The Butterflier is a periodic newsletter. We do accept submissions from Mississippi Cursillistas, so get out the quill and ink.

New paragraph

History of Presbyterian Cursillo in Mississippi:

After the passage of Hurricane Katrina across the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August of 2005 the South Alabama Presbytery was kind to its fellow coastal churches in South Mississippi and began bringing pastors and members to Fairhope/Foley for spiritual renewal in an effort to help them deal with the demands on their talents in dealing with their congregations in the aftermath of the Hurricane.  During that time a couple of brave souls from Mississippi, Cookie Wolf and Chris Bullock, slipped off to attend something called Cursillo in Alabama.  That was the beginning of the germination of the Cursillo seeds planted in Mississippi.

These individuals worked with the South Alabama Presbytery to set up a Cursillo weekend for Mississippi participants and worked in Mississippi to recruit participants.  The Alabama Presbyterian Cursillo hosted M/APC – A in spring 2007 with all of the participants coming from Mississippi.  It was a tremendous success and produced an excited group of Cursillistas who came back to Mississippi with a renewed spirit and began to spread the word about Cursillo.  In the fall of 2007 Alabama held M/APC – B.  That core group of Cursillistas from M/APC A and B met at Gautier Presbyterian Church in November 2007 to begin the process of forming Mississippi Presbyterian Cursillo.  A council was formed, officers elected and committee chairs appointed.  This group undertook the tasks of organizing Mississippi Presbyterian Cursillo and preparing for MPC # 1 at the Paul B. Johnson State Park (PBJ) near Hattiesburg, MS.

MPC # 1 was held in spring 2008 at PBJ under the leadership of Moderator George Shoults form First Presbyterian Church, Pascagoula, Mississippi and with assistance from seasoned staff pros from Alabama.  The weekend was remarkable.  God was clearly in control as every crisis and potential catastrophe facing the moderator and the fledgling staff of volunteers was miraculously resolved. It was a resounding success and once again all the participants (staff and pilgrims) returned to their home churches from across south Mississippi with renewed energy to build the Cursillo movement in Mississippi.  Since that first retreat weekend Mississippi Presbyterian Cursillo has held two retreats per year.

In 2009 we were granted official recognition by the National Office. MPC has now included pilgrims and staff  from a dozen Presbyterian churches in from Jackson to the coast. We believe that this will lead to a renewal in the leadership of the Mississippi Presbytery and its member churches.  We are truly blessed.