History of A.C.T.S.
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 Selma, Texas, a small
suburb of San Antonio.
“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.
