The Official On-line Publication for the Episcopal Cursillo Movement of the Diocese of Southeast Florida Published Quarterly Inside this issue: Volume 1, Issue 5 Winter 2017 Spiritual Director s Message Men s Weekend News Spotlight on Apostolic Action All Saints Wants Your Undies 2016 ECM Conference Report 4th Day Chair Message Spotlight on Apostolic Action St. George s Center Expands Services to Homeless Spotlight on Apostolic Action Holy Grill of St. Nicholas Feeds the Homeless Cursillo Calendar 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 Lay Director s Message By Pam Anderson Greetings my brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope this finds you settling into the new year filled with joy and expectation for what the Lord has in store for us. Our journey seems to be filled with transition and uncertainty in our society and our global world. For me, my life is chock full of transition my prior firm closing and me without a job; returning to my former firm for a year commitment; selling the family home of twenty-five years; preparing for relocation to Sarasota and a new church, new ministry, a troubled child and all the emotions that all of this entails. I have felt overwhelmed and challenged and so extremely grateful for God s hand in all of my journey. My loving husband, Bob, and so many of our Cursillo friends have been there for us and I have felt bathed in prayer and carried when I felt immobilized. The gifts and tools I received from my Cursillo, along with wonderful friendships, continues to help me on my journey. Jesus calls us to love and care for one another. I have received and I can give do something a kindness and assist to someone else in need. The Sufi tell a story about a spiritual seeker who was distracted by the sick, crippled and beaten down who continuously passed by as he tried to pray. Finally he cried, Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and do nothing about them? Out of the silence, God said, I did do something about them, I created you. This is from the book Descent Into Love by K. Killian Noe. This hits home for me, especially in today s world. Each of us is created and planted continued on page 6
Winter 2017 Page 2 Spiritual Director s Message By Mother Mary Ellen Cassini Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, As we journey on the path of life we are called as Christians to be at peace. This is not an easy task in 2017 for many, including me. The turmoil in our society and in our world is palpable. Yet, being fully at peace was never an easy task. I remember my grandmothers, Irene and Muriel, who both sent their only sons to war in the middle of the 20 th Century. My Australian grandmother, Muriel, was a widow after World War I and for her to have such faith after grieving for her first husband who died in France, amazes me. They both had faith that was devout and for the most part, unshakeable. They prayed and prayed for WWII to end and for their sons to return home safely. Thank God, both sons did return and my father returned from Australia with his beloved, my mother. Both grandmothers used the The Book of Common Prayer every day. One prayer in from the BCP is for Our Nation. I love the following excerpt from the prayer: Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. We remember what it means to focus on our work and to follow God s will. I am particularly impressed with the focus on honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Our work at hand takes all our effort. One of the ways we can practice sound learning is to consider a Bible Study with fellow Christians. Our Diocese is blessed with Education for Ministry Program (http:// efm.sewanee.edu/) at many of our churches. We have a coordinator who is most willing to help find a program for any who are interested. Krisan Lamberti EFM Coordinator Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida 305.962.1450 MoonlightK@aol.com Practicing pure manners is also called for during this time of agitation and provocation. I am aware that pure manners does not include name calling, telling others how to respond to events, or being hostile to people with different opinions face to face or on social media. Jesus calls us to love one another as he has loved us. It s not an easy task! As one priest once said during a sermon: Some people you have to love at a farther distance than others. Each one of us need commit to following the way of Jesus, and that way is different for each individual. Let us pledge to each other to follow Jesus during this time of turmoil and transition. We pray: For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to your merciful care, that, being continued on page 4
