Reunion Groups

 

The most effective way to continue the support, excitement and enthusiasm of your Via de Cristo weekend is to get yourself established in a reunion group promptly. DO NOT DELAY!

You may want to group with someone you met on your weekend, someone from your church, your neighborhood, even your family. Any mature Christian is potential. It' isn't necessary that the persons have attended the Via de Cristo. What's necessary is a desire to share openly and honestly, to support each other, be accountable before the Lord and to pray with each other. Your time and location are your choice. Keep your group focused on the Group Reunion Card. Meet realistic expectations. Lifetime friendship do not happen overnight. Check with your sponsor or the Secretariat board member in charge of reunion groups if you are having a problem locating  a group. Be persistent and preservere! Remember, group reunions are the heart of Via de Cristo. Your weekend was just the beginning.

 

Celebrations

Do you wonder what has happened to all those people on your weekend? Come to a Celebration and find out.  Celebrations area gatherings of the entire Via de Cristo community for fellowship and inspiration. They are held in various churches, usually the second or third weekend of every other month. Watch the newsletter and  email specials giving the time and location. Also check this website recent updates and map directions. A program is usually held relating to some area of Via de Cristo or your Christian walk. The evening ends with worship and communion and as always... more food! Spouses and visitors are welcome to Celebrations even if they have not attended a Via de Cristo, Cursillo or other affiliated movements weekend experience. A nursery is provided for young children. The green palanca ($$$) box is always available and appreciated for monetary contributions. These donations are important.

 

Serenades

Do you remember that heavenly choir of angel voices you heard on Saturday night? Well, even if you can't sing, don't stay away. God will take your voice and use it to his glory. At each serenade, we need to pratice for a short time before going into the dining room to sing. This practice time is important for two reasons. It's the time when the special instructions for that particular serenade are given, and it's the time when we ask God's blessings upon our serenade. The newsletter and website will have the schedule for serenades and rehearsal.  During the serenade, your job is to sing, so refrain from touching or hugging the candidates, tempting as it may be!
Following the serenade, the head cooks for the weekend and provide a delicious dinner for the whole community, both serenaders and servers.
A "green ($$$) palanca" basket is passed around for a freewill donation. We encourage those able to help defray the cost of the dinner to do so generous. Children are welcome, but only under close supervision of an adult. There is a nursery provided; please use it, and please pick up your children promptly after serenades (before eating dinner).
Men, if your wife or fiancee is a candidate on the weekend, you are strongly encouraged not to participate in this serenade. Likewise, ladies, if your fiancee is a candidate on the weekend, we ask that you do not participate on this serenade.
Remember that the serenade is not a sing-along. If you are a serenader, sing your best. If you are the team of serving and not a serenader, listen and enjoy.

 

Serving on a Team

So you want to be a cha-cha or give a rollo? There are certain steps involved before you may be asked on a team.
Calling a team is not done haphazardly - it is done after much prayer and careful thought. A rector or rectora has many guidelines to follow in a calling a team, and the Secretariat plays an active role in this process to ensure a good distribution of team members by age, experience, churches, denominations and reunion groups. Please do not make the job more difficult by telling the rector or rectora that you or your friend want to be on their team, for you do not see the whole picture of the team as they do.
Generally, you will not be called to serve on a team until you have some behind the scenes experience. If you know what is going on behind the scenes, you will be a much better team member and you will realize that this is also a very vital part of the weekend.
Team members are required to be active members of their churches and in reunion groups. You may only serve on one team a year and you must have attended a leadership workshop to serve in certain roles.
New pilgrims who have just completed a weekend are eligible to serve on the next weekend. If  you are called to serve on a team, take a couple of days to prayerfully consider your answer. Serving on a team requires commitment and sacrifice. Before the weekend, the team meets for several team meetings. If your schedule will not permit you to attend all of these meetings (or miss one at the most), you should not accept to serve on a team, usually you are not given your assignment until the first team meeting. The rector/rectora makes assignments only after much prayerful consideration, so be assured that your assignment will be the right one for you and the team.
To help defray the costs of the weekend, team members are requested to pay for the cost of the weekend. However, no one will prevented from serving on a team for financial reasons.

