Celebrating Our
Continuing Spiritual Journey FALL, 2001
Hand in Hand CURSILLO #105
SECRETARIAT MEETINGS All
Cursillistas invited
LAY DIRECTOR S CORNER
GETTING TO KNOW YOU Biographies of
Secretariat MembersWE STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS
Post Cursillo Report--CURSILLO #104 By Martha Libby
Hand in Hand CURSILLO #105 November 1-4
When God called me to lead a
new Cursillo in the western mountains and southern plains of Colorado He also
lead me to select the song by Dennis Jernigan, named above. Little did any of us know how prophetic all
of this would be.Cursillo is a
reaching out of hands from Team to Candidates to share a weekend that is a
short course in Christian Living. What could be more needed and appropriate at this time of national
healing inlight of the tragic
hijackings.
DUE TO THESE UNUSUAL
CIRCUMSTANCES AND COMING TOGETHER AS WE ARE TO PUT THE FINAL TOUCHES ON
CURSILLO #105, I AM MAKING AN OFFER TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO ANSWER GOD S CALL TO
YOUR HEART:
JOIN US
October 27 we have
the last Team Meeting in Lake City at Camp Redcloud
(site of the Cursillo,
November 1-4). If you can get a Team Application to Marj Rust by October 25 AND attend the meeting we will welcome you with open arms.
Marj Rust 25332 Westridge Rd.
Golden, CO 80403
303-642-3362
marjrust@earthlink.net
If you know someone who you
would like to Sponsor to attend the Cursillo, Nov. 1-4, send a Sponsor
Application directly to Joan Stewart by October 25.
Joan
Stewart
1005 N.12th #105
Grand Junction, CO 81501
970-245-8542
klbmail@rmi.net
de Colores
Saturday, November 10, Church of the Ascension, Salida
Saturday, January 19, St. Albans, Fort Morgan
Saturday, March 16, St. Martin in the Field, Aurora
Time: 10 noon 3 p.m. Ultreya, 4 p.m., followed by a
potluck
By the time you read thisCursillo #104 will be
history and Cursillo #105 will be upon us.Cursillo #104 had 28 candidates (who are now new Cursillistas) and 30
team members.The Cursillo was truly
awesome.Most notable was the fact
that, by Friday morning, the candidates were already asking about sponsoring
candidates to the next Cursillo and, by Saturday morning, were talking about
working the next team--a very precocious group.We had a new cross maker for this Cursillo, so for those of you
who have trouble remembering your Cursillo number and theme, we made wooden
crosses with that information on the cross bars themselves (the theme is on the
horizontal bar and Cursillo number is on the vertical bar) with the person s
first name on the back of the horizontal cross bar.The cross was a Celtic design with rainbow lanyard. When you see some of them around on the team
or new Cursillistas, take a look at the design.We also had the first Lutheran to work as spiritual director at a
Colorado Episcopal Cursillo on this team.The Rev. John Sitler and his wife, Wanda, who was on the music team,
were a real blessing to the team and candidates.The complete report and new Cursillistas names are elsewhere in
this Crowing Times in an article by my co-rector for the weekend, Martha
Libby.
Upcoming Secretariat
meetingsfor the next three months are being planned now.If you would like a Secretariat meeting in your part of Colorado,
please let us know.We will have
meetings in September, November, January, March and May.The 22 September Secretariat meeting was in
Colorado Springs. The 17 November
meeting will be in northeastern Colorado and the 19 January meeting is
tentatively planned for southeastern Colorado.Specific sites for either of these meetings have not been selected
yet. If you would like to volunteer to
have a Secretariat meeting at your church contact Daphna Russell, our Ultreya
and Fourth Day coordinator, or any other Secretariat member. All Cursillistas are welcome at the
Secretariat meetings.If you wish to
attend any Secretariat meeting please contact me or any other Secretariat member
to get directions.
I reported in the last Crowing Times that we
have a volunteer to be the webmaster of our Cursillo web page. Mickey Jackson has had trouble making
contact with the Diocesan Webmaster to get our page on the website. Those problems appear to be over and our
Cursillo web page should be up and operating in the next month or so. There will be a button on the Diocesan web
page labeled Cursillo and that will take you to our web page information.
