An Appalachia Service Project friend of mine, Mike Harris, is part of the leadership team for the new Anglican 4th Day and he has extended an invitation to any CUCCer who'd like to participate in a Cursillo-like weekend. Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 7:00pm at Camp Agape in Fuquay-Varina.
Anglican 4th Day is the new expression of a movement which uses the retreat/ongoing group model of Cursillo. [You might have heard of Tres Dias, Walk to Emmaus, and Sunrise - similar experiences - or of the folk song or bumper sticker, Des Colores, a Cursillo standby.] Most Cursillo-type groups are denominationally based, but the Anglicans have chosen to be ecumenical.
I have never been on Cursillo, but several friends of mine from Grace Lutheran were deeply enriched by their participation in the weekend and the follow-up groups of fellowship, support, and action called Ultreya. The weekend is "an experience of the Christian Community, but is also a time of instruction in the basics of our faith." The Cursillo model origniated in the 1940's, so you'll find language and images from that time (and more common now in some denominations than in the UCC). But one of the things that impressed me most in talking to my friends was that while the talk topics are the same each time, the lay person presenting makes the content her or his own; folks spend hours and hours in study and prepartion using great creativity. The second thing that impressed me about this movement is the way the Ultreyas sustain the energy of the weekend "high," becoming the ongoing-energy for transformational justice work (starting a clinic for low income people, housing homeless people in a church).
Here's a description of the weekend from their brochure:
It teaches what is fundamental to living a Christian life. The Anglican 4th Day weekend begins on a Thursday evening and ends on the following Sunday evening. During the three days, candidates listen to 15 talks, five each day, given by laymen and clergy.
There is also daily Eucharist and Prayer.
The laymen and clergy who comprise the “team” spend weeks working together preparing their talks. It takes careful planning because the time is short and the subject is extensive.
You may be wondering what the talks are about. To give you an idea, they will cover such subjects as Ideals, Grace, the Church, Piety, Study, Sacraments, Action, Obstacles to Grace, Leaders, Environment and Christianity in Action. Each talk is followed by a discussion period in small groups.
An Anglican weekend is not a retreat. There is no fasting, no long periods of silence and very little solitude.
If you'd like to learn more, let me know and I'll email you the brochure from Mike. Or, go to their Facebook page Anglican 4th Day Raleigh Ultreya. And Mike has said that you can go to an Ultreya gathering before you go on the weekend; they meet monthly, either the 2nd or 3rd Friday. The next one is Friday, August 12, 2011 at 6:30pm at Church of the Holy Cross, Raleigh.
- posted by Jane to spread the word for my friend, Mike
Anglican 4th Day is the new expression of a movement which uses the retreat/ongoing group model of Cursillo. [You might have heard of Tres Dias, Walk to Emmaus, and Sunrise - similar experiences - or of the folk song or bumper sticker, Des Colores, a Cursillo standby.] Most Cursillo-type groups are denominationally based, but the Anglicans have chosen to be ecumenical.
I have never been on Cursillo, but several friends of mine from Grace Lutheran were deeply enriched by their participation in the weekend and the follow-up groups of fellowship, support, and action called Ultreya. The weekend is "an experience of the Christian Community, but is also a time of instruction in the basics of our faith." The Cursillo model origniated in the 1940's, so you'll find language and images from that time (and more common now in some denominations than in the UCC). But one of the things that impressed me most in talking to my friends was that while the talk topics are the same each time, the lay person presenting makes the content her or his own; folks spend hours and hours in study and prepartion using great creativity. The second thing that impressed me about this movement is the way the Ultreyas sustain the energy of the weekend "high," becoming the ongoing-energy for transformational justice work (starting a clinic for low income people, housing homeless people in a church).
Here's a description of the weekend from their brochure:
It teaches what is fundamental to living a Christian life. The Anglican 4th Day weekend begins on a Thursday evening and ends on the following Sunday evening. During the three days, candidates listen to 15 talks, five each day, given by laymen and clergy.
There is also daily Eucharist and Prayer.
The laymen and clergy who comprise the “team” spend weeks working together preparing their talks. It takes careful planning because the time is short and the subject is extensive.
You may be wondering what the talks are about. To give you an idea, they will cover such subjects as Ideals, Grace, the Church, Piety, Study, Sacraments, Action, Obstacles to Grace, Leaders, Environment and Christianity in Action. Each talk is followed by a discussion period in small groups.
An Anglican weekend is not a retreat. There is no fasting, no long periods of silence and very little solitude.
If you'd like to learn more, let me know and I'll email you the brochure from Mike. Or, go to their Facebook page Anglican 4th Day Raleigh Ultreya. And Mike has said that you can go to an Ultreya gathering before you go on the weekend; they meet monthly, either the 2nd or 3rd Friday. The next one is Friday, August 12, 2011 at 6:30pm at Church of the Holy Cross, Raleigh.
- posted by Jane to spread the word for my friend, Mike