• Excel of the Rainbow Zebra •
• Excel of the Rainbow Eagle: Faithfulness •
• Excel of the Rainbow Fish: Couples •
• Excel of the Rainbow Fish: Couples •
Our History
THE STORY OF EXCEL
EXCEL INTERNATIONAL started in the 1970s, when the Rev. Richard Mickley adapted Cursillo as a one time special retreat for the Los Angles MCC congregation. That first weekend was so popular that the group continued weekends in Christian Community Living.
Soon, people throughout UFMCC heard about EXCEL and traveled to California to attend one of these exercises. During 1980, the "Excel of the Redwoods" in the San Francisco area formed and conducted their first weekend with the assistance of the EXCEL of the City of Angels team. from LA. In that same year, "EXCEL in the Desert," Phoenix, Arizona was formed. The word had spread that this program of lay education and renewal was not only needed but would make a positive contribution to the life of a local congregation. The history of Cursillo in the early 1950s was repeated in EXCEL in the early 1980s.
Our History
The three affiliated teams that are often referred to in Excel circles as “rainbow critters” began with a Suitcase weekend presented by Excel International at Indian Springs Campground near Jackson, Georgia in March of 1992. This was sponsored by the then GLAD (Gulf Lower Atlantic District) of UFMCC. Participants were primarily drawn from the MCC congregations in Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia.
For the next two years, a core of participants from that weekend began to prepare to present Excel to GLAD under the team name Excel of the Rainbow Zebra. Team preparation was very thorough, involving monthly meetings typically held in Birmingham as the most “centrally located” of the cities involved. All team members were expected to prepare and present all nine of the weekend talks, and the preparation culminated with a “practice retreat” in the early spring of 1994. The first full-scale ERZ retreat weekend was held at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, AL in April of 1994. Keith Apple, at that time Executive Director of Excel International, attended that first weekend not only to monitor the team’s performance, but also to assist with the music. The following August, two members of the ERZ team attended an All-Team Gathering in Houston, TX, and the team was certified to continue to offer Excel retreat weekends.
During the following several years, ERZ typically offered retreat weekends twice yearly, in the spring and fall. A sincere attempt was made to find other campsites in order to more easily facilitate attendance from the northern and eastern parts of GLAD. Weekends were held in Toccoa, GA, Valle Crucis and Blowing Rock, NC, and Camp Thunderbird, SC. Unfortunately, none of these other sites proved feasible, and most of the weekends have been held at Camp McDowell. When reorganization of the UFMCC structure eliminated GLAD, and other changes occurred that further removed Excel from the UFMCC umbrella, it was decided by team consensus that we would make Camp McDowell our permanent “home” for all subsequent retreats.
One of the unique things about the ERZ team is that instead of disbanding after a retreat has been presented and then reorganizing for the next weekend, a stable “core group” of team members has remained active from the very beginning. Although some members have dropped off due to a variety of reasons, and new members have been added, the team has continued to meet between weekends. The team functions by consensus, and all meetings include the very important “Sharing of Friends” that is the foundation of the Excel program. Although team roles are fluid, we maintain continuity. New team members are accepted after appropriate training, also by consensus of those currently serving.
In the late 1990’s, an attempt was made to establish an affiliated couples weekend called Excel of the Rainbow Fish. The first weekend was presented at Bethany Retreat House in Athens, GA. Regretfully, a scheduled second retreat was unsuccessful due to difficulty in recruiting participants. Later, team couples were no longer being available, so the program became inactive. At about the same time, a Suitcase Faithfulness weekend was held at Camp McDowell, attended by most of the Rainbow Zebra team members as well as others who had participated in a Rainbow Zebra weekend. The Rainbow Zebra team decided to expand our program to present Faithfulness weekends, and the presenters for this program those already on the Rainbow Zebra team. This program was baptized Excel in Faithfulness Rainbow Eagle (EFRE). At one point the team was trying to present two ERZ weekends and one EFRE weekend per year, but this proved impractical. Current scheduling calls for a Faithfulness weekend every other year, following three ERZ weekends.
In 2007 at a team retreat, an abbreviated Couples weekend was presented for members of the ERZ team who are in coupled relationships, and they decided to re-activate the Rainbow Fish program. The new team includes members of the ERZ team and their spouses (who may or may not be ERZ team members as well). The Couples program differs from the Faithfulness program in that the prerequisite is to be in a committed coupled relationship, but it is not necessary to have participated in a previous Excel weekend to attend. Excel of the Rainbow Fish held its first weekend in February of 2008, and hopes to maintain an active schedule. Both Faithfulness and Couples retreats are intentionally smaller in terms of participants.