Page 3 Counting On You WEEKEND NEWS EMC #93 June 8-11, 2017 Dear Cursillistas, As you are all aware, EMC #93 was postponed due to Hurricane Matthew in October last year. We hope and pray that all goes well and EMC #93 will be held June 8-11, 2017 at the Duncan Center in Delray Beach. The team was in place and we had approximately 30 pilgrims confirmed for the weekend. I hope that we can increase the numbers for this June. Being around the Cursillo Ministry for the last 14 years, I have come to understand the message of the Ministry Make a friend, be a friend, and bring your friend Christ. For the most part, the team remains the same, with only a few members indicating that they would not be available for the weekend this year. If anyone is interested in joining the team, please email me at djacko235@gmail.com. Additionally, we are appealing for General Palanca and Food Palanca. Some General Palancas were developed last year and they can be used this year, despite the fact that some have been inscribed with the October 2016 date. The Palanca chas remain the same and their contact information is at the bottom of this article. Below is a list of donations that are needed: 90 placemats with a scripture for Friday evening 90 placemats for Saturday evening 60 Pilgrims Guide covers Prayer chain Number of items: 90 Dining Room Palanca 90 Pillow Palanca for Pilgrims & Team 60 Rollo Room Palanca 42 Pilgrims Pillow Palanca Please remember to include a 3 x 5 index card with a description of the Palanca, how many, whether it is for pillow palanca, dining or Rollo room etc. Name of church, reunion groups or individuals giving the Palanca. The logo for the weekend is available on the Cursillo website at http:/www.sefcursillo.org. It can be downloaded. SNACKS TO SERVE OUT- SIDE DURING BREAKS & COFFEE. Apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, nutri-bars, cheese, crackers etc. Snacks for the Rollo Room. Granola bars, pretzels, miniature chocolates, mints, mixed nuts. Desserts Friday Noon and dinner, Saturday Noon and dinner, and also Sunday Noon. Drinks Apple juice, Cranberry juice, Ice tea (sweet & unsweet), 2- liter sodas and gallon bottles of water. (No individual cans or bottles please). Wines for Saturday night (red only) and non-alcoholic Sparkling Cider or Grape Juice. The Cha-Cha s responsible for the receiving and monitoring the gifts are listed below. Please make an effort to contact them. continued on last page
Winter 2017 Page 4 Rule of Life: Spotlight on Apostolic ACTION All Saints Church Wants Your Underwear By Jim Wells During Advent, All Saints Church in Ft. Lauderdale conducted 2 programs to benefit their needy neighbors. In UNDIES FOR SUNDAYS, they collected over 800 pairs of men s and women s underwear, along with 62 pairs of socks, 35 men undershirts, and thousands of diapers and baby wipes. In ANGELS FOR BUS PASSES, the church collected enough money to purchased 55 10-trip bus passes. On December 28 & 29, All Saints Outreach Committee delivered the items to Jubilee Soup Kitchen, St Laurence Chapel, and Hope House. They also presented each or- ganization with a check for $1,500. Each organization s director was overwhelmed by the generosity of All Saints Parishioners. St. Laurence Director, Lorry Herdeen said, St. Laurence has never received so many pairs of undies in 29 years of service. After the presentation, leaders toured each operation to see where donations would be used and how the clients obtained them. One goal for collecting undies was to bring the awareness that Underwear is the most needed but least donated item. We do a great job donating clothes and shoes (can always use more) but it s that dignity of having a clean pair of undies that makes people feel just a little better in their situation. By collecting 808 pairs of undies, we have made a difference! Committee members identified two additional considerations: First, St. Laurence is in need of any type of bath towel for clients to take showers. Second, the Jubilee Soup Kitchen requested that food containers in the church s Sunday food collections be in containers that are easy to open (like with pull tabs) so that they could be easily opened on the street. What a great outreach ministry. Spiritual Director s Message (Continued from page 2) guided by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of the United States and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. In the Name of the One God, Mother Mary Ellen Join the Cursillo Email List SEF Cursillo has a new and improved way for communications via email through MailChimp. To join the distribution list for regular communications, just send your email address to Humphrey Braaf at Braafcommunications@gmail.com and he will add you.
