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History of the Tres Dias Movement Tres Dias traces its ancestry through Cursillo. Cursillo had its beginnings amid the turmoil and destruction of civil
warfare and of the Second World War, which left Spain with empty churches
and a sense of aimlessness and diminished dreams. Late in the 1940's, a
sense of revival was stirring within the Roman Catholic Church. Small groups
of friends in various Catholic action groups began to share their faith
regularly to help one another. Pilgrimages were organized whereby men and
women could rededicate their lives toward Christian ideals. Bishop Juan
Hervas, who was active in action groups and renewal activities with the men
on the island of Majorca, and Eduardo Bonin, who was involved with
organizing pilgrimages, met through these sharing groups. They began to see
how the church could benefit and the lives of people could be changed
through studying and sharing their lives in Christ. With a broadening vision of what these small sharing groups (reunion
groups) could accomplish, weekly meetings produced periodic retreats where
the reality of living a Christian life was intensely taught and experienced
through support by reunion groups. These retreats became known as Cursillo
de Christiandad, which means "short course in Christianity." Originally the
retreats grew out of the reunion groups! There were few men in the Church after the tragedy of war in Spain. One
prime objective in the early years was to revitalize the church by bringing
men back into the activities of the church. The Cursillo movement was confined to Spanish speaking countries until
the late 1950's when a group of men from the Spanish Air Force, who were in
training in Texas, and were in a Reunion Group, conducted the first Cursillo
in the United States. Among the Spanish-speaking people the movement began
to spread across the United States. The first English speaking Cursillo was
held in the early 1960's. Protestants who attended the weekends, saw the need to make the
experience available to other Protestants. This led to the development of
the interdenominational Tres Dias. The first Tres Dias weekend was held in
Newburgh, New York, November 2-5, 1972. Dave McManigal was its rector. He
was a Protestant who had attended a Roman Catholic Cursillo and was led to
be instrumental in forming Tres Dias That weekend, then as now, was open to
all Christian traditions. Others involved in starting Tres Dias were Helmut Maier; and Bob and Mary
Essert. Starting from the Mid-Hudson community in Newburgh/Poughkeepsie, New
York, the movement spread rapidly. Pittsburgh was the second community; then
Fairfield County, Connecticut, Northern New Jersey, Long Island, Maine,
Central Connecticut, New Hampshire, and South Hudson. In the Spring of 1979, with the encouragement of the Mid-Hudson
Secretariat, John McKinney formed an ad hoc "National" secretariat with Jim
Thornley, Anton Wellbrock, Gerry Hoernes, and Bob Decker. That group
produced initial drafts of a "National" constitution and "Essentials of Tres
Dias". All other communities were invited to participate and refine the
drafts. On July 11, 1980, at Poughkeepsie, NY, the constitution and essentials
were ratified and adopted by all of the above listed communities. The Tres
Dias organization was formed as a national organization. The secretariats of
the communities were chartered as local secretariats. John McKinney was the
first president. Subsequently, Tres Dias was incorporated as a
not-for-profit corporation in New York state ... and was recognized by the
Internal Revenue Service. A "charter" member of the first National/International Tres Dias
Secretariat, Peter Scharfenberg, labored for more than two decades ...
stocking and shipping manuals and materials to Tres Dias people all over the
world. In 1985 Tres Dias became INTERNATIONAL when communities were chartered in
Korea and Germany. Tens of thousands of people have made the weekend and tens of thousands
of lives have become more committed to serving our Lord Jesus. The reporters of this history pray that Tres Dias will continue to be faithful to God's spirit. May the people who have made a Tres Dias, be among the Christian leaders God uses to revitalize his people.
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Tres Dias
Of Montana