 

Sponsoring Someone

By the time your weekend ended, you were probably thinking of several people you felt "should" attend a Via de Cristo weekend, and would like to sponsor. Before you approach anyone, however, take time to pray. As you heard on your weekend, "Talk to God about (the) man, before you talk to (the)  man about God. Remember, Via de Cristo is not for everyone. It's not intended to solve anyone's emotional problems or to convert anyone, but to renew Christian leaders so that they might more effectively serve their Lord and their churches.

When you decide to sponsor a candidate for a Sonshine Via de Cristo, here are some guidelines:
Before the weekend, give your prospect an application and talk to him or her about the weekend - the talks, singing, worship, fellowship, food, anything and everything. Be open about it and answer any questions honestly. There's nothing you can tell a prospective candidate that could ruin his / her weekend experience.
Be sure he or she understands the registration form and the need to be honest about any special physical needs. Make sure he/she signs it and has his/her pastor at the church that they are attending sign in too. Then you should mail, fax, or bring it to the Pre-Cristo Coordinator or send the address on the registration. When your candidate is accepted, continue to follow up to be sure he/she knows what to bring and will be ready.
During the weekend, be sure your candidate has transportation to send-off and home from the closing (you should provide this if at all possible). Be sure spouses and close family member write letters and see that are at the site not later than Saturday afternoon. Write a letter to your candidate yourself. If your candidate is a married man, be sure his wife gets to the wives information meeting. Be available to the family in case the absence causes any special needs or circumstances. Be sure to attend the closing.
After the weekend, it is your responsibility to help your new pilgrim find or form a reunion group. After all, you've made the commitment to your candidate for one year. Offer to take your pilgrim to the first Celebration following the weekend. When the next weekends are scheduled, encourage your pilgrim to work behind the scenes along with you if you are not on the team. Continue to follow-up on your pilgrim, offering any assistance needed for a successful Fourth Day walk with Jesus.
Before, during and after the Via de Cristo weekend, pray for your candidate.

Click here to learn more about sponsoring.

 

 Palanca

Remember how you felt when the pastor introduced palanca on Friday afternoon?  The banners, the letters, the magnets, the bookmarks, the food gifts - all just for you and your weekend!  Later you learned that people had been praying for you all weekend.  All of this is palanca - which acts like a lever to lift you  and the weekend up and support you during the weekend. True palanca is prayer and sacrifice.  It is done in a spirit of love.  It may be an individual act, or done by several people working together, such as a reunion group.
Before the weekend, you should notify the Head Cha-Cha of any palanca you intend to provide, especially if it is food or weekend supplies.  Check the newsletter and or website for the name and number to call.  Palanca may be brought to the send-off to be taken to the site, or it may be delivered directly to the mail room there.  It should be clearly labeled with the number of items and who is giving it.  Write a letter to the candidates explaining what you have given and why.  Once the palanca is at the weekend site, it is up to the Head Cha-Cha when it will be given out.  If you would like it to be used at a specific time, please indicate that on an attached note.  Your
request will be honored if possible, but no guarantees can be made.

Quantities of palanca needed are:   

70 for the dining room.
70 for the rollo room.
40 for pillow palanca.

Letters are a very special type of palanca.  General palanca letters to be read to all the candidates in the rollo room are always needed, and you remember how meaningful it was to receive all those personal letters from your family, friends and people who didn't even know you.  Lists of candidates are available at the send-off's after the buses leave, in the community mailroom at the Via de Cristo site and at this website, usually the last week before the weekend begins (note: Any lists found on this website will not be finalized until the Friday morning of the active weekend).
   Gifts of food are another form of palanca.  You may pay for certain items and give the money to the Head Cha-Cha or the Secretariat Treasurer.  Homemade goodies - bread, cakes, cookies and fresh fruit - are also needed.  They should be clearly marked with your name and if they are for a special meal or snack. Banners are an example of group palanca, and are usually created by reunion groups, both men's and women's.  A banner may only be presented as palanca at one weekend.  After that it will be hung somewhere at the site of a future weekend for everyone's enjoyment and inspiration.  Although it may look like we have enough banners, there is always room for more.  Besides, they eventually wear out and become unusable.  We also have the opportunity occasionally to donate some banners to new Via de Cristo or Cursillo movements that are just getting started.
   Financial gifts, commonly called "green ($$) palanca" are always welcome.  Contributions made by the candidates and team barely cover weekend expenses.  Additional income is needed to pay for operating expenses of Via de Cristo and to buy and replace equipment used during the weekends.  A green palanca basket is always available for your donations at Celebrations and weekends and you may mail contributions to:         Bev Kovach, Treasrer
        Sonshine Via de Cristo of South Florida

