many books—
some great—some perhaps not so great—in book
stores, on line, and in our own church libraries.
Check out the Christian education programs in
your own church—Sunday School, Bible Study
groups, and the sermons taught from the pulpit—
among other sources.
We can even teach! We can gain from what we
learn preparing our lessons, and from the respons-
es of those we teach.
Pay attention to the words you sing in worship and
at other gatherings of the faithful. Listen—with
your heart as well as with your mind—to prayers,
meditations and other thoughts rendered in the
course of church activities. Read the newsletters
and other information you receive from church
organizations.
[VII] Taken seriously, and pursued vigorously,
this intentional study will help us to grow toward
holiness.
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know
him better.” (Eph 1:17 NIV) Tom
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 13
friends and relatives to illustrate your talk.
[I] Living as a Christian involves changes. It in-
volves the very substance of life—the very es-
sence of our living.
The Christian life is not about what you do. It’s
not about playing the musical instrument you
play, or about the fact that you practice medicine,
or accountancy, or law, or even that you do Chris-
tian actions.
It’s about your very being—not that you know
how to play an instrument but that you are a musi-
cian; not that you practice medicine, but that you
are a physician.
It’s not about what you do, but aout what you are.
Not what skills you have, but about your very be-
ing. It’s not that you do “Christian Stuff”, Chris-
tian actions—but that you are a Christian—in all
that entails; that you belong to Jesus Christ—that
you are a member of the His Body, the Church.
The Christian life is a way of letting life take hold
of you—an experience of living—it is capturing
and understanding life in it’s fullest—it’s an
awareness—an awareness of the presence and
being of God, of knowing just how precious life
is, of being aware of the other people around you.
[II] The life of a Christian not only involves
changes from doing to being, it is the establish-
ment of nothing less than a relationship with God!
This is where “Piety” comes in. Our piety can be
false, or it can be real—authentic. Piety is not just
an anguished face and demeanor you put on to
elicit sympathy.
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypo-crites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.” (Matt 6:16 NIV)
True piety is not pretense, not just faking it.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21 NIV.)
It’s not just signing on to something in order to
get another item to add to your resume, another
title, another honor, another little proof of your
civic mindedness. It’s not manipulating events or
people for your own self-aggrandizement.
Talking the Talks: # 5 Piety: Practicing the Presence
The Piety talk is the last talk of the first day of the
Cursillo method weekend retreat. It summarizes
the first four talks and concludes the “liberation”
phase of the retreat during which participants are
introduced to God’s intention for them to gain
freedom in Jesus Christ.
This talk points to the first basic step to be taken
toward becoming what God intends us to be. At
this early stage in the weekend, the emphasis of
this talk is on being a Christian rather than on just
doing Christian things. Many of those necessary
things will be detailed in later talks.
The purpose of this talk is to help the participants
adopt the attributes of being Christian—of taking
on Christian ways of the heart and mind.
The talk is intended to help the listeners to feel
and think that they are in fact Christians—Christ’s
people. It relates closely to the very first talk—the
Ideals talk. Your ideals influence how you live.
Your Christian ideals influence how you live as a
Christian.
Remember this: Piety is not a verb—it is not an
action word—it is a noun—an experience—the
human experience of living in God.
Bear in mind that many who hear this talk will not
have the same understanding of the word and con-
cept of piety as you will after preparing your talk.
Some may associate it with “holier than thou” or
“I’m better than you, because I’m more right-
eous.” You must help them understand that this is
not the true meaning of piety. Mother Teresa was
pious—but not too “holy” to avoid her servant-
hood in the streets of Calcutta. The woman who
gave the widows mite was pious—poor, but very
pious.
As the talk giver, you must avoid sounding “holier
than thou” - your brief personal testimony must
avoid false modesty. Did Christ’s washing of his
disciples feet demonstrate his piety? [No, don’t
even consider staging a foot washing—you have-
n’t got the time to do a foot washing and still cov-
er all that needs to be said.]
Please keep in mind that your personal testimony
is important to this talk—your personal experience
of piety, told modestly, is extremely important.
