Who has been to CRHP?

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I just went to a CRHP weekend, and I felt quite compelled to leave before the weekend was over. I’m not quite a Catholic, but I’m going through RCIA now. After my experience with only a part of CRHP, I’m not even sure at this point if I care to continue with RCIA.

I’m sure others find great benefit from CRHP, but my feelings are that it strays greatly from those things that I’ve come to love and yearn for about the Catholic faith. I’m a sixty-four year old man, not at all a stranger to spiritual teachings and experiences. My wife is a cradle Catholic, and she attended the women’s CRHP weekend just recently. While initially she was moved by the charisma of her meeting, she seems to be cooling towards the whole idea of CRHP.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from attending CHRP, and as I’ve seen expressed elsewhere, I’d suggest going with an open mind. I personally felt that it was more a lesson in drama than anything spiritual. I don’t find the “back-slapping, good-ol-boy, you’re-part-of-the-CRHP-team-now” mentality to be of significant benefit to me spiritually.
 
Don’t let one bad experience turn you off coming into the Church. I am a cradle Catholic who attended a CRHP weekend about two years ago. I now regret staying for the entire weekend. CRHP is supposedly derived from the Cursillo movement. After my experience with CRHP, I am reluctant to even consider a Cursillo weekend. For several years now I have made an effort to make a silent retreat in the Jesuit Retreat house, Whitehouse Retreat, in St. Louis. I find the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius to be much better for my spiritual growth.
 
Don’t let one bad experience turn you off coming into the Church. I am a cradle Catholic who attended a CRHP weekend about two years ago. I now regret staying for the entire weekend. CRHP is supposedly derived from the Cursillo movement. After my experience with CRHP, I am reluctant to even consider a Cursillo weekend. For several years now I have made an effort to make a silent retreat in the Jesuit Retreat house, Whitehouse Retreat, in St. Louis. I find the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius to be much better for my spiritual growth.
 
Alta said:
Hi, Hellisreal!
I attended a CHRP retreat about 2 years ago. Whether you find CHRP helpful or not depends on what you want to get out of a retreat. I appreciate all the very positive reponses listed above. I did not find CHRP to be a retreat in the way that I think of retreats. I prefer silent preached retreats in which the retreatant spends lots of time praying on his own, going to spiritual direction, listening to talks given by the priest-retreat master, etc. At a CHRP retreat you listen to your fellow parishioners tell about an aspect of their faith and how it has impacted their lives. This may be wonderful for people who don’t think the faith is for ordinary folks, etc., but for me it was quite painful in that I learned WAY more about some of my friend’s personal, intimate lives than I really wanted to know, and which did nothing for my faith. In short, I did not find the CHRP retreat helpful. On top of that, we had to draw posters, make up songs and poems, etc., which I thought was goofy, but which the other people seemed to enjoy. On the plus side, the talks on Eucharist and confession were very good and doctrinally sound. Everyone had the opportunity to go to confession and we did have Holy Mass both days. So, it depends. If you want to “build community” with your fellow parishioners, go for it. If you want to discover your primary fault and determine a plan for pursuing holiness, CHRP-- at least the initial weekend-- is not “it”.

Alta
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🙂 I also attended one this year 2014 and it was very personal and very emotional, crying and hugging. I did not get any spiritual feeling of going out and getting involved. I was so overwhelmed with the life stories and found it to be a public confession more than anything. We did little skits like stated above. That was a little fun, but not spiritual. Everyone was so attentive and really nice. Listening to 7-9 life sobering stories in one day was draining. We did not get the priest or any deacon to talk to us. The leading women which was a very positive motivational speaker lead the weekend. I have found out that they have halted anymore of these at our church, I wonder why? I heard that these weekends are not suppose to be like this, public confessions, as I looked at some of the witness examples and it is not like this.
Probably other churches as I have seen on the web, do not have this kind of dialogue.
 
