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By Priscilla Greear
Staff Writer
MARIETTA--While teaching the Gospel and Catholic doctrine, the Life Teen
program helps teenagers to surrender daily to Christ and to experience him in
the life of the Church.
"The goal of our Life Teen program is to create an environment that
will lead high school teens into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ
and his church. The center of the program is in the Eucharist," said Randy
Raus, national Life Teen director.
The annual Life Teen Atlanta Training Conference was held Feb. 21-24 at St.
Ann's Church in Marietta, the national hub for the program. It attracted 160
people including priests, youth ministers and others and offered ways to
develop Life Teen and other youth ministry programs.
Father Dale Fushek of St. Timothy's Church in Mesa, Ariz., founded Life Teen
in 1985. The national program has grown to include approximately 50,000 teens
in over 500 parishes, including 34 in Georgia.
Led by a youth minister, priest and a core group, the Life Teen program
includes retreats, conferences, social and educational events for teens.
Phil Baniewicz, Life Teen executive director, referred to "The Five
Cries of Youth" by Merton Stommen to describe the biggest problems teens
face: loneliness, self-esteem, family problems, fear of commitment and an
inability to express joy. He also noted that these issues affect church-going
teens as well as those who don't go. Baniewicz said that teens must receive the
message of the paschal mystery to find healing and hope.
"We have to realize that love equals death, faith equals
surrender," he said. "The message is the Good News. The message is
the paschal mystery and the dying and rising with Christ. And we have to do
that daily and a lot of times with teens they have to change
relationships."
Baniewicz said the Life Teen goal is for youth to be transformed through
Christ's love.
"Formation deals with change in behavior, change in the way you act.
Transformation deals with a change in being, a change of who you are. It deals
with conversion. It deals with a change of heart," he said.
"Transformation is what we want to have happen because transformation is
where the difference will be made. With a young person you get their heart on
fire and--guess what--they want to start learning. They want to come alive in
their faith."
Speaking at the conference, Father Fushek told how Mass is a
transformational experience which involves gathering and welcoming teens,
proclaiming the Scripture, breaking open God's mystery in the Eucharist and
sending teens out to live the Gospel.
"The whole idea of the liturgy of the Eucharist is that we are breaking
open the mystery of God."
He said that Life Nights, which follow every Mass, should have the same flow
as the Mass. Life Nights fall under one of three categories: educational,
social or issue-oriented.
As many youth don't know their faith, sessions at times should include
orthodox teachings, after which youth may then have reflection time and break
into small groups.
"The break part is getting them to experience it (church teaching)
because people do not change by ideas. They change by experience," he
said. "In every Life Night you need to do this--you gather, proclaim, you
break and you send."
Raus said parishes need core groups and youth ministers to lead programs and
that it is important to involve priests and to delegate authority. Leadership
skills should be developed in all teens and program leaders should have a love
of God and teens and should continually reach out to them.
"You've got to spend the time with them (teens) and make those
relationships."
In addition to Life Nights, Raus suggested that parishes hold Scripture
study and prayer groups, organize creative events such as 6:30 a.m. Mass
followed by bagels, and have the youth attend youth conferences and mission
trips.
To begin a Life Teen program, Raus said leaders should allow about six
months before officially launching a comprehensive program that includes the
essential aspects of the ministry. Part of the preparations involve finding
quality musicians, who should begin practicing two months in advance, getting
at least 15 core members and meeting with parents. He said planners should
contact their diocesan office regarding catechetical guidelines for programs
ministering to teens. They should also find quality publicity for life teen
programs, he continued, through parish and radio station announcements, local
newspapers and even sportswear.
Kathy Wolf, archdiocesan director of religious education, recommended youth
ministry leaders receive training through their parishes, dioceses and Life
Teen training conferences to teach them things such as how to identify and
handle problems teens may have.
Wolf advised youth ministry leaders to seek out help from their parish's
decision-makers, such as its finance committees, and other gifted parishioners,
including music ministers and pastoral counselors.
"It's a radical advocacy for the youth because everyone in the parish
has to get involved. The pastor has to be involved and have a radical
commitment to the youth," she said. "Be as totally creative as
possible. Utilize everything God has given you not only in your personal gifts
but also in the gifts of your parish."
She said that Life Teen planners must have welcoming attitudes toward teens
in order to create a safe, loving environment in which they can develop
relationships and experience the sacraments of the church.
"We're going to create a safe environment for young people to come to
be themselves, to share their joys and sorrows--having an atmosphere of
welcoming."
To attract teens, Baniewicz recommended youth leaders visit teens on their
high school campuses, with permission of school administrations, and at
extracurricular activities to invite them to participate in Life Teen. He said
two youth ministers should go and invite school leaders, whom others will
follow, to participate in the program. Planners should use humor, talk with
enthusiasm and authenticity to teens while searching for common ground and
emphasizing how the program is different.
"Face to face contact is most effective. Looking in someone's eyes is
the most effective way to reach out to young people, and if you do that, be a
person of integrity. Be authentic," he said. "The challenge is
to...get you out there and be willing to fail. The truth is you're going to
fail."
Father Matthew Roussel of Lafayette, La., described the challenges he is
experiencing in developing the Life Teen program at Our Lady of Fatima Church,
which began in September and has attracted up to 120 teens.
"There's a bit of resentment from the people who see the six o'clock
Mass focus on the youth. We're trying to make that transition delicate...We're
allowing the eucharistic ministers and lectors-- we're letting them stay on but
we're phasing in the young people as needed to take on those ministries,"
he said. "Most of the people are liking the music that we're doing now.
The music is a little more upbeat, a little faster, and a little louder."
While many may respond positively to the style of music, it's the message
that is found within it that's most important.
"The challenge is to pass from entertaining the kids to really trying
to teach them the faith. We really need to bring them into what it means to be
Catholic. We really need to explain the riches of the faith, the depth of the
faith," he continued. "We want to always make sure that we keep the
Mass reverent."
Father Dave Pivonka of Franciscan University helps lead a program at Holy
Rosary Church, Steubenville, Ohio, which has doubled in the past year to now
attract up to 250 teens.
"It's founded in the sacrament of the church and I think that's one of
the reasons it's so effective. If the Gospel is being preached young people are
going to be attracted to it," Father Pivonka said.
"This year I went on a retreat with them. I spent all weekend with
them...I think it's important to spend time with them. That's probably the
biggest reason it's grown."
As the program has caught on with the teens, they have become its
messengers.
"The teens are inviting other teens. It's not just the youth ministers
inviting people. The teens go back to the high school and say 'You can enjoy
Mass.'"
Carmen Lerma, youth minister of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Alpharetta,
described how her Life Teen program is involved in outreach. She said the youth
will take their annual mission trip this June for a construction project to
benefit senior citizens in West Virginia. They recently held a fund-raiser
earning $1,100 for the project. She is planning a spring retreat during Holy
Week with sessions in Spanish to draw more Hispanics to the program.
"We have to keep trying to invite our Hispanics. Transportation is
definitely an issue. We have to find ways to make our program a little more
convenient."
For Lerma and those ministering to youth, the recent conference offered ways
to reach out to teens and reaffirmed the Life Teen program's primary purpose.
"It has got to have depth to it. It has got to be about relationship
with Christ," Raus said.
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