Page 5 Counting On You 2016 Episcopal Cursillo Ministry Conference Report By Barbara MacKenzie One Bread, One Body was the theme for the Conference this year and in my opinion, lived up to my expectations. I have now attended quite a few of the annual conferences and I always enjoy them. This year Pam Anderson and Elois Howell were also there and it is really nice when there are some others from our Diocese there (although I hope next year, we will have even more). We began Thursday evening with a reception with an opportunity to meet new friends and reacquaint with old friends. One of the great things about the conference is meeting with people from all over the country and even outside the country. The formal program offered a wide variety of workshops and we could choose which we wanted to attend, They included: Music Journaling Before and After Cursillo Eternity and the Public Library Stepping out of our Boats Celtic Prayer Social media and Cursillo Spiritual Direction As you can see, there were a lot of very different learning opportunities. Both Friday and Saturday we had District meetings. Here we meet with all those present from the SE District. There is the possibility of many at these meetings, but usually it is small. However, this is one of the opportunities to talk with others and see what is new, what is working, what they are trying in other Dioceses. To me this is one of the best parts of the conference to be able to discuss how it is going. Friday morning we had an opening Eucharist with Bishop Provenzano. He was such a joy to hear as he spoke about how Cursillo is so closely tied to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry s Jesus Movement. He pointed out that Bishop Curry is expecting Cursillo to be a leader in the Jesus Movement!!! Throughout the conference, there was, of course, music. Some very familiar and some new. Fr. Rick Simpson who was present and is a past member of ECMC wrote some of the new music. You could see the joy on his face as we sang his music. On Saturday, workshops continued and we ended with a Eucharist and Commissioning of new members. We were also given a glimpse of next year s Conference, which is being held in Oklahoma City, October 27 & 28. They had a great video describing their plans for the conference and sure made me want to be there. I hope you can be too. It looks very exciting. As I mentioned before, to me, the best part is getting to meet people from around the country and discussing similarities and learning about differences, getting new ideas. It is also reassuring to know that what we are doing in SE Florida is very successful with our number of participants and frequency of weekends. I hope I have piqued your interest and you will consider Oklahoma for October next year. Ultreya Barbara
Winter 2017 Page 6 4th Day Chair Message By Karen Weeks De Colores fellow Cursillistas! We have rolled into 2017 and the Secretariat is busy planning for an exciting year ahead! Currently we have EMC #93 and EWC #112 on the calendar, the 2017 Episcopal Cursillo Ministry Conference is scheduled for October, the Central Sector Fundraiser will take place on April 29th and planning for the next Grand Ultreya is in the works. As always, we look to our faithful community for your creative ideas and suggestions. Also, please send your stories of apostolic action to Jim Wells for publication in the COY. This is a great way to share how our community is working to serve our Lord. The 2016 Grand Ultreya which was held this past November at St. Mary Magdalene was a wonderful day of Cursillo celebration! Many thanks to Jane Collin, the ultreya coordinator, and all the generous folks at St. M&M for their participation. It was truly an inspiring day filled with the Spirit! Ultreyas are a great way to bring our Cursillo community together to be rejuvenated in the Spirit and also to reconnect in fellowship. Several churches across the Diocese are planning Ultreyas for this year. Be sure to send your event flyers to our Webmaster for publication on the website. If your parish is looking to rekindle that Cursillo spark within your parish community, consider doing a Cottage Ultreya. This is a very successful way to bring veteran and new Cursillistas together to share in God s love and to remind us of our Cursillo mission. There is a format to the Cottage Ultreya so if this is something your parish may be interested in doing, please contact me for further information. Make a friend, be a friend, and bring a friend to Christ In His Service, Karen Lay Director s Message (Continued from first page) where we are for ministry and caring for one another. The 2016 Episcopal Cursillo Ministry Conference had the theme of One Bread, One Body. We need to fully live into embracing all. We have two weekends scheduled this year the Men s in June and the Women s in September. Please consider praying for and sponsoring some- one to attend a weekend. Please consider hosting an Ultreya at your church and inviting folks to participate, even those that haven t made a weekend. It s a wonderful spiritual opportunity to share with others and who knows what seeds may be planted. Your governing body of Cursillo, the Secretariat, is working diligently to strengthen and grow the ministry of Cursillo. Karen Weeks will be the Co- Lay Director this year, along with me, and then take over the helm next year. We are available to all and ask for your prayers and support. In His service, Pam
