By Kathi Stearns

The Life Teen workshop, held at St. Ann's in Marietta, showed a great concern among adult leaders in the archdiocese that Catholic youth reconnect with the Mass and their faith.

Funded solely by the parish of St. Ann's and public and private donations, workshop topics covered the emotional, educational and spiritual needs of youth and the success of Life Teen programs

Father Dale Fushek, pastor of St. Timothy's Church in Mesa, AZ, and creator of the Life Teen program, addressed 270 priests, deacons, youth ministers and youth volunteers, representing 53 archdiocesan parishes and seven diocese, at the Nov. 19 workshop.

Father Fushek told participants if teens were asked to discuss their positive liturgical experiences the conversation would be short. On the other hand, if teens were asked to discuss their experience with "bad liturgy," he said, the conversation would seem never ending.

Father Fushek, while in seminary, realized that negative liturgical experiences can destroy faith when a teenage boy he had worked with left the Catholic Church. When Father Fushek asked the teen why, he responded, "For sixteen years of my life, every Sunday I went to Mass. Never once while I was there did I feel loved. I don't know what the people at my new church believe, but I know they love me."

The teen later became a minister at the church.

Father Fushek explained even though he wanted to tell the teenager he was wrong, "I could not deny his 16 years' experience."

"It is no secret that we, the Roman Catholic Church ... have done a terrible job with our young people. The bottom line is that we are losing our young people; we have already lost an entire generation. Ever single one of use will have to stand before Jesus and answer to that," Father Fushek told workshop participants.

The priest said he does not believe traditional religious education classes are effective with teenagers because they are aimed at the intellect, not the heart.

Father Fushek believes many young people have left the church because they have not been presented the message of the Gospel in an honest and forthright way. "My goal in youth ministry is not that every kid jumps right into being Catholic, but that every kid will hear the truth and have the opportunity to follow it."

"We believe out young people need what the church has to offer," Phil Baniewicz, national director of the Life Teen program said.

Baniewicz, also from St. Timothy's, told workshop participants that 93 percent of the youth who go to church say they want to experience a relationship with God. One of the biggest faults of the church, according to Baniewicz, is "most people come to the church looking for spirituality, but are offered social stuff instead."

"Our basic thrust is to bring the teen closer to Christ and His Church," Baniewicz said.

The essence of the Life Teen Mass is "as you receive the body of Christ, you become the presence of Christ for the world." For the youth of Life Teen, "The Mass never ends, it must be lived."

Both speakers said the Catholic Church has much to offer teens, which makes the current failing in youth ministry all the more tragic.

Among the elements needed by teens that the Church can give them, Baniewicz said, are: "identity ... a place to belong;" experience, particularly the spiritual experience that they will have when the Mass is celebrated vibrantly; love; the truth of the Gospel message; a place where they can let go of numbness and have feelings; a sense of hope.

Peggy Brooks, an adult volunteer serving the Life Teen program at St. Oliver Plunkett in Snellville, believes that after Confirmation many youth separate their lives from the church.

"They leave because they feel the church has nothing left to offer," she said.

She believes the Life Teen program bridges the gap between high school and adult religious education. "It deals with the Gospel in a truthful manner and uses contemporary issues to bring our lost youth back to the church."

Dorianne Gresher, a parishioner of St. Ann's remembers the first time her daughter, Meredith, attended a Life Teen Mass. "I remember praying for cute boys," she said with a smile, explaining that she believed that was the only reason her daughter would join and continue with the youth program.

She and Meredith attended their first Life Teen Mass together. Ms. Gresher recalled, "As the drums began, I was holding on for dear life. But when the celebration of the Eucharist began and I saw 400 kids gather around the altar, it was not like anything I had ever witnessed before in my life."

"I knew this program was going to have a positive influence on people and decided then that I could get used to this."

The true test came six months later when she was feeling ill and could not go to Mass. "I remember Meredith coming into my bedroom and telling me that she was leaving for Life Teen Mass, and she'd be home after the rap session. I was awestruck."

Contemporary music is an essential element in the success of the Life Teen program. Tom Booth, also of St. Timothy's and director of music ministry for Life Teen, cited the document Music in Catholic Worship. "Good music equates with good liturgy and fosters faith, while poor music equates with poor worship and can even weaken and destroy faith," he said.

Booth explained that music is a large component of teen life. "Music is a powerful form of prayer, and it is instrumental in the conversion process," he said. "If you take short-cuts with music you also take a risk of losing participants."

A Music Fest Concert featuring Booth and Ed Bolduc, St. Ann's Life Teen music minister, was held for a sold-out audience at the Roswell Auditorium Nov. 19.

Bolduc has written over 50 liturgical songs and produced a compact disk entitled, "the Way" featuring St. Ann's nine-piece Life Teen band. Bolduc feels it is his responsibility to "lead everyone in the full participation of the Mass."

Tom Aisthorpe, youth minister at Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Atlanta, believes music sung today in the church is old-fashioned and doesn't meet the needs of the teens. He believes the music used in the Life Teen Mass allows young people to sing and worship in a manner which is more comfortable and fitting for their age. "The kids are full of life and that is the way the music needs to be."

Currently there are 250 Life Teen programs nationwide. Father Fushek began the program in 1985 at St. Timothy's and now has over 500 participants weekly. His parish began a training program in response to requests for help from Catholic parishes who were having problems meeting the needs of their youth. He has received the Pope Paul VI award for evangelization.

"Numbers matter. Behind the numbers are souls. Behind the souls are lives," Father Fushek said. "I don't mean to be harsh; I just want to be honest."

In the archdiocese of Atlanta, Life Teen began at St. Ann's in 1992 and is implemented in the following other parishes: St. John Neumann, Lilburn; St. Pius X, Conyers; Sacred Heart, Atlanta; St. Philip Benizi, Jonesboro; St. Thomas the Apostle, Smyrna; St. Theresa, Douglasville; St. Joseph's Marietta; St. Oliver Plunkett, Snellville.

"It seems to be offering what the kids really need, a sense of belonging, and of experiencing Jesus on a personal basis," said Father John Koziol, OFM Conv., parochial vicar at St. Philip Benizi parish in Jonesboro.

The parish, which just began offering Life Teen in November, has about 80 teens involved and a core group of 20 leaders, he said. Father Koziol, who attended the workshop along with a team from the parish including Conventual Franciscans and lay leaders, saw a similarity between Life Teen and the highly effective 12-Step programs being used by adults. Both impact people "in their humanness," he said, facilitating conversion.

Numerous parishes of the archdiocese are hoping to implement the program within the next year.

"Atlanta is the hub of Coke, Delta, and now Life Teen," Father Fushek said with a smile. "As the program continues to grow, it is just going to become a stronger and larger movement."