The Time has Come

By Doug Anderson, Moderator
Indiana Presbyterian Cursillo Council

Greetings and God’s peace to all! I hope this has been a good summer for all of you!

Indiana Presbyterian Cursillo would like to update everyone on what we have been discussing and praying about over the past year. I think that it comes as no surprise to most of you that we have seen a sharp decline in the participation at our gatherings (ultreyas) and our last Recharge Retreat, as well as in interest on serving on the council. In an effort to revitalize our fourth-day community, the IPC Council, with the guidance of Rev. Kevin Boyd and Rev. Hal Thomas, undertook a project last year aimed at creating new “covenant communities” as an alternative to Cursillo’s traditional “reunion groups.” Council offered a study guide designed to help members of such covenant communities fulfill the three legs of the tripod of the Christian life, about which we all learned during our own Cursillo experience. Does everyone remember what those three legs are? Study, mission, and piety. We really feel that the survival of our community depends on a vibrant fourth-day community. Unfortunately, this effort did not produce a more vital and excited fourth-day community.

Indiana Presbyterian Cursillo has been very successful! It has changed the lives of many participants, mine included. It has always been said that to fully comprehend the Cursillo experience, you need to serve on staff during a Cursillo weekend. Many of those who attended a Cursillo weekend have gone on to serve on staff at the 13 weekends hosted by the community and left with a fulfilled sense of purpose. Yes, our community has touched many lives in a very positive way. I will never forget the wonderful feeling that I had as a participant, and as a member of the staff and the Council. At those weekend events, you could actually feel Christ moving within our midst! But as with many things in life, I believe that Indiana Presbyterian Cursillo has a life cycle, a life cycle that is nearing its end.

So on September 27, 2009 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT, we will gather one final time as a community at Trinity Presbyterian Church. I implore, no I beg of you to attend. As a community, we have some very exciting opportunities to leave a lasting legacy -- to help and support other fledgling communities, just as ours was helped in the beginning. We also have an opportunity to provide for our own Presbyterian community in Fort Wayne.

During this final IPC Ultreya, you’ll have a chance to see old friends, to sing and praise, and most of all, to feel Christ moving in our midst again. You’ll also be asked to cast a vote in approval of Council’s plan to bring IPC to an end and to dispose of the community’s assets through good stewardship.

Here is an outline of the plan. Council will offer to all other Presbyterian fourth-day communities (including Cursillos, Pilgrimages, etc.) any and all of the many materials and supplies we’ve gathered (with a few exceptions) so that they can continue to be used in such three-day spiritual retreats. We will provide these materials without charge as “palanca” to the other communities. We will use funds remaining in the IPC treasury to pay shipping expenses for such palanca.

Some special items from the IPC collection will receive special treatment. For example, Council intends to give the communion set and the foot-washing basin (which could also be used as a baptism basin) to Amistad Christiana (“Christian Friendship”), the bilingual congregation that meets at Calvary Third Presbyterian Church.

Any money that remains in the IPC main account after all shipping expenses are paid would be given to the national Presbyterian Cursillo/Pilgrimage organization to help pay for its national meeting of community representatives.

Council intends to give all of the money in the IPC scholarship fund to the national Presbyterian Cursillo/Pilgrimage organization to use for participant scholarships at other weekends around the country.

Please come to our final ultreya September 27 at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Wear your Cursillo crosses and any other “regalia,” enjoy the fellowship one last time, and say goodbye to IPC.