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.