You may also be able to use some experiences of Continued On Next Page
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 14
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new crea-tion; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17 NIV)
“being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endur-ance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” (Col 1:11-12 NIV)
Again, piety is authentic, not put on, not pretense,
not false modesty, not play acting, not “holier than
thou”; but real, genuine, natural piety. Piety is not
drudgery, not dull exertion. Piety is vibrant; not
self serving, immodest, showing off—but coura-
geous, natural and—it glistens!
[IV} There is a distinction to be recognized here.
A distinction between true piety and acts of piety.
Piety itself is in the Christian life—the life in the
Body of Christ—Christian living; of belonging to
God—not just Sunday-when-we-are-at-church
living, but every day, all the time living.
Acts of piety—the things we do as a result of our
love for and union with Christ—are necessary acts
of our ministry that help sustain our love and our
union. They are the way we express our love for
God and they are spiritual expressions of our love
through prayer, meditation, worship, praise, cele-
bration, and service. Service to God’s children as
an expression of our love for God.
Pious acts are not actions we take out of uncon-
scious reflex, they are intentional actions of which
we are very aware, done out of our own urgent
love for God. Our piety is an expression of our
constant awareness of God, of God’s call on us, of
God’s acceptance of us as God’s own children, of
God’s divine providence—not of coincidence—
but of God’s intentional providence.
It is an expression of the fact that we are temples
of the Holy Spirit—that we are holy places in
which and in whom God’s spirit resides.
It is an expression of the ties we have with others,
of the church and of the world. Every facet of our
Christianity, of our Christian living, evolves from
piety, from our relationship with our triune God.
Piety is the first of the legs that support our minis-
try. As you will see tomorrow, the other two legs
are study and action. Tom
Piety, true piety—authentic piety—lives in our
relationship with Christ, in our obedience to
Christ.
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s com-mands and remain in his love.”(John 15:10 NIV)
Piety exists in our awareness of God’s glory—in
our understanding of God’s purpose, and in our
growth in the life of Christ.
“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,” (Col 1:10 NIV)
Piety—not false, immodest posturing—but true,
holy piety—is in how we share our relationship
with God; in how we share that relationship with
others—through our testimony—how we tell our
own story.
“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20 NIV)
It is also shared through our membership with oth-
ers in the Body of Christ—the Church shared by
the way we live in Christ with others.
“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called” (Eph 4:4 NIV)
[III] How is piety to be expressed? How is it to be
presented to others—to the world at large—to be-
lievers and non-believers?
It must be presented with courage. In this present
day, with so many attacks on Christians and
Christianity that’s crucial.
“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision:“Do
not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be si-lent.’” (Acts 18:9 NIV)
God demands it and the world needs it. The world
needs displays of courageous piety—there is noth-
ing weak and spineless about true Christianity;
quite the opposite!
Piety must be presented as a natural state; the nat-
ural result of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Not just everyday “ho hum” ordinary living—but
extraordinary—”Mother Teresa” style living.
Continued From Previous Page
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 15
This is the case simply because of the limited na-
ture of our human condition which has been
formed by our own self established habits and
continues by the fact that our willingness to com-
mit is lessened by our own sense of self interest.
Even if we could perceive what we ought to do,
we wouldn’t be willing to do what we should
based just on our own self initiative. We couldn’t
help ourselves—like Paul, we would do the evil
we wouldn’t want to do. We would always be
fighting an uphill battle—and losing!
[III] Since we cannot rely on our own instinctive
iniative—we must rely on God’s great gift of
Faith: Grace!
We must rely on our own human experience of
Grace; Grace which we don’t deserve—God’s
freely given—unmerited—gift of Grace—of Faith.
Through this Faith we respond to God’s call—
God’s invitation—to live in Grace.
To have Faith is to respond to God’s gift of Grace.
Understand, to have Faith is not merely to have
knowledge of God—not just to have “some be-
liefs” about the nature of God—not even strongly
held beliefs about right or wrong—not even to
have beliefs about perfect living.
No, Faith is not just knowledge or understand-
ing—Faith is our response to God’s Grace—our
living—day to day—24/7—responsive life style.
Faith is what enables us to say yes to God’s invita-
tion—take a deep breath—and say yes, no matter
how it may scare you! Faith is what allows us ac-
tually to enter into a relationship with God. Faith
is what enables us to respond to God’s require-
ments for us to live a righteous life.
