Basilisa Marie Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Can I just say how wonderful it is that you guys are a small rural parish whose religious ed is run on the power of volunteers and still think building up youth ministry is important? YAY! I think LifeTeen would be a great way to get started on building up a youth program. But like others have said, all youth ministry groups are different, and it's important to tailor the program to the needs of the parish and the kids. LifeTeen's one "brand" among many, but it's been around for a while and moderately successful, again, depending on how parishes implement it. So go for it, and see what works and what doesn't for you guys. Constantly evaluate what works and what doesn't, and always look for new ways to "flesh out" your youth program. What's most important is that the team that's "doing" the youth ministry loves the Church, loves the kids, and is faithful to the Church's teaching. If you've got that, you can tailor ANY program to your parish's needs. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Anyone who says to avoid life teen at all costs is on the extreme end of things one way or another and is out of bounds. Life Teen is very orthodox and is extremely obedient to the Magisterium. They are among the very best youth and comprehensive ministry organizations in the US. We incorporate Life Teen into our program because we have no parish youth ministry staff (even though I am a staff member that does youth ministry, it is above and beyond my job description). Life Teen covers all 8 semesters of high school catechesis and writes out the lesson plans for you to ensure that you are within the guidelines what the bishops and Magisterium expects for youth ministry. The social aspects of Life Teen are great because they give you a ton of ideas, and you can pick and choose what you need. Life teen was instrumental in helping me when we had a tragedy in our community when a teen was killed at the high school. The Life Teen staff offered a holy hour for us and sent their Hope Life Night to us for just that purpose. They stayed on the phone with our staff and helped us through everything. They are very Eucharistic centered. Like others said we do not always follow their lesson plans. Sometimes they are not meaty enough for our teens, but every youth group is different. They give you a great foundation on which to build. Sometimes we don't use the materials at all, and other times we use them a lot. If you are starting from scratch I would recommend downloading some of their sample lesson plans online and see what you think. You do not need Life Teen to run a success youth ministry program, but it can be a real help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apotheoun Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Lifeteen liturgies often quite banal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisChildForever Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Lifeteen is teh satanzz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Anyone who says to avoid life teen at all costs is on the extreme end of things one way or another and is out of bounds. Life Teen is very orthodox and is extremely obedient to the Magisterium. They are among the very best youth and comprehensive ministry organizations in the US. We incorporate Life Teen into our program because we have no parish youth ministry staff (even though I am a staff member that does youth ministry, it is above and beyond my job description). Life Teen covers all 8 semesters of high school catechesis and writes out the lesson plans for you to ensure that you are within the guidelines what the bishops and Magisterium expects for youth ministry. The social aspects of Life Teen are great because they give you a ton of ideas, and you can pick and choose what you need. Life teen was instrumental in helping me when we had a tragedy in our community when a teen was killed at the high school. The Life Teen staff offered a holy hour for us and sent their Hope Life Night to us for just that purpose. They stayed on the phone with our staff and helped us through everything. They are very Eucharistic centered. Like others said we do not always follow their lesson plans. Sometimes they are not meaty enough for our teens, but every youth group is different. They give you a great foundation on which to build. Sometimes we don't use the materials at all, and other times we use them a lot. If you are starting from scratch I would recommend downloading some of their sample lesson plans online and see what you think. You do not need Life Teen to run a success youth ministry program, but it can be a real help. I would give this props if I were able to do so. :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I have said this before on different threads, but I will say it again. The Lifeteen program in my diocese was/is extremely poor. I have seen the results of the program: out of around a dozen people I knew personally who were active in Lifeteen, only one of them remains Catholic five years later. The rest are agnostic or militant atheist. They tried to blend some kind of charismatic style worship into their Masses, and the results were quite awful on that front as well. Maybe other programs are run differently. I hope for the sake of our Catholic youth that they are. But the one that I have exposure to in my diocese was ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercy me Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I was involved in Lifeteen for years. Going with Lifeteen doesn't mean that you don't have to know your faith inside and out. Youth ministry requires that you need to know it and be faithful to. That said, Brother Adam connect. I always found their material faithful to the magisterium. They go through the Catechism from beginning to end. It provides interesting lessons that we adjusted to our teens. I don't remember ever using an outline in its entirety, we always adjusted to fit our teens, resources, talents, etc. It provides a great framework for a youth ministry. You don't have to waste so much time brainstorming what to do each week and freed us to be with our teens, which is what we are called to do, be with our teens. As to the effect, you will know it by its fruit. I can tell you that there were 5 vocations that I can think of off the top of my head from our youth ministry in the time I was there. Having a strong support system for faith helps all of us more clearly discern God's will in our life. If we can in any way help to build that community then that is what we hope for. God does the rest if we can get out of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovechrist Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I must echo Brother Adam's comments on this one. I was raised in a parish that did not use LT, but we had amazing resources to put towards a very comprehensive + orthodox curriculum. Upon graduating, I actually helped launch a LifeTeen program at a parish down the street from my family's (particularly in helping develop the music they sang at LT Mass, which I saw as one of the critical elements that could fall out of line faster than anything) - and to this day I still try to volunteer/support the one at my local parish. When put into the right situation (as some here have already described), the ambitious energy LT produces could be exactly what a youth ministry needs to excel to the next level. If you have trust in the volunteers + staff around you, don't hesitate to try a program like this. Each Diocese can be a bit different in how they support it, but it is up to the parish's individuals to make the difference in the lives of their youth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Lifeteen still exists? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papist Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Yes. You just bumped it. I have nothing put poor experiences with Lifeteen. However, I attribute that to the faithfulness/philosophy of is implementers/leaders/pastor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I think the Church should buy an island, and send all un-orthodox priests there for their permanent retirement spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papist Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I think this Sunday's second collection is for just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappo Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I really dislike the emphasis lifeteen has on a "teen friendly" liturgy with teen oriented music. A priest orienting his homily in a way that more closely relates to teens rather than adults is one thing, but in my experience a "lifeteen mass" takes it a lot farther than that. I'm sure it also depends on the parish and who is running the LT program. Aside from that, the catechetical materials seem legit. I just really dislike the influence on the liturgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 My bishop, (well, former bishop, Kevin Vann is moving to Cali), encouraged every church in my diocese to offer at least one "silent" mass every Sunday. I don't know if this is common or not. I say "encouraged" because I know that every church did not actually do it. A "silent" mass is a mass without music--and I actually prefer it, by far, to a mass with bad music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I think the Church should buy an island, and send all un-orthodox priests there for their permanent retirement spot. Maybe an island on the moon? :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now