DiscerningCatholic Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I have nothing put poor experiences with Lifeteen. However, I attribute that to the faithfulness/philosophy of is implementers/leaders/pastor. THIS. A thousand times. I've had nothing but GOOD experiences with LifeTeen, but the people who run the youth ministry at my church are very orthodox (if a bit loving of the hippie Mass). I think the Church should buy an island, and send all un-orthodox priests there for their permanent retirement spot. CAN WE THO??? :bounce: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgiiMichael Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I work at a parish, and we use Lifeteen and it's middle school equivalent, Edge. They are extremely handy for planning out the semester, but we don't really use them beyond taking the themes for the night and then going our own way with them. They give Bible and CCC citations for the information they use in their teaching portion of the outline, and extra Bible and CCC citations for further understanding. However, most of their activities are quite silly and not worth doing. We mostly use the semester programs for cheat sheets in order to make sure we cover the things we need to cover. We're a youth ministry that uses Lifeteen, as opposed to having a Lifeteen program. Does that make sense? Our new pastor doesn't like Lifeteen though, so we won't be using it beyond this year. So I guess what I'm saying is that it's all about individual execution, not the program itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apotheoun Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Lifeteen has improved a lot since the excommunication of one of its founders, but I still have seen things done during Lifeteen Masses that are inappropriate. Hopefully having separate Masses for teenagers will become a thing of the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Lifeteen still exists? Dude, this is youth ministry. I went through youth group in the early 2000s, and we did it with Newsboys, DC Talk and Five Iron Frenzy CDs. Stuff sticks around FOR-EV-ER. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubertus Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Life Teen has only ever been a great help to me, I think. And the Life Teen program at my parish, both when I was in high school and currently as I volunteer for it (I'm in college now), has always been implemented in a surprisingly orthodox and even old-school fashion... as far as the teaching material goes. I am curious though, does Life Teen necessarily involve a "Life Teen Mass"? Is that actually part of the program, or is that just something priests do on their own? We had a Life Teen Mass with my old priest (which I just went along with at the time, but which seems a bit strange looking back on it), but the current priest got rid of it in favor of (1) saving money on music, and (2) encouraging the whole family to go to Mass together. Dude, this is youth ministry. I went through youth group in the early 2000s, and we did it with Newsboys, DC Talk and Five Iron Frenzy CDs. Stuff sticks around FOR-EV-ER. :) No kidding. Why re-invent the wheel? ... Except, of course, when you're trying to be cool.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJon16 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I am a big fan of a lot of the blog posts that the website puts out. There are some amesome ones! http://lifeteen.com/my-side-of-the-confessional-what-is-it-like-for-a-priest/ This one is by-far my favorite out of the past bunch. Check it out. It's pretty dope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 (edited) I think the general consensus with Lifeteen is that it's orthodox when done correctly -- but there are cases when heterodoxy and liturgical abuse occurs, but you will find that in many parishes, Lifeteen or not. The modern style of music often found in the LT masses is debated rigorously -- I personally can't stand it, but that is a matter of aesthetics, and I'm not going to turn my nose up at anyone who happens to like it. I think the problem with these debates is that people take differing opinions much too personally. Liturgical preferences in no way should be regarded as a reflection on a person's character or spiritual life. If we recognize this, discussions would probably be more likely to stay civil, and that can go a long way. 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. I often attend an evening mass without hymns at an Oratory here in England and I really like it. Their morning masses have very traditional music that is beautiful and the best of all, but like you, I actually prefer a mass with no music rather than one with music that I find banal and tiresome. Our lives are filled with enough noise and chaos, sometimes a reverent and silent mass can be a refreshing change. Edited December 6, 2012 by Ash Wednesday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJon16 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I think the general consensus with Lifeteen is that it's orthodox when done correctly -- but there are cases when heterodoxy and liturgical abuse occurs, but you will find that in many parishes, Lifeteen or not. The modern style of music often found in the LT masses is debated rigorously -- I personally can't stand it, but that is a matter of aesthetics, and I'm not going to turn my nose up at anyone who happens to like it. I think the problem with these debates is that people take differing opinions much too personally. Liturgical preferences in no way should be regarded as a reflection on a person's character or spiritual life. If we recognize this, discussions would probably be more likely to stay civil, and that can go a long way. Oddly enough, I don't think this has down-spiraled into a debate yet. So far, everyone is just voicing their opinions, and as of yet everyone has been respecting one another's opinions... After realizing what I had just wrote, I had to double check and make sure I was actually still on Phatmass... :| *knocks on wood* Yous guys have gone soft. Gone really soft... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG45 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 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! This, so much this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Silent Mass question: When you say "silent," you mean no music, no singing, at all? ...is that even allowed for a Sunday? ...well, I mean, I guess it must be, since the bishop wanted it... ...it just feels like that doesn't jive with Sacrosanctum Concilium... ...but I guess the bishop gets the trump card in his diocese. Hmm. I guess I'll have to figure out whether I'd prefer silence or obnoxious flute solos to see where I stand on this. Carry on. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightofChrist Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Silence is Sacred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappo Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Silent Mass question: When you say "silent," you mean no music, no singing, at all? ...is that even allowed for a Sunday? ...well, I mean, I guess it must be, since the bishop wanted it... ...it just feels like that doesn't jive with Sacrosanctum Concilium... ...but I guess the bishop gets the trump card in his diocese. Hmm. I guess I'll have to figure out whether I'd prefer silence or obnoxious flute solos to see where I stand on this. Carry on. :) If mass without music wasn't permitted on Sunday then there would never be a low mass offered on Sunday. There's low masses offered across the country on Sunday's :). Unfortunately none in my area :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I came to very much appreciate the silent Low Mass during the summer, because for several weeks there were too many people away to form a choir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosey Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I miss the Low Mass in my parish. It's so unexpectedly beautiful. Plus, I can't stand our choir :pinch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XIX Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 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. That's pretty much my experience with my non-Lifeteen youth group from way back when. We had very dedicated and orthodox leaders. IMO it's the members that make the group, not the leaders or the specific program. If the kids don't give two cents about their faith, then the group will largely fail. If they care, they the group will succeed. Protip: Whether they care has a lot to do with their upbringing. Obviously it's not the only factor, but it's the main factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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