What is very interesting is that people within the CRHP circle (the chirpers) think that it is not divisive, secretive, cliquish, or involves pressuring others to attend. But those outside of the circle (who, thanks to the internet, do know what goes on during and after the retreat) get to see and hear the following:
Pairs of chirpers who will try to speak in “code” around non-chirpers, because they don’t want to give away the big secret. (Here is a clue: the letters are not a secret. Your methods are not a secret. The fact that you spill the personal details of your life to a room full of strangers is not a secret.) It just makes you look like a couple of tweens with a new secret club.
Endlessly swapping your CRHP credentials with other chirpers. “I was at CRHP #1, and now I’m taking it to parish X. Do you know so and so from CRHP #6. I got her to attend…”
Referring to other CRHP members as “my chirp sister” or “my chirp brother.” Newsflash: we are all your brothers and sisters in Christ.
The non-answering of questions. “You just have to wait and see. I don’t want to ruin the experience.” If you were planning a vacation and the travel agent gave you no specifics, would you sign on?
The amazing ability to bring CRHP into any conversation: “You know your sister, who doesn’t believe in God? I think CRHP would be perfect for her.” “I can’t got to X, because I have a CRHP planning meeting. Have you ever been? It would be so perfect for you. I mean, I know you are already following all the teachings of the Church, have a rich prayer life, have a deep love for Christ and the saints, give of your time, talents, and treasure to the Church and others, but still, don’t you think you would get a lot out of it?”
For those of us seriously not interested in attending CRHP, chirpers have become like that guy we all know who goes around trying to recruit everyone to sell Amway. We get that CRHP filled some need for you. Not everyone has that need. But these behaviors ARE forming cliques within parishes and driving others away. I have a friend currently attending RCIA. It was years of prayer and patiently listening to this person’s concerns, and now he is in. Unfortunately the RCIA program is being run by a group of chirpers. After only a few meetings he is asking me why RCIA seems to be a big cheerleading program for something called chirp. He’s not even Catholic yet, and they are pressuring him to attend CRHP. And I can tell you that a CRHP weekend would drive this particular person from the Catholic Church.
CRHP is not for everyone. In fact, I would propose that it is not for many. Centuries of saints did not need a CRHP retreat. Please just reel in your chirpiness.
 
PlainCatholic7 said:
What is very interesting is that people within the CRHP circle (the chirpers) think that it is not divisive, secretive, cliquish, or involves pressuring others to attend. But those outside of the circle (who, thanks to the internet, do know what goes on during and after the retreat) get to see and hear the following:
Pairs of chirpers who will try to speak in “code” around non-chirpers, because they don’t want to give away the big secret. (Here is a clue: the letters are not a secret. Your methods are not a secret. The fact that you spill the personal details of your life to a room full of strangers is not a secret.) It just makes you look like a couple of tweens with a new secret club.
Endlessly swapping your CRHP credentials with other chirpers. “I was at CRHP #1, and now I’m taking it to parish X. Do you know so and so from CRHP #6. I got her to attend…”
Referring to other CRHP members as “my chirp sister” or “my chirp brother.” Newsflash: we are all your brothers and sisters in Christ.
The non-answering of questions. “You just have to wait and see. I don’t want to ruin the experience.” If you were planning a vacation and the travel agent gave you no specifics, would you sign on?
The amazing ability to bring CRHP into any conversation: “You know your sister, who doesn’t believe in God? I think CRHP would be perfect for her.” “I can’t got to X, because I have a CRHP planning meeting. Have you ever been? It would be so perfect for you. I mean, I know you are already following all the teachings of the Church, have a rich prayer life, have a deep love for Christ and the saints, give of your time, talents, and treasure to the Church and others, but still, don’t you think you would get a lot out of it?”
For those of us seriously not interested in attending CRHP, chirpers have become like that guy we all know who goes around trying to recruit everyone to sell Amway. We get that CRHP filled some need for you. Not everyone has that need. But these behaviors ARE forming cliques within parishes and driving others away. I have a friend currently attending RCIA. It was years of prayer and patiently listening to this person’s concerns, and now he is in. Unfortunately the RCIA program is being run by a group of chirpers. After only a few meetings he is asking me why RCIA seems to be a big cheerleading program for something called chirp. He’s not even Catholic yet, and they are pressuring him to attend CRHP. And I can tell you that a CRHP weekend would drive this particular person from the Catholic Church.
CRHP is not for everyone. In fact, I would propose that it is not for many. Centuries of saints did not need a CRHP retreat. Please just reel in your chirpiness.
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CRHP is cliquish and divisive. I highly recommend a retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, a Jesuit silent preached retreat. The CRHP “team building” exercises are shallow, UN-spiritual drivel that only serves to water down the faith. The “testimonies” are nothing more than public confessions reminiscent of celebrity confessions on Oprah. I would only recommend a CRHP weekend to someone who is Catholic in name only, someone whose faith is very shallow. I do regret staying for the entire weekend when I was encouraged to attend a CRHP weekend. There may be some CRHP programs that are run better than others…I sincerely hope so anyway, because I cannot imagine that what I went through on my CRHP weekend is what Christ truly intends for the renewal of His Church, nor what Pope St. John Paul the Great meant for the new evangelization.
 