It is our Faith that enables us to live the life of
Grace—that is the key. We must have the courage
to adopt the Faith—the blind, unproven, take a
step in Faith into the void—faith that assures us of
God’s support, that God will help us to lead a
righteous life.
Faith, God’s free gift, is not easy to accept, but it
is the key to living the life of Grace God intends
for us. It is through Faith that we can place our
trust in God and in God’s purposes—and that we
can hope to discern God’s will for our lives.
Talking the Talks: # 4 Faith: Living in Grace
This second clergy talk is intended to help the lis-
teners begin to consider what their lives may be-
come as they hear how they might respond to the
grace of God. There is,of course, no easy, immedi-
ate transformation, but they should at least begin
to see the possibilities that are available to them
through a life of Grace.
They should begin to understand that there is a
great difference between their present lives and the
authentic Christian life. They should begin to real-
ize that Cursillo intends to help them progress
from their current everyday lives to vital living in
and for Christ.
This talk is not a call to action—not a demand for
the listeners to do something. It is an explanation
of how vital, joyful and thankful living in Grace
can be, that living the life of Faith can be our goal.
Immediately following giving this talk, you will
have the opportunity to “MC” one of the most
marvelous events of the weekend. You will pre-
sent written palanca that has been received by
your Cursillo community and will announce the
presentation of personal palanca, food palanca,
banners and the prayer banner. These are gifts—
the responses of the faith many other people have
in the retreat that’s going on this weekend.
God is inviting us to live in Grace, to live in abso-
lute, complete Grace; not just some of the time, or
in some circumstances, or when it’s convenient—
but completely, all the time.
[I] God’s invitation is not partial, it’s not tenta-
tive—it’s complete—encompassing all aspects of
our lives. God invites us to immerse ourselves
completely in his Grace—to be wrapped in a fully
human ideal, in a fully Christian idea, fully to be-
come disciples of Christ in his Body, the Church.
[II] We can be sure that we will fail in our attempt
to claim God’s invitation if our attempt is based on
our own initiative alone. Based on our experience
or instinct alone we would be clueless—we
wouldn’t know what to do or where to turn. If we
relied on our own sinful nature—we would be sty-
mied by our own misperception, irrationality and
intentional weakness.
Continued On Next Page
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 16
All Scripture is God-Breathed
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and train-
ing in righteousness, so that the man of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good
work. In the presence of God and of Christ
Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,
and in view of his appearing and his king-
dom, I give you this charge:
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and
out of season; correct, rebuke and encour-
age—with great patience and careful in-
struction. For the time will come when men
will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather
around them a great number of teachers to
say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth
and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your
head in all situations, endure hardship, do
the work of an evangelist, discharge all the
duties of your ministry. (2 Tim 3:16-4:5 NIV)
It is through Faith that God sustains us throughout
the trials and tribulations—even through the temp-
tations—of life.
There is an old question—a puzzle, really: If a tree
falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it fall,
is there sound? One answer is that there must be
both the noise generated and received for there to
be sound.
Similarly, Faith requires both a source and a re-
ceiver. The source—of course—is God. You are
the receiver—a human.
God will not force us to embrace Faith. God gives
us free will to do bad things as well as good. We
can continue to live without Faith. We can deny
God; we can refuse to accept God.—Or, we can
accept God’s invitation to Faith.
[IV] We can receive the Holy Spirit through the
Faith we accept in God. Living in Faith, we can
open ourselves to the Holy Spirit.
What is the Holy Spirit to us? The nature of the
Holy Spirit is specific:
The Holy Spirit exists fully in the complete pres-
ence of God; in the being and presence of our Sav-
ior Christ—Christ living with us.
The Holy Spirit is, in fact, God!
The Holy Spirit is always in agreement with God
the Father and God the Son—our triune God.
So, what is the purpose, the function, the ministry,
the work of the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit inspires us to the praise and wor-
ship of God.
The Holy Spirit helps us to see clearly just what is
true and real in our lives.
The Holy Spirit leads us to even greater love of
God and others of God’s children.
The Holy Spirit helps us take up discipleship in
God’s ministry.
