From Our Lay Director

My Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ

Allow me to extend a belated welcome to the new year of Cursillo School of Leaders and ask you to join me in welcoming a virtually new Secretariat for the Diocesan Cursillo Movement. Weather has not been our friend this year as yet, but still, I hold great hopes for a successful and rewarding year of meetings in the School of Leaders.

First, School of Leaders: The course of study this year concentrates on the book
“Friendship - The Art of Happiness” by John Cuddeback. The book is a very easy read with a strong message for those of us who have chosen as part of our ministry to make a friend, be a friend and bring a friend to Christ. The technique talks this year from a variety of presenters will also concentrate on this general theme of bringing new friends to Christ. We will concentrate on the idea that Group Reunion and Ultreya do not exist to get people to make Cursillo weekends but rather the Cursillo weekend exists to ensure that Group Reunion and Ultreya will flourish.

As I said earlier, we have a virtually new Secretariat this year. We have two new Spiritual Advisors to the Diocesan movement, Father Patrick Egan, O.S.B., pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Cullman and Sister Anne Marie Schreiner, D.C. from Birmingham. Father and Sister will be teaching the lion’s share of our course of study this year. We are pleased and grateful for their agreeing to serve the Movement.

I am personally humbled and honored to now serve the Birmingham Cursillo Movement as Lay Director. I ask for your prayers for me, as Lay Director and for the movement, that this ministry in Alabama will benefit the whole of the movement. Obviously, I need help with weather prayers but this too shall pass.

Ed Wissel, after doing a wonderful job as Cursillo Chair, agreed to move to the challenging role as School of Leaders Chair. He is putting together the program of instruction for the year and is helping to mentor his replacement.

Kevin Genelin has joined the Secretariat as our recording Secretary. Kevin brings a great spirituality to the Secretariat and we look forward to his contributions.

Greg Clark is now the Cursillo Chair. Being responsible for keeping the core team notebooks up to date, ensuring the team members meet basic, essential qualifications and recommending upcoming Rectors to the Secretariat is an awesome responsibility that Greg brings literally decades of experience to.

Vicki Wilkins stays with us as Pre-Cursillo chair. I believe that Vicki has, if not the hardest, then the least appreciated, job on the Secretariat. Going through all of the applications prior to each weekend, ensuring they’re complete, that each pastor has signed off, that each sponsor is qualified and that the Candidate is notified and prepared is a herculean task that Vicki does very, very well four times a year.

You’ll note we have two vacancies on the Secretariat: Treasurer and Post-Cursillo. I ask all Cursillistas of the Birmingham Diocese to search their hearts and determine if they might be willing to serve the Movement in either of these roles. Please contact me if you should so discern.

Welcoming the new members is a wonderful thing to do, but I would be very remiss if I did not extend my thanks and the thanks of the whole Diocesan movement to those Cursillistas we replaced on the Secretariat. Kevin Kisbey-Green, Carolina Maenza, Serge Brazzolotto and Tim Vaughn set a very high bar for the new Secretariat to meet. The entire Movement is grateful for their service and wishes them the very best as they move to new and even more challenging ministries.

De Colores,

Mark Richards
Lay Director