History
of the ACTS Movement
The ACTS movement came to
birth from the Cursillo Movement through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in
the Archdiocese of San Antonio. ACTS started in 1987 at Our Lady of Perpetual
Help in
"…Three men who were
formerly involved with Cursillo, Ed Courtney and Joe Hays of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Church in Selma, and Dr. Marty Sablik of St Luke's parish, met
in the spring of 1987 at a local restaurant and discussed the possibilities of
starting a retreat program that would concentrate more on parish life and
community.
The proposed retreat
program was approved by Joe Hayes' pastor, Father Patrick Cronin, at Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, his pastoral council and Archbishop Patrick Flores. The men
received the blessings to form a committee to develop a retreat weekend with a
goal of having a men's retreat in July 1987 and a women's retreat in the fall
of 1987. Archbishop Flores asked that the committee be sure to allow
non-Catholics to attend as part of the community.
With Joe Hayes as
chairman, 10 committee members began developing talks, sacramentals,
meditations and schedules for the weekends. The committee met each week while
forming the retreat program and discussed choosing a name for the retreat but
there was never a consensus among them. One day Wallace Vaughn, one of the
committee members, had a dream in which the Holy Spirit encouraged him to read
Chapter 2, verses 42-47 of the Acts of the Apostles. This selection from Acts
describes what the committee wanted to achieve on a retreat weekend. He also
felt the Holy Spirit wanted the retreats to be called 'ACTS,' and thus the name
was born. The acronym of ACTS came to mean Adoration, Community, Theology
and Service, which is today the precept of these retreats. Nearly all who have
experienced an ACTS retreat feel truly blessed by God through the guidance of
the Holy Spirit."1
The Cursillo Retreat is a
wonderful weekend experience and true to its name is a remarkable "Short
Course" in the Catholic faith. Although the ACTS
retreat was modeled after Cursillo, there are some major differences, most
notably in focus and in emphasis. Cursillo Retreats are strictly for Catholics,
and always reach out to the general population to form team and recruit
retreatants. ACTS Retreats are open to all faiths and generally are directed
primarily to those within a parish.
Another example of
difference is that the Cursillo Retreat is very structured and provides very
little flexibility. The ACTS Retreat, on the other hand, represents the wishes
of the Director and team in selection of presentations. No two ACTS retreats are
exactly alike. There are certain events that are required but each retreat is
unique because of the individuality of each team.
The ACTS and The Cursillo
Retreats do the work of the Holy Spirit and both are needed. The ACTS Movement
shall always be grateful to the Cursillo Movement for its beginnings and its
foundation. The ACTS retreat has gradually become a Parish Weekend
Retreat patterned after the description of the early Church in the Acts of the
Apostles (ACTS 2:42-47); breaking bread together, worshipping together,
receiving instruction together, sharing in common, and reaching out in loving
service.
After the Weekend,
participants are encouraged to reach out to parish activities. ACTS does not
want to be thought of as a "Group", but as parishioners that have
been on a special retreat and now have a greater interest in parish ministry
involvement. Many men and women too
numerous to mention here have added much and continue to add to the ACTS
Movement through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
ACTS Missions was founded in
1997 to take the ACTS Retreat to new Parishes all over the world so that the
ACTS Community would be alive in all parishes. ACTS has grown much since 1987,
and is now in