Minutes of Steering Committee
Austin Convocation of Cursillo
Diocese of Texas
September 18, 2000 @ St. Christopher's, Austin.

Fr. George Wilson opened with prayer.

In attendance were: Steve Ryder, St. Matthew's; Joe Nanus, St. George's; Collett Foyt, St. Barnaba's; Jane Powers, St. John's; and Fr. George Wilson, St. Matthew's.

Joe Nanus moved approval of August minutes. Jane Powers, 2nd. Passed.

Treasurer's report: balance $594.96, Income: $412.12; Expense: 277.08, Net: 135.04.

Joe Nanus reported on the last Secretariat meeting.

The possibility of reducing the number of weekends per year was discussed. The attendance at the last few has been down and if we no longer can fill them, it might be better to do fewer.

The Diocesan Cursillo Movement is still in financial trouble. Because of the deposits made with Camp Allen, we have in excess of $4,000 tied up. We are not getting the deposits back because expenses have exceeded income in the last several weekends.

The Secretariat is going to look at other funding sources and see if Camp Allen can allow us to post a smaller deposit. One member of the Secretariat pointed out that with more than 6,000 Cursillistas in the diocese, if each one gave a dollar, it would be $6,000+, which would put us on a sound financial footing. The Secretariat is going to approach the Diocese, through the Bishops, to seek to recover the $4,258.50 they have as deposits to Camp Allen.

A sub-committee of the Secretariat is going to plan some workshops to be held in the Diocese.

The Secretariat voted to change the procedure for set-up and clean up for Closing. Beginning with the weekend in February, 2001, the convocation with team for the next weekend will be responsible for both assisting with clean up for the weekend and set up and clean up for the Closing. If the team for the next weekend feels like that would be excessive work, they can bring extra persons from their convocation to help with the Closing.

Sheldon Barr has indicated that he is resigning as Treasurer for the Movement. The Secretariat is looking for someone to take his place. Any volunteers?

Keith Short reported on planning for the 2001 NECS that will be held at Camp Allen in October 2001. One of the items he mentioned was "palanca goodies" which the local communities might want to consider making or providing.

The Secretariat adopted an agreement to be signed by persons who are going to be a rector(a) of a weekend and the Secretariat that the rector(a) will adhere to the policies adopted by the Secretariat and follow the Authentic Three-Days except where deviation is authorized by the Secretariat.
--------------------End of Secretariat Report----------------------

Steve reported that he failed to call each of the reps on the telephone before this meeting. He will try to do before the November meeting.

There was discussion about whether we could continue to support an Ultreya every month. We all agreed that many of the talks this year did NOT follow the Ultreya Guidelines. While many of the talks had merit, most were NOT fourth day talks. We discussed ways to rectify this. We agreed that a commitment to have an Ultreya must emphasize the 4th day talk. (PS: After the meeting Robert Wren suggested we get the name of the Lay Rector for the Ultreya. I then suggested we get the name of the 4th day speaker. I plan to follow this advice in lining up Ultreyas for next year). In any case we did agree to strengthen the committment, and to give priority to filling the Ultreyas following the Cursillo Weekends.

Steve Ryder closed with prayer.

Attachment: GUIDELINES: ULTREYA LAY WITNESS SPEAKER

Thank you for agreeing to be the lay witness speaker for the upcoming Ultreya. Your primary responsibilities for the Ultreya are:

1. Preparing and giving a talk that is no longer than 10 minutes in length which is:
A. About Jesus Christ - the talk should relate how you live with Christ and how you are trying to bring others to know Him. The aim of the witness talk is not to tell people what they should do, but rather how you love Jesus and how in loving Him you try to bring all those He loves closer to Him in the ordinary circumstances of your life. Do palanca. Pray all the way. Jesus reminds us, "Without me you can do nothing."
B. About a recent living experience - tell how, through prayer, study, and action, you are trying to bring others with you to Jesus in the normal flow of your own life. Make just one or two points and build your talk around them. The experience should have been within the six weeks prior to the talk. Speak clearly, slowly, and informally, as if talking with friends -- because you are!!
C. Concrete and practical - make your talk vivid by describing who, how, where, why, and when, as you tell of carrying out action, which you planned, to bring one of your environments closer to Christ. Tell what happened as a result, whether it seemed like a success or failure. In only ten minutes you cannot say too much. It is better to make only one point and to make it well and to tell about one experience and tell it clearly than to add more detail or examples. Don't over prepare; the simpler the better. Be concrete in your conclusions.

2. Questions you may ask yourself to improve your talk:
A. Does this talk show that Christ is in my life?
B. Will it show how much I want to follow Him?
C. Does Jesus Himself hold the most important place in the talk?
D. Will this experience I am sharing stimulate people to think of things they might plan to do to transform their home, work, parish, recreation or other environments for Christ?

3. Your talk should not be:
A. Sensational - a big, flashy production number
B. A sermon or instruction in Christianity, or a Bible teaching
C. Too emotional - others' emotions will be affected by a simple, sincere talk about Christian action. The focus is on Jesus Christ in your life.

4. Involving others:
A. Select two lay witness responders who will be prepared to respond to your talk upon completion. It is best if these speakers are from different professions and life situations than you so that they can show that they share in their own experience the same principles of living with Christ and of being witnesses for Him in their different environments. Give the theme, or a copy, of your talk, along with Guidelines: Ultreya Lay Witness Responders (p.9 of this document), to the lay witness responders to help in their preparation. Try to do this a few days in advance of the Ultreya.
B. Give the theme, or a copy, of your talk to the Ultreya spiritual advisor to help in his/her preparation. Try to do this a few days in advance of the Ultreya, together with any scriptural references you might plan to incorporate.

Thank you for your willingness to serve God in this way.