        254 Curtiss Parkway
         Miami Springs, FL 33166      
Checks may be made payable to: SONSHINE VIA DE CRISTO.

Did you know... Sonshine Via de Cristo, is recognized as a 501(c) (3) organization by the Internal Revenue Service.  As such, donations are deductable to the fullest extent allowed by current tax codes.
While banners, food, letters and all of the nice little things are meaningful and uplifting, the very best palanca is your prayers, which should start as soon as team selection for a weekend begins. Often there are around-the-clock prayer vigils during weekends.
You may sign up for an hour (or more) of your choice at the preceding Celebration.  When our Sonshine community is united in prayer, we can know that the weekends will be successful.
Palanca, a lever used to help the candidates understand God's never-ending grace and love, is always given in equal measure to all candidates on the weekend.  For this reason, all personal gifts for candidates must be given after closing.  Please do not ask the team to place special gifts on pillows, etc.  It simply cannot be done, as it singles out individuals and has the potential of making others feel neglected.  Please respect this dynamic of the Via de Cristo.

Secretariat

The Secretariat is the governing body of Sonshine Via de Cristo. It is comprised of approximately 20 lay people and 3 pastors who serve as the movement's spiritual directors.

All Sonshine Via de Cristo policies and activities are determined by the Secretariat in accordance with its Constitutions and Bylaws. The Secretariat also selects rectors and rectoras for Via de Cristo weekends and assists in selection of team members. Most Secretariat members have responsibility for a specific area of Sonshine operations, such as pre-Via de Cristo, physical arrangements, post-Via de Cristo, palanca, leadership training, and Reunion Groups.

Secretariat members are selected to terms of three years. One third of the Secretariat are elected each year at the annual meeting of the Via de Cristo community, which is usually held in February. Anyone who has served on at least two Sonshine Via de Cristo weekend teams is eligible for election to the Secretariat; additional requirements apply for some positions.
   Please watch your newsletter and website for notices about the annual meeting and elections. Be prepared to step forward when asked by a member to be part of the Secretariat.

Click the ‘Secretariat Roster’ link to see the current members serving.

 
Please Remember!
Sometimes we forget that nearly 200 pilgrims attend Sonshine Via de Cristo weekends every year.  Sometimes we just presume that all of you know things that we haven't told you.  So for those of you who haven't been told and for those of you who may have been away from the movement and have forgotten, here's a list of "understood, but often forgotten" dynamics that have worked for the last 27 years.

Please Do Not...

 1. bring or use any photographic equipment (i.e. standard, reflex, digital or video cameras) to the weekend site.
 2. bring or use any audio equipment (i.e. tape recorders, CD players, stereos, boom-boxes, etc.) to the weekend site.
 3. bring or use pagers, cellular telephones, two-way radios, laptop computers with modem links to the weekend site.
 4.  present any palanca (group or personal) before dinner Friday evening.
 5.  use candles for any Serenades, table settings or rollo room effects.
 6.  decorate dining room, rollo room or chapels with any balloons.
 7.  distribute flowers (of any kind) to individual candidates or teams members prior to conclusion of the closing Sunday evening.    
 8.  distribute any flyers, bulletins or announcements of church events or activities at Sonshine Via de Cristo       weekends, Celebrations or Training Schools.
9.   use the weekend roster for any type of solicitation or fund raising.
10. have the husbands of wives, who are attending a weekend as a candidate, participate in the Serenade.
    
Some of these things are requested because of the cloistered nature of our weekends, some because of housekeeping and janitorial problems, some due to insurance restrictions and others for either tradition, dynamics or just plain common sense.  Via de Cristo is such a positive, uplifting and loving experience, we pray you will remember these "don'ts" in the spirit of cooperation, enthusiasm, and love.

An additional note concerning the Serenade: On each weekend we get one special opportunity, as a community, to make the candidates feel very special.  That event is the Serenade.  I remember the Serenade on my candidate weekend when all of the ladies came in wearing dresses.  They had taken the time out of their busy schedules to get dressed up and I knew it was "just for me".