News from the Scretariat

Some members of the Secretariat were pleased to meet with Bishop Ed on Monday afternoon, November 26. We explained the current state of the Cursillo movement in Oklahoma (struggling) and the reasons we felt this was so. We asked for a "bishop presence" at Clausuras, for more priestly involvement, and for direction. The Bishop told us that he was unaware of which priests had "made their Cursillo," but that he would inquire, in the course of inquiring about other things. He told us that he knew that Cursillo in OKlahoma was struggling, but thought we could get it going if we pointed our movement in the correct direction. One of those directions, he thought, was continued involvement of the Hispanic community in the movement. He is very positive about Cursillo, and thinks that it is a wonderful way to bring people into a relationship with Christ. He stressed, however, that it is NOT the only way. The Cursillo method has been proven very effective in developing that relationship, and he thinks that's another point we need to stress. Bishop Ed liked the idea of Cursillo putting articles into Oklahoma's Mission ("there's always space to fill.") and asked that we forward articles to him so that he could see the content (this was done with the first article and the Bishop made some corrections) All in all, we came away from the meeting much encouraged. This Bishop will be proactive for Cursillo. Attendees: Bud Johnson, Dion Crider, Glen Boyer, Mother Stephanie Swinnea

On another front, please remember the co-ed Cursillo scheduled for March 27-30. This weekend will be led by Lauri Watkins, St. Luke's, Bartlesville. Find candidates, tell them all about the weekend, and encourage them to use the weekend to begin their personal journey with Christ, or to deepen one already begun. Please pray for both candidates and team. Members of the team are not yet known.

Bishop Ed told us that, though theoretically next year's House of Bishops meeting has been postponed because of the Lambeth Convention, in fact the HOB WILL meet. The Secretariat will try to schedule both the Hispanic weekend and the next co-ed weekend at times when the Bishop will be "in town" for both Clausuras. This probably means that the 3rd weekend in September, which traditionally has been the date for a Cursillo weekend, will not be so in 2008.

Dates for the 2008 Secretariat meetings are set:

January 25/26 (overnight) St. Crispin's. Make reservations soon. Dinner at 7:00 p.m., meeting afterwards until compline. Breakfast the next day, more meeting, closing with Holy Eucharist shortly after 11:00 a.m. Contact Bud Johnson, 405-606-1942 to reserve a spot.

March 8. 10:00 a.m. starting time. Location: Church of the Resurrection, OKC

May 10. 10:00 a.m. starting time. Location: Church of the Resurrection, OKC

July 12. 10:00 a.m. starting time. Location: Church of the Resurrection, OKC

September 13. 10:00 a.m. starting time. Location: Church of the Resurrection, OKC

November 8. 10:00 a.m. starting time. Location: Church of the Resurrection, OKC. We will elect officers at this meeting.

Please note that we encourage all Cursillistas to attend the Secretariat meetings. If you don't attend, you won't know what's happening in Cursillo....unless you're willing to help publish The Rooster Tale.

The Secretariat is always looking for a few willing helpers. You don't have to do all the work, just some of it. It's not any harder than what you do for your own church.