The Cursillo Movement in America: Catholics, Protestants, and Fourth-Day Spirituality

by Kristy Nabhan-Warren

Overview

The internationally growing Cursillo movement, or “short course in Christianity,” founded in 1944 by Spanish Catholic lay practitioners, has become popular among American Catholics and Protestants alike. This lay-led weekend experience helps participants recommit to and live their faith. Emphasizing how American Christians have privileged the individual religious experience and downplayed denominational and theological differences in favor of a common identity as renewed people of faith, Kristy Nabhan-Warren focuses on cursillistas — those who have completed a Cursillo weekend — to show how their experiences are a touchstone for understanding these trends in post-1960s American Christianity.
Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork as well as historical research, Nabhan-Warren shows the importance of Latino Catholics in the spread of the Cursillo movement. Cursillistas' stories, she argues, guide us toward a new understanding of contemporary Christian identities, inside and outside U.S. borders, and of the importance of globalizing American religious boundaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469607177
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	09/09/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Kristy Nabhan-Warren is professor and V. O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Chair of Catholic Studies in the departments of religious studies and of gender, women’s, and sexuality studies at the University of Iowa. She is the author, most recently, of The Cursillo Movement in America: Catholics Protestants, and Fourth-Day Spirituality.

Table of Contents

Preface: New Beginnings xi

Introduction: Finding Christ and Community in America 1

The Significance of Catholic and Protestant Cursillos and the Fourth-Day Movement

Chapter 1 Los Origenes Mallorquines 20

Eduardo Bonnín Aguiló and the Birth of the Cursillo de Cristiandad Movement

Chapter 2 Coming to America 56

The Early History of U.S. Cursillos de Cristiandad

Chapter 3 A Focus on Christian Experience 84

The Protestant Cursillos (Tres Dias, Walk to Emmaus, Via de Cristo) and the National Episcopal Cursillo

Chapter 4 Blooming Where We're Planted 127

U.S. Catholics and Protestants Talk about Living Their Cursillo

Chapter 5 Teens Encounter Christ 166

Pioneer in Young Adult Weekend Experiences

Chapter 6 Feeding Bodies and Souls 199

Kairos Prison Ministry International

Chapter 7 Maverick yet Mainstream 226

Christ Renews His Parish and Great Banquet

Epilogue: Cursillo Weekends, Fourth-Day Spirituality, and the Future 245

Appendix 1 Cursillo Chronology 255

Appendix 2 Glossary 257

Notes 259

Index 303

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Richly textured and very readable. Describes and analyzes a sometimes invisible but important slice of American Christianity.” — Chester Gillis, Georgetown University

Editorial Reviews

“Nabhan-Warren has written an important chapter in the movement’s history and has provided a good example of how and why it migrated and developed in the United States.”—Journal of American History

“An important study. Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers.” — CHOICE

“Nabhan-Warren’s history of the Cursillo movement is a ground-breaking work and fills a void in American religious history.” — America: The National Catholic Weekly

“Challenges scholars of American religions to think across national and denominational boundaries.” — BeforeItsNews.com

From the Publisher