Now, on to some of the other things that have happened since
the last Crowing Times.Cursillo
#2 was held in the Four Corners area with 14 candidates and 21 team. The weekend was a great success and may
provide some candidates or team members for Cursillo #105 which will be at Camp
Redcloud near Lake City on 1-4 November. That information is available on the first page of this Crowing
Times. NOTE:Please send the money
with the applications for # 105, because we will not confirm a candidate for
the weekend unless the money is with the application. We need your support to get this Cursillo off the ground, specifically
team members and candidates, so consider if you may serve or sponsor for this
Cursillo.
If any of you has any
suggestions, please drop me a line on the Internet at mcpeakal@earthlink.net or by snail mail
at 2240 Cloverdale Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80920.
De Colores, Alan
Hi! I m Linda McPeak. If my name sounds familiar to some of you, it s because I m back as
Assistant Lay Director of the Secretariat. I first held this position for a
year, beginning in July, 1999, when Bill Kaelber was Lay Director. Last year, I knew I would be going back to
school in Colorado, and resigned from the Secretariat in order to pursue my
studies. Since I have nearly completed
my schooling, my intention had been to take another year off in order to
finish. But then God whispered in my
ear, and so here I am again in a familiar job with a new boss: my husband, Alan! After all, I had already been fielding phone calls for him, and
attending meetings with him in the year I was off the Secretariat, so it seemed
logical that I continue to do so in an official capacity. So, until next June I am your (new, old, or
whatever) Assistant Lay Director, happy to be of service to this community.
I made my Cursillo in March, 1988, in Jackson,
California. Before Cursillo I had
thought I was a good Christian, but then I discovered that I d had no clue what
that really meant. Since then, I have
worked seven teams in the Diocese of Northern California (one as Lay Leader),
and two teams here on the front range. This past August, it was my great privilege to serve as Music Director
for Cursillo #104.
Although Alan was quite active in the Sacramento
Secretariat, I had never been active at the secretariat level until we moved
here. When Alan and I found ourselves
at that first Colorado Secretariat meeting in July, 1999, we were looking for
contacts, so that we could find or form both a Reunion Group and an Ultreya
here in Colorado Springs. We were promptly conscripted. This past June, it looked as if there were
going to be too few people running for office to fill the vacancies, and that
was when God said, well, Linda, what are YOU going to do about it? Cursillo has changed my life by helping me
develop a personal relationship with Jesus. Once that has happened, one has no desire to return to the former
life.
Both Alan and I are
cradle Episcopalians. We are members of Church of the Holy Spirit in Colorado
Springs, where we are song leaders, and the primary Cursillo contacts. We have lived in Colorado Springs for two
and a half years, having moved here from California when Alan changed
jobs. We love Colorado. Alan and I have known each other for 46 years,
and been married for 35. We have two
children and four grandchildren, all of whom live in Northern California. Alan works as a civilian for the Air Force,
and I attend classes at USC in Pueblo. By the grace of God, I am in my last semester, and will transfer my
credits back to California State University, Sacramento, and graduate from CSUS
in December with a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance. It will be a treat to have our kids and
grandkids at my commencement. What will
I do after I graduate? I don t know God
hasn t told me yet! But I suspect I' ll
be spending most of my time serving the Lord through music and Cursillo, the
two things dearest to my heart.
De Colores, Linda
First: We need someone
to take the position of librarian or supply person for the Secretariat. This
person would update leaders notebooks and order supplies from the National
Episcopal Cursillo such as reunion cards, etc.
Second:
We need a
historian to starting putting together the history of Cursillo in Colorado.
Third:
We need
someone (or several someones) to be our official photographer(s) for Cursillo
events. We ll probably need three at least to cover all the state events. We
are trying to put together a trifold Cursillo brochure.
If
you believe you could fill one of these positions, please contact a Secretariat member.
Post Cursillo Report CURSILLO #104 By Martha Libby
Cursillo
#104 was held on the Front Range at Highlands Presbyterian Camp
during the last weekend in August. Personally, I think it was the best Cursillo ever! The team was challenged by having only 30
people to support the candidates during the weekend. In spite of the low number of team members, everyone gave
everything they had to make the weekend as open for God s work as they could. We truly came together as a team. Everyone pitched in when and wherever
needed. I don t think Joe Marrs ever
slept. I know for sure that Tom
Stalnaker rose before the roosters (because he walked by my cabin every
morning). Nancy Hause (with a broken
toe) and her team worked tirelessly to bring the weekend together.