PlainCatholic7 said:
What is very interesting is that people within the CRHP circle (the chirpers) think that it is not divisive, secretive, cliquish, or involves pressuring others to attend. But those outside of the circle (who, thanks to the internet, do know what goes on during and after the retreat) get to see and hear the following:

The non-answering of questions. “You just have to wait and see. I don’t want to ruin the experience.” If you were planning a vacation and the travel agent gave you no specifics, would you sign on?

For those of us seriously not interested in attending CRHP, chirpers have become like that guy we all know who goes around trying to recruit everyone to sell Amway. We get that CRHP filled some need for you. Not everyone has that need. But these behaviors ARE forming cliques within parishes and driving others away. I have a friend currently attending RCIA. It was years of prayer and patiently listening to this person’s concerns, and now he is in. Unfortunately the RCIA program is being run by a group of chirpers. After only a few meetings he is asking me why RCIA seems to be a big cheerleading program for something called chirp. He’s not even Catholic yet, and they are pressuring him to attend CRHP. And I can tell you that a CRHP weekend would drive this particular person from the Catholic Church.
CRHP is not for everyone. In fact, I would propose that it is not for many. Centuries of saints did not need a CRHP retreat. Please just reel in your chirpiness.
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I went to CRHP many years ago, and it was wonderful. I loved it. Honestly, I didn’t find anyone in the parish to be cliquey at all. I thought it was well planned and about the perfect length. I’m not sure that today I would enjoy what I enjoyed way back then though.
If you are turned off by CRHP, don’t even think about cursillo, it’s really really controlling.

And you are right, I hate the “you just have to experience it, I can’t really explain it to you” statements, they are terrible. I would avoid anything that is explained this way! At least CRHP is only Saturday and Sunday, most anyone can endure that if they try hard.

I think retreats are wonderful things, especially in today’s world where everyone multi-tasks and everyone is pretty much exhausted most of the time. But not every retreat will serve everyone’s needs. Choose carefully. And most everything about most all retreats is online, so search it out if you need more info. 🙂
 
maherite1977 said:
I have been on 2 CRHP retreats, one as a participant and the other, which was just this last weekend, as a Team Member. I found the whole experience absolutely amazing! I was moved by the witnesses the team members gave on my first retreat and was moved by the Spirit to give a witness talk during the last retreat. It’s hard to completely describe the whole weekend without actually going on a CRHP weekend. I don’t think the priest was being flippant toward you - it’s just hard to include everything that happens at CRHP in an answer.

CRHP was started in Cleveland back in the early 1970’s and has spread to half the country. There are 5 Parishes in Toledo and the outlying suburbs who have done CRHP weekends and I have heard nothing but positive things about their weekends.

If you do go on a retreat, here is kind of what to expect - at least this is how our retreat weekends go…
  • DO NOT bring cell phones, watches, money, etc. The experience is free and we find phones, watches, etc. take away from the experience. Keep your mind open to God. Use the weekend to fully open yourself to the Spirit.
  • DO NOT enter the weekend with a closed mind - be open to the Spirit and He will move you!
  • DO enjoy yourself! You have absolutely nothing to worry about on your CRHP weekend - you are fed (quite well actually!), you will get a chance to attend Mass - we went twice on our weekend.
  • DO experience every emotion possible during your weekend. I guarantee, you will be moved to tears; you will laugh, you will think, you will learn more about your faith, and you will be a better person afterward!
    Just remember, the team putting on the CRHP weekend are not doing all the planning for themselves, they are doing it for you and for CHRIST! It wouldn’t be CRHP without CHRIST!
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Thank you so much for the well thought and from the heart details on CHRP. Ours is this weekend and I have been somewhat ambivalent about it. I only read the first two pages from the oldest posts here in the CHRP thread. I want to keep the rest as a surprise and appreciate you all holding back on the finer details. Because my life has been something of an American Diaspora, wandering, living on both coasts, either hunting or being hunted by God the whole time. Going into my fifth year of sneaking into the Parish and immediately being filled with the Holy Spirit in a somewhat abrupt and sensational manner. Never left after that moment. Live for Mass. Yet when reflection and sharing on a broader level comes into play I am nervous, and this reticence concerning my opening up in person (I am a writer so standing intellectually and emotionally naked is part of the day) is out of a fear of pushing people away rather than forming deeper spiritual bonds with my brothers in the Faith. Even if composed in symbolic logic it still comes across as a cursed wanderer rather than a love of America and the chance to live and work in all the most beautiful places,

