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

by Kristy Nabhan-Warren

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.

344 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2013

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty mixed on this. writing a review for class, so all i will say is that
a) i am having trouble getting over the fact that KNW called a sitar a “guitar.” context was late 1960s hippie Jesus poster. it’s clearly a sitar and psychedelic Jesus is sitting cross-legged in the poster. also do we not know about George Harrison and Ravi Shankar?
b) the book is super sunny, in its cover as its prose and in the outlook of the people it features. so it was super jarring that she reached to reference the Pixies’ “Monkey Gone to Heaven” (the very sonically abrasive line about “if man is five, and the devil is six ... then God is seven) and then just let it hang there. It barely had connection to the text and left me really confused about the author as a person, who I cannot see listening to the Pixies. Seriously, it had the effect of dropping the Pixies into an uber tame evangelical youth retreat. Or an Oprah confession. Or a flower shop. She elsewhere called CCM artists like Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns “hip.” I am very disoriented!
c) since she opened the can of worms on popular music, there was a CLEAR opportunity to reference John Cougar Mellencamp. Walls were tumblin’ down, man.

d) good humanizing work overall. had never heard of this stuff, but apparently it’s not a small deal

[Robert Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a remarkably thorough study of perhaps the finest example of Christian education in the world today. The Cursillo movement is one of Roman Catholicism’s often unrecognized gifts to all of Christianity. Carefully weaving her own experience and the results of interviews with others into the story, the author has provided an exceptional depth of understanding of the Cursillo method of presentation. It is time for the world to know more about this inspiring movement and this book will set the standard for information about it.