A Monthly Newsletter For The Cursillo Community of Newark

Volume X February 1998

Newark 24 Team News

Newark 24 is only two months away. Please continue to hold all of the team members in your prayers as they progress in their formation as a loving Christian community. Also, please begin to consider and pray for candidates for this weekend. Always remember you must make a friend, be a friend and then bring that friend to Christ. Applications for weekenders can be obtained from Cathie Studewell, 973-772-6042, Barb Cianciulli, 973-398-4773, Elizabeth Eddy, 201-871-1712 or any other team member.

Sue Calcagno, who is in charge of the kitchen, is looking for food palanca for the weekend. Please call her at 973-962-4246.

Kurt Gruenberg and Annie Meier are looking for people for the weekend prayer vigil. Every hour from 7:00 pm on Thursday until 4:00 pm Sunday needs to be covered.

Scholarship fund requests should be made to the Reverend John Rollins, 973-835-5122 or Kurt Gruenberg, 973-361-4163.

We are still lacking facility support for setup prior to the weekend and clean up on Sunday after the closing. Many hands will make light work. If you have as little as an hour to give, your help would be gratefully received. Call Cathie Studewell.

Bishop Jack McKelvey will be there on Thursday to greet the weekenders. He will also give the first meditation of the weekend.

Diocesan Convention

100's Served

Once again the Newark Episcopal Cursillo booth at the Diocesan Convention was one of the more popular spots to see and be seen while grabbing a homemade cookie. Many, many thanks to our busy bakers. Your labors were consumed by many smiling faces. (A new trend was noted in cookie consumption: many delegates have a great affection for peanut butter cookies made from an old New England recipe.)

Many thanks to, also, Theron Cook and Chris Ochs who helped set up and staff the booth on Friday and Saturday.

The booth generated the identification of several new "Cursillo" clergy in the diocese who expressed interest in members of their parishes attending the next weekend. Several cursillistas new to the diocese were also greeted at the booth and are being added to our mailing list.

The booth also provided an opportunity to greet and share with a number of our community member who we do not often see.

All in all, the booth was again a great success. We look forward to next year's convention. Thank you for your support!

Servant Community Meeting

The next Servant Community meeting will be held on March 11, 1998 at 7:30 P.M., Christ Church, Pompton, Lakes. The Servant Community meetings are open to and should be attended by all active members who seek to serve the community at large by supporting the ongoing life and function of our Newark Cursillo community.

The agenda for the March meeting will include:

Bring your scissors and glue guns to help make grace wands (or was that gray swans) for the weekend. Warm fuzzies are also on the agenda.

All Servant community meetings begin at 7:30 P.M. with 15 minutes of group reunion, followed by 15 minutes of study conducted by The Rev. Elizabeth Eddy. From 8:00 P.M. to 9:15 P.M. will be task time. The meeting will end with prayer at 9:30 P.M.

New-Ark Construction Team

The second annual New-Ark Construction Team Dinner will be held Saturday, March 7, 1998, 6:30 pm at Christ Church, Pompton Lakes. There will be a smorgasBOARD, entertainment and door prizes. Tickets are $15.00 each. Please call Sue Calcagno at 973-962-4246.

E-MAIL address

Do you have an e-mail address? Would you like to receive Cursillo news via e-mail? If so, please send you address to Louise Clarke at lclarke@nac.net.

Rotating Ultreyas

By the time you receive this, the first Rotating Ultreya will have been held in Hawthorne. As explained in last month's newsletter, the objectives of the "Rotating Ultreyas" are to provide at least one Ultreya per month in the Diocese, to make Ultreya's more accessible to all community members, and to create less of a burden on the community members who volunteer to co-ordinate the Ultreya.

There has been a change in locations for these Ultreyas. Rather than meeting at St. John's in Dover, we have been invited to hold Ultreyas at the Convent of St. John the Baptist in Mendham. In addition to the Convent, Rotating Ultreyas will be held at:

St. Clement's, Hawthorne

St. Mary's, Sparta

St. Andrew's & Holy Communion, South Orange

In 1998 the Ultreyas will be held as follows:

St. Clement's in February, June, October

St. Mary's in March, July and November

St. John's in April, August, and December

St. Andrew's in May and September

The Ultreya co-ordinator at St. Clement's will continue to be Anne Meier. The Sparta, Mendham, and South Orange Ultreyas have not yet announced a date, time or co-ordinator. Additional information will follow.

Group Reunions

The Supper Reunion Group at Christ's Church, Pompton Lakes, meets the fourth Thursday of the month. A pot-luck supper followed by group reunion begins at 5:30 pm. Call The Rev. John Rollins at 973-835-5512 for information.

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St. Andrew's and Holy Communion in South Orange holds a weekly group reunion on Wednesday evenings beginning at 6:00 p.m. For more information call The Rev. Jonathan Percival at 973-7633754.

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Group reunion is also held at St. Clement's, Hawthorne on the fourth Tuesday of the months when the Ultreya is held at the other rotating locations.

Prayer Vigil for Bishop's Election

On Saturday, June 6, 1998 at 9:00 am, the delegates to our Diocesan Convention will gather at St. Peter's, Morristown to complete the process of electing our new bishop.

It is our call as a Cursillo community to evangelize our environments. One such way to accomplish this call is by lifting our diocese in prayer while the serious business of the election of bishop takes place. Although most our clergy will be engaged in the voting in Morristown, we lay members of the community can take on a leadership role by organizing this vigil at one of several parishes.

I see this prayer vigil beginning at 9:00 am and continuing until we have heard that a bishop has been elected. I am interested in hearing from any one who would like to join me in this effort to hold our diocese up in prayer as we make the decision that will affect our diocese into the next century. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kurt Gruenberg

973-361-4163

Dates to Remember