Linda McPeak's music team composed of Wanda Sitler, Wayne
and Missi Kern, Bernie Maly, and Rich Hause came with talent and skills in
piano, drums, guitar, and rhythm instruments. In addition, there were angelic voices to compliment the instruments.
There were six team meetings plus a couple of extra
workdays. One team member is an expert
at cultivating roses. She spent more
than six months cutting and drying roses to be used for the Agape feast. Others
made bracelets for palanca.
There were several firsts this weekend. This was the first time the Colorado
Cursillo has ever had a Lutheran spiritual advisor. The Rev. John Sitler, with some 58 Cursillo-type weekends in his
experience, teamed up with Fr. Praveen Bunyan for a wonderful weekend of
spiritual leadership. We lovingly
dubbed him our Lutherpalian . In an
effort to be considerate of the need for rest for the team, we started the
weekend with two support teams; the Kitchen Angels (whose jobs were those
concerning food) and the Cha Chas (whose jobs concerned Rollo Room
support). Our team numbers dwindled as
we prepared for the weekend and it became necessary to combine the two
teams. They changed their names and
called the team the Chakens! A
candidate named the supply area the Chaken Coop !
The team was made up of Cursillistas from everywhere.We had team members from Colorado Springs,
Estes Park, Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Greeley, Englewood, Craig, and
even from Kansas!
The crosses given for the weekend were designed, with input
from the team, and created by Jeff Wilson.They are Celtic crosses with the weekend theme Fear Not, the Cursillo
number, and the Cursillista s names on them.
Some candidates (you know who you are) tried several times
to relieve Sue Richardson of her bells, but to no avail (or at least for only
a short time about an inch). She came
prepared and had several versions of bells ready for a backup.
Some candidates started the weekend with some
apprehension. There were those who
did not want to be there and only came because their spouses asked them. There were those who came with no expectations for the
weekend. There were those who came with
specific goals to meet Jesus face to face. Some, with previous reunion group experience, came thinking they knew
all about Cursillo. All of them came
away having met Jesus in a new and unexpected way. (The person wanting to meet
Jesus face to face got her expectations met in a most unusual way. A stranger came into the camp on Saturday
night. As he set out from Denver
earlier in the day, he asked God to do the driving. After he had completed some business in Estes Park, he got in the
car and drove according to God s direction. He ended up at the dining hall at Highlands
(not exactly a place you just happen onto). Our candidate struck up a conversation with him and learned that he had
come at God's urging. He wasn't wearing
a watch and when another candidate mentioned that our team must've taken it
away, he said that it had broken earlier in the day and he put it in his
pocket. The man spoke fluent Spanish
and translated De Colores for us (a request from the candidates earlier that
none of the team members was able to grant). In addition, the man is a Cursillista who hasn t been active for many
years. Is it odd or is it God?
Another candidate was feeling very alone having just
learned she might have cancer. She left
the weekend with a new adopted mom and a great big new family. She now has support that she never had
before. (incidentally, surgery showed the cancer was encapsulated and she is
now cancer free). We've heard from team
members who have experienced healing since the weekend. Candidates told stories of how they thought
their relationship with Jesus had been distant and academic. They spoke at clausura of how their hearts
had been softened and their relationships made personal. The person who thought she knew everything
about Cursillo said that before the weekend she didn t know anything .
Cursillo is both a group and an individual experience. The closeness of a Christian community is
developed through the gifts and experience of each individual. People who had never laid eyes on each other
were best friends after three days. We
look at our church communities with new eyes.
We have a refreshed sense of our mission to bring Jesus into our
worlds. Our prayers have changed. We all stand ready to make a friend, be a
friend, and bring a friend to Jesus. Given the current times, this seems more important than ever.
Cursillo #104 left us all exhausted, happy, and
renewed. To the new Cursillistas, I d
like to extend my welcome to the larger Cursillo community. I want to encourage everyone to support
Cursillo in Colorado through sponsorship for candidates and participation on
weekend teams. In addition, membership
on the Secretariat and financial support is always welcome.
De Colores, Martha Libby