An extremely valuable part of all the Rainbow Zebra weekends has been the utilization of numerous “Friends”, people who have been participants on previous retreats and now come back in a role of service. There have been so many enthusiastic Friends over the years that the Rainbow Zebra team developed a unique follow-up program for those who returned as Friends more than once, called “Excelling in Service”. The people who are assigned to this group during an ERZ weekend not only serve as the “worship team” to set up the chapel and otherwise organize the liturgy, but also to go through a more detailed experience of the meaning of service in Excel. This program is considered a stepping-stone to further involvement with the team, and possible team membership.
EXCEL OF
THE RAINBOW ZEBRA
EXCEL OF
THE RAINBOW EAGLE ~ FAITHFULNESS
EXCEL OF
THE RAINBOW FISH ~ COUPLES
THE RAINBOW ZEBRA
EXCEL OF
THE RAINBOW EAGLE ~ FAITHFULNESS
EXCEL OF
THE RAINBOW FISH ~ COUPLES
The three affiliated teams that are often referred to in Excel circles as “rainbow critters” began with a Suitcase weekend presented by Excel International at Indian Springs Campground near Jackson, Georgia in March of 1992. This was sponsored by the then GLAD (Gulf Lower Atlantic District) of UFMCC. Participants were primarily drawn from the MCC congregations in Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia.
For the next two years, a core of participants from that weekend began to prepare to present Excel to GLAD under the team name Excel of the Rainbow Zebra. Team preparation was very thorough, involving monthly meetings typically held in Birmingham as the most “centrally located” of the cities involved. All team members were expected to prepare and present all nine of the weekend talks, and the preparation culminated with a “practice retreat” in the early spring of 1994. The first full-scale ERZ retreat weekend was held at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, AL in April of 1994. Keith Apple, at that time Executive Director of Excel International, attended that first weekend not only to monitor the team’s performance, but also to assist with the music. The following August, two members of the ERZ team attended an All-Team Gathering in Houston, TX, and the team was certified to continue to offer Excel retreat weekends.
During the following several years, ERZ typically offered retreat weekends twice yearly, in the spring and fall. A sincere attempt was made to find other campsites in order to more easily facilitate attendance from the northern and eastern parts of GLAD. Weekends were held in Toccoa, GA, Valle Crucis and Blowing Rock, NC, and Camp Thunderbird, SC. Unfortunately, none of these other sites proved feasible, and most of the weekends have been held at Camp McDowell. When reorganization of the UFMCC structure eliminated GLAD, and other changes occurred that further removed Excel from the UFMCC umbrella, it was decided by team consensus that we would make Camp McDowell our permanent “home” for all subsequent retreats.
One of the unique things about the ERZ team is that instead of disbanding after a retreat has been presented and then reorganizing for the next weekend, a stable “core group” of team members has remained active from the very beginning. Although some members have dropped off due to a variety of reasons, and new members have been added, the team has continued to meet between weekends. The team functions by consensus, and all meetings include the very important “Sharing of Friends” that is the foundation of the Excel program. Although team roles are fluid, we maintain continuity. New team members are accepted after appropriate training, also by consensus of those currently serving.
In the late 1990’s, an attempt was made to establish an affiliated couples weekend called Excel of the Rainbow Fish. The first weekend was presented at Bethany Retreat House in Athens, GA. Regretfully, a scheduled second retreat was unsuccessful due to difficulty in recruiting participants. Later, team couples were no longer being available, so the program became inactive. At about the same time, a Suitcase Faithfulness weekend was held at Camp McDowell, attended by most of the Rainbow Zebra team members as well as others who had participated in a Rainbow Zebra weekend. The Rainbow Zebra team decided to expand our program to present Faithfulness weekends, and the presenters for this program those already on the Rainbow Zebra team. This program was baptized Excel in Faithfulness Rainbow Eagle (EFRE). At one point the team was trying to present two ERZ weekends and one EFRE weekend per year, but this proved impractical. Current scheduling calls for a Faithfulness weekend every other year, following three ERZ weekends.
In 2007 at a team retreat, an abbreviated Couples weekend was presented for members of the ERZ team who are in coupled relationships, and they decided to re-activate the Rainbow Fish program. The new team includes members of the ERZ team and their spouses (who may or may not be ERZ team members as well). The Couples program differs from the Faithfulness program in that the prerequisite is to be in a committed coupled relationship, but it is not necessary to have participated in a previous Excel weekend to attend. Excel of the Rainbow Fish held its first weekend in February of 2008, and hopes to maintain an active schedule. Both Faithfulness and Couples retreats are intentionally smaller in terms of participants.
An extremely valuable part of all the Rainbow Zebra weekends has been the utilization of numerous “Friends”, people who have been participants on previous retreats and now come back in a role of service. There have been so many enthusiastic Friends over the years that the Rainbow Zebra team developed a unique follow-up program for those who returned as Friends more than once, called “Excelling in Service”. The people who are assigned to this group during an ERZ weekend not only serve as the “worship team” to set up the chapel and otherwise organize the liturgy, but also to go through a more detailed experience of the meaning of service in Excel. This program is considered a stepping-stone to further involvement with the team, and possible team membership.