Page 7 Counting On You Rule of Life: Spotlight on Apostolic ACTION St. George s Center Continues to Expand Services to the Homeless By Jim Wells Not content to rest on its reputation as the 2nd. largest homeless feeding program in Palm Beach County, St. George s Center in Rivera Beach continues to add services to improve the wellbeing of local indigents. Now, in addition to providing midday and evening meals each day, Friday foot-washings, food stamp applications, homeless declarations, and social security assistance, secure mailbox & document storage facilities and occasional health services from the nurses at FAU, St. George s offers its guests a weekly opportunity for a complete personal clean-up. Starting last Fall, community partner, Live Fresh Palm Beach County, brings its mobile trailer containing six full bathrooms to St. George s every Thursday morning to provide showers for guests. On a recent Thursday, Jieo El Barber began providing haircuts to guests. While waiting for haircuts and showers, guests can pick out clean clothes from a selection provided by the Thrift Shop oper- ated by community partner St. Mark s Palm Beach Gardens. Freshly cleaned-up guest then proceed into the dining hall to enjoy the mid-day meal. St. George s feeding program continues to grow serving roughly 2,200 meals each week at lunch and dinner. The hot dinner and bag lunch programs are funded mostly by their many volunteer groups, drawn from 17 Churches, 4 Synagogues, 11 Kiwanis Clubs, 5 Civic Organization and many Community Partners and Sponsors. The lunch meal is funded primarily by the Center. From 2000 to 2016, the Center served over 1,750,000 meals to the less fortunate in the southeast corridor of Palm Beach County valued at roughly $12,250,000. To continue these life-changing ministries St. George s is seeking more volunteers, corporate sponsors, and financial support. If you, your church or someone you know could help, please contact Cinthia Becton,St. George s Center Executive Director at 561.844.7713 or info@saintgeorgescenter. org.
Page 8 Counting On You EMC #93 News (Continued from page 3) General Palanca Cha: Hugh Gilchrist, hkbg@bellsouth.net (305-793-6002) Food Palanca Cha: Paul Madeira, ptmadeira8@gmail.com (954-288-4946) Thank you all in advance for your support of EMC # 93. Please keep the team and the pil- grims in your prayers. The harvest is truly plenteous but the laborers are few Matt 9: 37-38. God bless you all! Rector- EMC #93 Douglas Djacko235@gmail.com 305-305-2650 Rule of Life: Spotlight on Apostolic ACTION Holy Grill of St. Nicholas Continues to Feed the Homeless By Fr. Mark Andrew Jones In mid-september of 2016, St. Nicholas Episcopal Church launched an innovative mobile feeding ministry for the homeless going to where they are rather than requiring the homeless to travel miles on foot to fixed sites. Since then, the Holy Grill of St. Nicholas has served well over 1,200 breakfast meals thanks to over 800 service hours donated by 36 volunteers. Twenty-two percent of the volunteers are not St. Nicholas parishioners. In fact, some of the volunteers are not church-goers at all, but they having caring hearts for the less fortunate. St. Nicholas has raised over $27,000 to support this ministry and has also raised money by using the Holy Grill as a food vending trailer at local festivals. For example, the Holy Grill was a prominent food vendor at the Florida Keys Celtic Fest, held in Marathon last January. At present money is not the limiting factor to expanding this exciting apostolic action. As soon as St. Nicholas has a sufficient number of volunteers, they plan to offer dinner as well. Since St. Nicholas could not initially afford a food truck and bought a food trailer instead, there is a pressing need for volunteers with vehicles that can tow the Holy Grill. If you feel God is calling you to take this apostolic action, then call St. Nicholas at 954.942.5887 Cursillo Calendar April 29th Central Sector Fundraiser May 7 Cursillo Sunday June 8-11 EMC #94 September 28-October 1 EWC #112 October 27 & 28 Episcopal Cursillo Ministry National Convention, Oklahoma City OK See us on the Web www.sef-cursillo.org