[V] We should open ourselves to the Holy Spirit
and become instruments of God’s ministry—
through our prayer and devotion.; through our ex-
ercise of Faith; through our actions and our confi-
dence in God’s merciful Grace. Tom
Continued From Previous Page
Feed My Sheep When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Si-
mon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly
love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said,
“you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed
my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of
John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes,
Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said,
“Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said
to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third
time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you
know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus
said, “Feed my sheep.“ (John 21:15-17 NIV)
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 17
This is from North Texas Presbyterian Pilgrim-
age. It tells us about a new technique they’re us-
ing to try to recruit pilgrims from a church that’s
not been heavily involved in Cursillo in the past.
What is a “Church Crashing”?
This event is similar to a serenade, where you can
spread God's love by just showing up! Attend an-
other church's worship service, and share your
Pilgrimage experience with their members. Help
them hear God's call to attend a future Pilgrimage
weekend.
Our next Church Crash is at First Presbyterian
Church in Mt. Pleasant, TX on Sunday, May 17,
2015. We have been invited to attend their
11:00 worship service, and to stay afterwards for
lunch.
First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Pleasant, TX
401 N Madison Ave Mount Pleasant, TX 75455
Arrive at 10:30 to visit with one another and with
FPC members. Plan to attend the lunch, and we
should be done around 1:15pm.
Wear your cross and name-tag to encourage FPC
members to ask about Pilgrimage!
Pastor Shane Webb plans to show the new Pil-
grimage video during their Sunday School hour,
and we hope that by attending their lunch, we will
have a chance to have many one-to-one conversa-
tions about Pilgrimage with FPC members.
Emily Nichols says this will be their third
“Crashing”. They hope to see some pilgrims
signed up from this effort for their November
weekend. Please note that the pastor of the church
being “crashed” is favorable to the idea. Someone
has obviously been in touch with him.
Other Outreach Opportunities
Over the years, our Georgia community has held
several outreach events similar to “church crash-
ing”.
Usually, they’ve consisted of assembling a
“celebration team” of music chas, spokespersons
and other supporters.to attend a dinner or Sunday
luncheon at a church that has not had many, if
any, of its members attend Cursillo.
Typically, song sheets and brochures are distribut-
ed. A singalong is held, and a couple of speakers
explain our weekends.
One particularly memorable outreach took place
one December Sunday in Milledgeville, Georgia
when we led the morning worship service. Rev
Jan Blissit, one of our Spiritual advisers,
preached.
What we didn’t realize at the time was that the
whole service was being broadcast on local radio.
The only “dead air time” occurred while a local
couple prepared to light the Advent candles.
If you’re going to conduct such celebrations—or
“crashings” - you need to give a lot of thought to
the message to be delivered.
Consider having one strong spokesperson make
the main presentation—focusing on what would
appeal to folks who have not yet experienced a
Cursillo method weekend. Then have two or three
people give very brief testimonies of their own
experience of attending the weekend. Try to help
everyone who will speak understand that there’s
no sense trying to explain processes that the lis-
tener has no basis to understand.
Please note—you need to get the local pastor to be
supportive—or at the very least neutral. If not, try
working with him or her before holding your cele-
bration.
Perhaps you can get one of your community’s
most supportive spiritual advisors to contact the
local pastor and try to influence her or him.
If the local pastor is opposed to Cursillo or Pil-
grimage—and many are—you’re wasting time
and energy. Tom
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 18
Web Sites About Presbyterian Cursillo and Pilgrimage in
General www.days3.com or
www.cursillo.us - for prospective pilgrims
www.days3.com/4thday.htm or
www.cursillo.us/4thday.htm - for the fourth day
www.cursillo.com - of general interest
Web sites of specific communities:
Alabama www.alpresbyteriancursillo.com
Arkansas www.pilgrimage-arkansas.org
Austin www.austinpresbyterianpilgrimage.org
Chicagoland www.chpilgrimage.org
Colorado www.coloradopilgrimage.org
Eastern Oklahoma www.eokpresbytery.org
*** Eastern Virginia www.days3.com/EV.htm
Florida www.floridapresbyterianpilgrimage.org
Georgia www.georgiapresbyteriancursillo.com
Great Plains (Omaha) www.gpppilgrimage.org
Houston www.houstonpilgrimage.org
Indiana www.ipcursillo.org
James Virginia www.PJPilgrimage.org
Louisiana
www.louisianapresbyteriancursillo.org
Michigan www.mppilgrimage.org
Mississippi www.mspresbyteriancursillo.com
North Carolina www.ncpilgrimage.org
North Texas Adult: www.ntpp.org
Youth: www.northtexascelebration.com
Oklahoma www.days3.com/OK.htm
Palo Duro www.paloduropresbytery.org
Peaks Virginia - www.peakspresbytery.org/
pilgrimage.html
Shenandoah Virginia - www.math.jmu.edu/
~sanders/SPP.html
South Carolina
www.scpresbyterianpilgrimage.org
Tennessee Valley www.tvpcursillo.com
*** The community does not yet have it's own
separate web site. This will take you to the community web page in our national web site.
