The Tribune

By Canon S Sebastian Campbell

Cursillo (the name means "a short course") is a method of revival of the church. It has come to us from the Spanish Roman Catholic Church. The purpose of the Cursillo Ministry is to convert Christians to a deeper relationship with God and to help them to understand their individual callings to be Christian leaders. This leadership may be in the work place, at home, during social and leisure activities, or within the institutional church. The goal is simply to Christianise the world through the apostolic action of Christian leaders in all areas of human activity.

Cursillo is a ministry of the whole church passed on through the years (from the early 1940s) from the Spanish Roman Catholics to many other denominations in Christianity. The name Cursillo has shifted from place to place, however, the message and objective remains constant.

The Cursillo Ministry was imported to the Bahamas 30 years ago and has provided a re-birth for approximately 2,000 Bahamians in their Christian pilgrimage. A three-day weekend retreat provides the essential vehicle for a Cursillo event. It is transformative for everyone participating, both team members and candidates alike. You cannot attend a Cursillo weekend and not be electrified and make a recommitment to Jesus Christ as the Lord.

In speaking with the Anglican Bishop of Honduras, he testified that this has been the singular most transformative engine he has ever experienced in his diocese. It has produced church growth. He has since assigned two priests (one English-speaking and one Spanish-speaking priest) full time to leadership in this ministry. Within the last month I lunched with the Bishop of Long Island, New York, who is excited about this ministry and gives it "hands-on" attention. The ministry is uppermost in growing his church in that part of the world. Here at home I can testify to my own spiritual growth and development from a direct involvement in this ministry. I see new energy and great enthusiasm evident in the lives of those who participate in so great a ministry.

The life and vitality of Cursillo is inherent in the three-day weekend retreat. What happens afterwards is between the Cursillista and their God. However, we witness a revival taking place. The greatest fear is that nothing is happening because great numbers, having had an experience, do not return to "work the ministry". Many, it is claimed, do not participate in the built-in follow-up mechanism such as small group meetings, nor do they participate in Cursillo events such as the Ultreyas, which are area meetings. All this is unfortunate. However, we must not and should not use these as barometers to judge anyone. God himself is the judge. The ministry achieves its success God's way and not by our own calculated ways. "My ways are not your ways," says the Lord.

This Sunday, November 11, at 4pm at St Ambrose Church, located Carmichael and Gladstone Roads, all and sundry are invited to a Mass of Thanksgiving to Almighty God to give thanks for this wonderful ministry. I pray that many will attend, especially as a church we celebrate a milestone of 30 years for so great a vehicle in the revival in God's church.

We also thank God for our missionary zeal over these 30 years in taking this ministry from the Bahamas to places such as Belize, the Virgin Islands, Barbados and Jamaica, and to have sustained a relationship with Christians in these places.

• Canon S Sebastian Campbell, JP, is the spiritual director of the Bahamas Cursillo Ministry. For more information he may be reached at 361-3874.