Life Teen

[DiscerningCatholic]

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.

 

THIS. I can tell just by the attitude of many of the kids in my own LifeTeen group that a lot of them really don't care; they come for the food and for their girlfriends and, in the case of some freshmen, to come in pajama pants and try to look cool with the upperclassmen. :|

 

And then there are the kids who actually want to be there. You can tell. 

 

Also, I don't know what LT was like when it was first started; it was started in the mid-80's, so I'd guess kinda wonky. But I'm super traditional (NOT RAD TRAD) and I read the Catechism for fun and I do apologetics in my free time and I can guarantee you that if I saw something weird or off in the teaching, I would address it immediately. Our teen Masses aren't really that bad; they have the teens do the music of course, but aside from that, Mass is exactly the same as it is during a regular Mass. They don't dumb down the liturgy or dress the priest up as a clown or anything. :x

[Nihil Obstat]

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.

It was a very weird situation. I agree with you, but from what I saw myself I would not say that the kids who were involved did not care. I think they cared about the wrong things. They cared about the lame music and 'hip' Masses, and I would go so far as to say that they cared about 'the community'. It is just that for them the community was not the Church; it was this small, rather insular group of teenagers who all happened to enjoy P&W music and bad liturgies.

Bad foundation, I guess. Not a foundation of faith.

 

Edit: I should also add that this particular group was to a certain extent involved with 'charismatic' worship. For a while because of that I thought Lifeteen itself was somewhat charismatic, but subsequently I have been told that this is not the case. Anyway, this group very much was, and in my opinion it simply magnified all the things that went wrong.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Nihil Obstat

[PhuturePriest]

Maybe an island on the moon? :|

 

If you had supported Newt Gingrich like I said that would have would have flippin' happened.

[Basilisa Marie]

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 :(

 

Well there we go.  I don't think I've ever heard of a low mass being practiced on a Sunday.  :)

 

I really need a "The More You Know" gif. 

[Selah]

 I really need a "The More You Know" gif

 

. 

Edited December 7, 2012 by Selah

[ApologeticMom]

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.

 

Thanks!  This was very helpful.  The volunteers all work full-time and don't have time to research and develop activities.  Just as with our PRE program, we pick and chose what works best for our kids in our situation.  It sounds like I can do the same with Life Teen.  Are there any other programs out there worth considering?

[ApologeticMom]

Lifeteen still exists?

 

Yes.  

[Theoketos]

BwahahahahHahahah

[ApologeticMom]

<3 <3 I wish I could give props to everyone who responded.  I can't tell you how very helpful this information has been.  We do have some parents who wax nostalgic on the "hippie" Masses of their youth.  Their own disinterested children I think are more the result of their lack of familial leadership than a lack of something in the Church.  We do compete with several large protestant churches that offer a plethora of activities that seem so much more "fun" than faith driven.

 

It is a battle sometimes between those who want a VERY casual attitude toward Mass (shorts, tank-tops, flip-flops, guitar music only) and those who are VERY conservative (Latin Mass).  Our priest does not do the banal music.  In fact he told me that if I learn that music on the guitar, he will personally cut my hands off ;)  But it is the PARENTS of the kids who don't like chant or the older styles of music.  Crazy.

 

We have maybe 100 kids ranging in ages from preK - 12, I think we have only 3 graduating seniors this year.  Our freshman class is pretty big, about 10.  We have to use volunteers for everything because a) we have tried to hire someone and NO ONE applied.  b) we can't offer a lot of money and we are too far from a big city.

[Mary+Immaculate<3]

Umm...I got to one in a nearby parish and it's really good. The thing about LifeTeen is that the leaders can be orthodox and strong Catholics, but when it is really up to the teens personally to choose whether they just want a "fun faith" aspect with the music, free food, parties, and friendship, or whether they want to dig deep and genuinely take their faith seriously and walk with God. It's similar with Stuebenville, it can be "fun," but then forgot about, or it can be a life-changing experience, (or it can be "the worst week of [insert name here] life.")

 

There are some people who have their life changed by LifeTeen, or there can be the people who go in high school and forget about it. When I went on the March for Life pilgrimage with LfeTeen, my life was changed, and now I am grateful to be a part of it.

Hope this helps,

Mary-Catherine