Rooted in a deep desire to share the love of Christ, Cursillo calls Christians to live their faith more fully in the ordinary moments of everyday life. At its heart, Cursillo is about relationship with Christ and with each other.
Cursillo has its origins in a program to train Spanish young men to lead a very large pilgrimage of members of the young men’s division of Spanish Catholic Action to the Shrine of St. James in Compostela, Spain. On the island of Mallorca, the training and preparation of these leaders was particularly well-received and enlivened the faith of almost all who took part in the highly interactive, weeklong course. The name Cursillo comes from the Spanish word meaning “little course,” reflecting its original format: a short, intensive experience focused on piety, study, and action.
In 1943, course participant Eduardo Bonnin recognized that a shorter course with revised content and format could better convey the heart of Christian faith and reach those who were “far away” from God. With several friends, he developed the talks, activities, and schedule for what became the first Cursillo Weekend, centered on three truths: God loves each person through Jesus Christ; love of God, self, and others is at the heart of the Gospel; and those who experience this love can live lives of joy and freedom. Bonnin led the first Cursillo Weekend in August 1944 and several that followed.
After the great pilgrimage of August 1948, Cursillo Weekends continued with the understanding that every Christian life is a pilgrimage. As more young men attended, drawn by the joy and transformed lives they witnessed, leaders soon realized that the Weekend alone was not enough. Eduardo Bonnin and others discovered that regular gatherings of small groups of friends helped “keep the fire going” and foster lasting spiritual growth.
News of Cursillo spread quickly throughout Spain as visitors carried the model back to their home regions. In 1953, the first Cursillo for young women was held in Colombia, where it was enthusiastically received. In 1957, two Spanish airmen introduced Cursillo to Spanish-speaking Texans in Waco, Texas. The first English-language Cursillo in the United States followed in San Angelo, Texas, in 1961, and the movement soon spread across the country.
Episcopalians who attended these early Roman Catholic Cursillos found the experience deeply enriching. In 1970, the first Episcopal Cursillo Weekend was held in Iowa with the assistance of Roman Catholic Cursillistas. Cursillo eventually spread to nearly every Episcopal diocese in the United States, and in 1979 what is now known as the Episcopal Cursillo Ministry Committee was established to support and strengthen the ministry nationwide.
Through the years, Episcopal Cursillo Ministry has recognized its shared heritage with Roman Catholic Cursillo and its many other offshoots, including Walk to Emmaus, Via de Cristo, Presbyterian Pilgrimage, Tres Dias, and Kairos Prison Ministry International. Each of these ministries base their programs in the Cursillo model and have spread their programs across the continents. Millions world-wide have participated in these programs over the years, almost all citing the Weekend and their Group Reunions and Ultreyas as highlights of their spiritual lives.
When Episcopalians encountered Cursillo, they recognized its emphasis on grace, community, lay leadership, and integrating faith into daily life. The movement was adapted to reflect Anglican tradition and embraced as a ministry within
Through worship, teaching, prayer, and shared experiences, a Weekend group encounters God’s grace in fresh and meaningful ways. Rooted in the Episcopal tradition, Cursillo brings together a diverse community to celebrate the richness of our Church and the many ways we can worship and serve Christ.
Dioceses can offer either a three-day format or a two-day schedule. In both formats, the Weekend begins with prayer, meditations, and discussion. The group is gathered into table or “family” groups for the remainder of the Weekend.
Each day includes talks, group discussion, worship, singing, fellowship, prayer, quiet reflection, and the daily celebration of the Eucharist. Grounded in the doctrine of Grace and the Sacraments, the Cursillo Weekend offers space to listen for God’s presence, deepen Christian community, and return home renewed in faith and purpose.
The Cursillo Weekend is only the beginning of a lifelong pilgrimage with Christ, followed by what is known as the “Fourth Day,” a continuing walk of faith supported by Christian community and spiritual friendship. Each person returning from a Weekend is encouraged to continue growing in faith through prayer, study, worship, and service.
Through the Cursillo community, ongoing support is found in small groups called Group Reunions, where participants meet regularly to pray, share, and encourage one another in living out the Gospel in their homes, parishes, workplaces, and communities. These
Various people talk about how Cursillo impacted their lives, with videos from a weekend and Fourth Day activities.
Beginning with a description of the Cove camp facility, the actual Cursillo section starts about 1:55 into the video. Team members talk about initial doubts, suspicions, anxieties, their weekend experiences and the impact it has had on their faith journeys.
Tools for growing into the rest of our lives with God and our communities
A final statement: Cursillo strives to carry out the urging of the apostle Paul, to stir up one another, to love in good works, so that we together like more, ably proclaim Christ and his message of love and reconciliation to the world.
Using videos from a Weekend, new Cursillistas talk about
Quotes
Tools for growing into the rest of our lives with God and our communities
A final statement: Cursillo strives to carry out the urging of the apostle Paul, to stir up one another, to love in good works, so that we together like more, ably proclaim Christ and his message of love and reconciliation to the world.
The Right Reverand Greg Rickel invites us to experience our faith, the love of Christ and the Church in a new way. He gives a succinct description of Cursillo’s role in helping us to be radically sent, connect head and heart and live into our baptismal vows.
This video begins by discussing the importance of Reunion Groups as a discipline for meeting with a spirit of charity, forgiveness and confidentiality, to refocus our lives on a regular basis. Reunion groups help us to be accountable to each other for our efforts towards piety, study and action, to further Christ’s kingdom in the world and share how God works in our lives.