I am thankful for the portion of my life that is all hard luck and fighting for air as I cannot envision conversion without the power of what hurt so much coupled with seeing and feeling the graces God has compassionately set forth as a foundation for my life. If there were no “Hounds of Heaven”, no “Saison en Enfer”; no complete suffering in loss of health, marriage and career in a 25 month period; becoming isolated; I am not sure that the Gloria and Kyrie Eleison would move me as powerfully as those two little songs have done; or if the meanings throughout Saint John of the Cross in his letters to Saint Teresa and Dark Night of the Soul had not reached into my heart; If I had not entered into the life of Christ, I do not know how or if I would have survived. It is a dramatic tale, this life. I do not want to become marginalized, separated or doubted within the Parish, this place that is the house of my salvation, of Jesus Christ revealing. I just want to love God, grow close to fellow parishioners without this ambivalence that hovers over each contemplation of hope and faith, of love and acceptance.

Thank you, to all of you in these first two pages of a long thread on Christ Renews His Parish, you have made me a bit more at ease. I looked in more towards the present year, 2015, and glanced over a few lines that were less challenged and more of complaint, and no one needs that when what I perceive to be a grand, unifying and partitioned span of time is just a few days away. Y’all are doing what we should do, love God and be intentional disciples for our Lord Jesus Christ alive in our minds, words and heart.
 
I recently did a CRHP weekend. It was described by another person as being very similar to an AA meeting. First, they have one for the guys and one for the women. Mine was the guys. Essentially, it was a group of guy’s that as one person walked to the podium to give his life story, much of it filled with the woes me of life" while the next person is off in another room praying for the guy giving his talk. Then each new participant is placed at separate table and the guys running the program and giving their talk circulate from table to table. The guys who are in this thing keep telling you the Holy Spirit brought you here and there’s a reason you were brought. I kept thinking, I’m here because my wife nudged me.
I’m sorry, but I’m just not into sharing my life story with a bunch of people I don’t know. They keep it all secretive. They ask you to spend the night so at the end of the day they can all slosh a couple beers down their throats. Myself, I don’t like sleeping on cots and I’m even more selective with whom I drink with when I have no escape route. You either love it and if you do you’re a new CRHP brother. Again, I already have two brothers and they’re quite enough to handle where I just don’t need any other imposter make believe ones. The end of the Saturday night you’re asked to line up and they take you down the hall and over to the church where, straight out of a Stanley Kubrick “Eye’s Wide Shut” there’s a bunch of other “graduate attendees and their families” holding candlelight, Gregorian chants. Nowhere to run now, you’re in for the duration. Besides, running out now may cause you to bump into someone and before you know it you just became Betsy’s cow and started the Great Chicago Fire Act II.
I arrived the next morning after one of the directors told me, quite sternly, to arrive at 7:00 so we could all have breakfast together. I have a year and a half old girl that I’m leaving my wife with so I could show my solidarity with a bunch of grown men then I’ve found out more about them than I did the first five years of dating my wife. That’s the other thing. They really drive it home that what’s said there stays there. I understand why. They really are sharing some very personal experiences, but have you ever tried to answer your wife with "nothing important or I can’t tell you, it’s a guy thing when she asks "what did you guy’s do? whatcha talk about? the last time I gave those answers I was twenty-two coming home from a bachelor party. My point? when your wife asks what you talked about? someone’s telling. In the words of Donald Trump- “That much, I can tell you”.
Anyway, after breakfast you go to a mass and back to your conference room, where you hear a couple more of the same. Then they hand you a stack of letters written by people you may or may not know stating that they will be “praying for you” etc. I didn’t know if I should be warmed by their sincerity or take it was a warning of what’s to come next. The weekend ends with a lunch and a follow-up meeting that everyone is heartily, pressured into attending.
The next meeting, about a week later, you’re requested to follow up by taking the “givers” title and telling your story which is prepared for by meeting once a month and guided by both a manual and “The Holy Spirit”. They use a tactic in sales which doesn’t allow you to "gracefully " bow out and some even pray over you, which for me always makes me slightly uncomfortable. It was only after this meeting where I practically ran to my car and honestly quite irritated by the whole thing. After receiving a group email, I explained I could no longer participate as I was going to Guam to change my identity and live out the remainder of my life without my CRHP “brothers” and carelessly try to open coconuts for the remainder of my life. That is, if Guam indeed has coconuts.
In the end, CRHP isn’t quite for me, but it is a way to get to know others in your parish in an intimate level. The “cool kids” seem to like it very much, but honestly, I was hoping that a retreat was going to be more like talking about how we might be able to talk with those who are in my life who don’t go to church or have no relationship with God at all. Maybe we could find some way to get my fellow parishioners to understand receiving the Eucharist without confession is a grave offense. Or maybe even something as small as don’t leave immediately after receiving the Eucharist. It really angers the choir! In the end, it just wasn’t for me. I’m a warm fuzzy guy, but I have a wife and two brothers who know that side of me.
 
