![]() It was designed for adults, with separate retreats for men and women. From 1978 it ran as ‘The Upper Room Cursillo ’, later renamed ‘The Upper Room Walk to Emmaus’. ![]() The General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church adapted the Cursillo programme to make it more appropriate for Protestant participants and for ecumenical use. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ‘WALK TO EMMAUS’ RETREATS ![]() While Cursillo is very much alive within the Catholic tradition, it inspired one particular expression of its spirituality within the United Methodist Church. Cursillo has been the inspiration from the 1970s for the Churches of the Reform to adapt its three-day retreat weekend. In 1980, the Cursillo Movement established a worldwide international office, the Organismo Mundial de Cursillos de Cristiandad (OMCC). Currently the movement is active across the USA, in South and Central America, Canada, Europe, Africa and Australasia. The movement grew throughout Spain, extending to the USA in the later 1950s. As important as the cursillo retreat weekend is the ‘Fourth Day’ experience, which continues to offer faith support and development on a weekly and monthly basis thereafter. During the weekend the basics of Christian faith were explained and celebrated. From this grew a highly structured, three day retreat weekend, open to those seeking to develop as Christian leaders. The first ‘ cursillo ’ (Spanish for ‘little course’) was held on his home island of Mallorca. The Cursillo Movement was founded by Eduardo Aguiló in the 1940s. For now, let us investigate Emmaus Letters and their roots in the Cursillo movement. The effectiveness of writing and sending letters can also be used to support various forms of parish, pastoral effort as will be discussed later. They use handwritten letters to support participants during their weekend-long retreats. The Walk to Emmaus retreat, which is related to the Catholic Cursillo Movement, has been harnessing this understanding for many years. Letters are a potent form of communication as they afford the writer the opportunity to share their thoughts in a considered way. While they frequently texted, tweeted and emailed, they wrote few letters, but spoke of their excitement when an envelope addressed to them fell through their letterbox. ‘W HEN was the last time you sat down to write a letter?’ I recently asked this of a group of students. ![]() Paul Gadie - Doctrine & Life December 2018 ![]()
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