Don’t forget to sign up on the Prayer
Banner for your upcoming weekends.
Go To www.prayerbanner.org
And One Especially Important Date:
Planning List of Special Dates
Special Day 2015 2016 2017 2018
MLK Day 1/19 1/18 1/16 1/15
Valentine’s Day (2/14) Sat Sun Tues Weds
President’s Day 2/16 2/15 2/20 2/19
Ash Wednesday 2/18 2/10 3/1 2/14
Daylight Savings Begins 3/8 3/13 3/12 3/11
St. Patrick’s Day (3/17) Tues Thurs Fri Sat
Palm Sunday 3/29 3/20 4/9 3/25
Passover 4/4 4/23 4/11 3/31
Easter Sunday 4/5 3/27 4/16 4/1
Orthodox Easter 4/12 5/1 4/16 4/8
Mother’s Day 5/10 5/8 5/7 5/6
Memorial Day (Monday) 5/25 5/30 5/29 5/28
Pentecost 5/24 5/15 6/4 5/20
Father’s Day 6/21 6/19 6/18 6/17
Independence Day(7/4) Sat Mon Tues Weds
Labor Day 9/7 9/5 9/4 9/3
World Communion Day 10/4 10/2 10/1 10/7
Halloween (10/31) Sat Mon Tues Weds
Daylight Savings Ends 11/1 11/6 11/5 11/4
Thanksgiving 11/26 11/24 11/23 11/22
Advent 1st Sunday 11/29 11/27 12/3 12/2
Chanukah Begins 12/7 12/25 12/13 12/3
Christmas Day (12/25) Fri Sun Mon Tues
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 19
Weekends Currently Scheduled: Adult Weekends High School Age Weekends College Age Weekends
Dates Jun 4 to 7, 2015 Jun 18 to 21, 2015 Jun 25 to 28, 2015 Jul 10 to 12, 2015 Jul 31 to Aug 2, 2015 Jul 31 to Aug 2, 2015 Sep 17 to 20, 2015 Sep 17 to 20, 2015 Sep 17 to 20, 2015 Sep 24 to 27, 2015 Oct 1 to 4, 2015 Oct 1 to 4, 2015 Oct 8 to 11, 2015 Oct 15 to 18, 2015 Oct 15 to 18, 2015 Oct 15 to 18, 2015 Oct 15 to 18, 2015 Oct 29 to Nov 1, 2015 Nov 5 to 8, 2015 Nov 5 to 8, 2015 Nov 5 to 8, 2015 Feb 25 to 28, 2016 Feb 25 to 28, 2016 Apr 7 to 10, 2016 Apr 21 to 24, 2016 Apr 38 to May 1, 2016 Jun 2016 Sep 8 to 11, 2016 Sep 29 to Oct 2, 2016
Weekend Houston Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 76 Presbytery of Eastern Virginia Pilgrimage # 20 Louisiana Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 11 Houston Presbyterian Area Celebration North Texas Presbyterian Celebration # 20 South Carolina Presbyterian Cross Training Alabama Presbyterian Cursillo # 34 Austin Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 40 Colorado Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 27 Mississippi Presbyterian Cursillo # 16 Nebraska/Iowa Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 18 Oklahoma Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 53 Michigan Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 33 (Detroit) Arkansas Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 23 Houston Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 77 Michigan Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 34 (Lake Michigan) North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 137 (Piedmont) Georgia Presbyterian Cursillo # 47 North Texas Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 39 North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 138 (Eastern) South Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 69 North Texas Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 40 Austin Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 41 Nebraska/Iowa Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 19 Florida Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 11 Arkansas Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 24 Louisiana Presbyterian Pilgrimage #12 Colorado Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 28 Nebraska/Iowa Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage # 20
Lay Leader Mary Shelton Donna Graves Doug Arrick Laura Hunt TBA TBA Angie Shehee Ki-Mi Fields Jerry Livingston Dean Cromartie Don Metzger Robyn Spahr TBA Ron Millikin Tom Taylor Erik Neiser Karen Collins Valerie Mote Clark Carradine Alicia Page Anne Brown Dwayne Rockwell TBA TBA TBA Martha Nielsen Tom Tucker Betty Myer TBA
The lay leaders names are listed above so that you can pray for them, for their teams and for their pilgrims.