My experience was different from yours.

We had no alcohol at all. The team that did my retreat did a nice job overall.

I’d put it this way:

For some people, its amazingly powerful. There were several people who were on the edge maybe religiously, and it really helped to push them back into the church. It was nice to see.

The witness talks were very heart felt, and made an impression. Personally it was great to hear that other people struggle with the same sins I myself do, and that they were able to fight them.

The boxes and letters are kind of silly to me, and a big risk. They are nice, and sentimental. But if you have a person who doesn’t have alot of people who can, or are willing to, write, then the retreatant just gets a box of almost form letters while others are getting heart felt letters from their family.

If you aren’t one of those folks who likes to share personal things, or hear them from those who you aren’t really close with, this isn’t for you. If you like to have a vibrant discussion about the faith, this isn’t for you.

If you want, or desire, to hear other people hold forth on their faith journey, its great.

I’m kind of ambivalent. The retreat was good over all. I joined TEAM after that though, and I’m really struggling with that.

Its a lay organization, so it seems YMMV around a basic structure.
 
I think your mind is cluttered. Have some rest at times, ponder at the situation, and regard yourself with the possibility of a good venture.
 
Whalljim said:
I’m kind of ambivalent. The retreat was good over all. I joined TEAM after that though, and I’m really struggling with that.

Its a lay organization, so it seems YMMV around a basic structure.
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Just an update. I’m still struggling with team, but its better. I’ll make a final decision as to whether I’m continuing on this weekend after some prayer. But it is very nice to be around a group of Catholic men.
 
Hellisreal said:
I met some people that talk about it and have seen it in the bulletin but, never really gave it much thought until now. There is a womens group and a mens group. I was talking to one of the priests about it recently, and instead of answering my questions he said to just do it. That is not going to work with me. I need to know what I am getting into before I do, and frankly I was upset by his flip reply to me. I shouldnt be, but its frustrating sometimes.

I would like clear points about it, good and bad, what goes on, what kind of spirituality is it? Good links to explain would also be nice, and if you are willing to share anything else, go for it.

What kind of backround or preparation would make it more fufilling an experience? Anything you would have done differently?

Is this run throughout the USA? Or all over the globe? Who started it and when?
What are the dangers if any? Is there any controversy about it? Is there pressure put on people to do this to do it year after year? Is there pressure to recruit others in it? What is really going on is basically what I want to know.

Tell me everything you know, and if you forget something, come back and add anything you forgot.
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I was scheduled to go on one but it was cancelled due to a lack of participants.
 
BobLuck said:
Don’t let one bad experience turn you off coming into the Church. I am a cradle Catholic who attended a CRHP weekend about two years ago. I now regret staying for the entire weekend. CRHP is supposedly derived from the Cursillo movement. After my experience with CRHP, I am reluctant to even consider a Cursillo weekend. For several years now I have made an effort to make a silent retreat in the Jesuit Retreat house, Whitehouse Retreat, in St. Louis. I find the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius to be much better for my spiritual growth.
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I’m from St. Louis. You come here all the way from Florida? Wow!
 
I am registered to attend CRHP this weekend. I have been having strong misgivings about going and I have been praying about it. So glad I decided to do a little ‘research’ to get some idea what to expect. This is so not my cup of tea. I do not want to hear a bunch of sob stories and watch everyone get all emotional. I do not want to do arts and crafts, etc. I am not a 5 yr old that I need to have my car keys, watch and phone taken away from me. I am always looking for ways to grow in my faith. Our parish has a Perpetual Adoration Chapel, I am there every day for a good 45 minutes before daily Mass. I have my prayer rituals in the morning and evening. I was simply looking for some spiritual stimulation, not a Kumbaya moment. Thanks for the honesty of those who gave insights in to this retreat. I would have been very unhappy if I attended and got broadsided with this nonsense.
 
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