The body of Christ:
The people of the
church.
Can I be a music cha, too?
...The Workers Are
Few
Then he said to his disci-
ples, “The harvest is plen-
tiful but the workers are
few. Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his har-
vest field.” (Matt 9:37-38
NIV)
The National Presbyterian June 1, 2015 Volume 18, Number 3 Page 20
Contacts Alabama Sissy Crowe [email protected] Terry Skinner [email protected]
Arkansas Chuck Niggel [email protected] (501) 663-5700 Bob Buckalew [email protected] (501) 350-0940
Austin Texas Adult Weekends: Tom Wilson [email protected] (512)327-9496 Youth Weekends: Kyle Bender [email protected]
Chicagoland Joanne Storm [email protected] (847) 679-0318
Colorado Mike Smith [email protected] (719) 531-5534
Eastern Oklahoma Joyce Golding [email protected] (918) 407-1818 Co Edwards [email protected] (918) 646-7409
Eastern Virginia Gale Pere [email protected] (804) 815-1595 Mary Jo Baylor [email protected] (757) 440-5083
Florida Howard Vandenburgh [email protected] (352)622-3292
Georgia Debi Elkins [email protected] (770) 458-6415 Dane Gazaway [email protected]
Houston Adult: Kathleen Vivian [email protected] (713) 661-8488 Youth: Trish McElroy [email protected] (281) 277-1706 Rene Murphy [email protected]
James Virginia Mitch Rowland [email protected]
Kansas Mike Steil [email protected] Joan Bender [email protected]
Louisiana Barbara Breedlove [email protected] Sandy Broussard [email protected]
Michigan-Detroit Cyndi Geis-LaFata [email protected] (586) 457-6921
Michigan-Lake Michigan Sue Ann Clark [email protected]
Mississippi Susan Sumrall [email protected] (601) 373-6119
Nebraska/Iowa- Great Plains Jennifer Bennett [email protected] (402) 493-5091
North Carolina Adult: Jim Mason [email protected] (336) 491-9970 Arise Youth: Nancy Alderson [email protected] (910) 515-4170 (cell)
Mary Ann & Bill Kopp [email protected] Chip Todd [email protected] Eastern: Roger Worthington [email protected]
Piedmont: Adult—Lenwood Collins [email protected] (336) 294-8274 Youth—Doug Kerns [email protected] (704) 962-6676
North Texas Adult: Sandra Hurlbert [email protected] (972) 205-1928 Youth: Harry Hodge [email protected] (214) 476-7183
Oklahoma Adult: Amy Mason [email protected] Jayne Spies [email protected] Youth: Mark Godwin [email protected]
Palo Duro Texas - Bill Core [email protected] (325) 677-6181 Chuck Nester [email protected] (806) 655-1971
Peaks Virginia - Bill Cowen [email protected] P O Box1024, Buchanan,VA 24066 Susan Caldwell [email protected]
Shenandoah - Virginia - Jeanette McCloud [email protected] Linda Mohler [email protected]
South Carolina Adult: J C Simmons [email protected] (843) 871-3944 Youth & Cross Training: Mike Allen [email protected] (843) 200-1899
Tennessee Valley Mary Snyder [email protected] (256) 558-5956 Don Payne [email protected] (256) 729-6934