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stefoodie
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Has anyone used this program with their teens/youth group?
Our local youth group is considering using it this summer. Any comments/suggestions appreciated!!
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stef
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mathmama
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I am going to be doing this for the teens in our church starting in Sept. I haven't looked alot at the instructor's manual, but what I have seen looks good. Of course, one needs to be mindful of the age of the teens, as some of the examples that they give are not appropriate for young teens, imo. I am familiar with Christopher West's pre Cana program, God's Plan for a Joy Filled Marriage (I think that is the title), and the ToB for teens is very similar to that in content, except it is geared to teens. Too bad you are in OH now, otherwise, you could borrow my instructor's manual to take a look. If you have any specific questions about what is in the manual you can PM me if you like. I am excited to do this with our teens. It is a radical (as far as the culture is concerned) way of looking at their bodies. The one thing I saw that I really liked is that it also addresses the negative feeling that most young girls have about their bodies 
Beth
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Loren
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Our former parish, in SD, used West's TOB for Beginners in their confirmation class. The high school juniors and seniors really liked it. They appreciated the challenge to live godly lives coupled with the confidence that they could do it. They also seemed to start getting a grasp on the whys of Church teaching on human sexuality.
Sorry I don't have any specific advice, as we are friends with the guy who taught instead of the actual teachers. I just wanted to encourage you that teens today are eager to hear this message. They truly hunger for the truth.
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stefoodie
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Thank you Beth and Loren. I also perused the archives at FCL and CCM and found positive thoughts from people.
Now we just have to convince the local parents that their kids need this! Any prayers you can send our way for this effort is much appreciated. :)
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stef
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mathmama
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stefoodie wrote:
Thank you Beth and Loren. I also perused the archives at FCL and CCM and found positive thoughts from people.
Now we just have to convince the local parents that their kids need this! Any prayers you can send our way for this effort is much appreciated. :) |
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IMO, it isn't just the kids that need it but the parents as well. Perhaps, someone could run an adult ToB at the same time.
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stefoodie
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Beth, I've been trying to convince people for the past two years. No one's listening yet  Please pray. I'm hoping that having the parents watch the parent segment prior to the workshop will open their eyes. The thinking seems to be since they have happy marriages in relation to most of society that they really don't need to hear this teaching. The thing is if they don't hear it their kids who go to public and private schools aren't hearing it either.
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stef
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Lisbet
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stefoodie wrote:
| The thinking seems to be since they have happy marriages in relation to most of society that they really don't need to hear this teaching. |
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This is such a shame. It goes to show that many people don't view their marriage as a work in progress, kwim? It's great to have a happy marriage, but it's even greater to keep working to make it greater.
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
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chicken lady
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Welllllllll.... there are ALOT of orthodox catholics who have major concerns about Mr Wests interpretation of The Theology of the Body.
Not to cause an issue, but rather let you all know that there are serious reasons I would repel from this.
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Lisbet
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Molly, I hear ya, really I do. I have my concerns myself. I was just commenting on Stefs comment. 
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
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Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
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stefoodie
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If Christopher West's interpretation is used anywhere in TOB for Teens, please let me know now :) .
I was under the impression that this was a totally separate program. Christopher West has a testimonial on the website, and his book "TOB for Beginners" is recommended for leaders, but nowhere does it say that his interpretation is being used by the TOB for Teens program itself. The program has Archbishop Rigali's imprimatur. The authors are Brian Butler, Jason and Cristalina Evert.
the authors page at TOB For Teens
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stef
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mathmama
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chicken lady wrote:
Welllllllll.... there are ALOT of orthodox catholics who have major concerns about Mr Wests interpretation of The Theology of the Body.
Not to cause an issue, but rather let you all know that there are serious reasons I would repel from this. |
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I have heard this before, but no one ever says what the concerns are. Can someone enlighten me, please??
Beth
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Natalia
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I was going to ask the same as Beth. I haven't heard anything negative about Christopher West.
Regarding TOBT, the youth group leader in our church is doing a group study with a group of girls. They are not
doing it in the Church but at a someone's house. My 14 yod is really enjoying it. They have a group of about ten girls, they watch the DVD and then discuss the chapter in the book.
It has provided a reinforcement to what we have tried to teach our dd but it has also provided a place where she can discuss this issues with other like minded girls. The youth leader is a great young woman that is about to get married. She has the right perspective and the right rapport with the girls. So, for us it has been a God-send.
Natalia
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stefoodie
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I don't have anything specific to offer, Natalia, other than bits and pieces I've seen at other Catholic e-lists (I'll edit this post if I find something here) -- mainly that Christopher West's interpretations are not completely in line with Church teaching, that he is more lenient and that his approach would appeal the most to cafeteria Catholics, some have said his analogies are a little "out there", etc.
I read his TOB for Beginners just so I would have an overview before I started delving into JPII's series.
The youth group will be handled by two very capable youth leaders who are busy familiarizing themselves with the JPII series (they haven't even read CW's book).
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stef
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stefoodie
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the only thread here at 4real that mentions CW -- maybe Gwen and Wendy can chime in here?
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stef
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chicken lady
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Please feel free to pm me, otherwise I think the thread that was linked by Stef answers your inquiry as to the concerns.
I don't want hard feelings here and I sense some rising tensions, so I will let others speak. Really jsut read or listen to him and you wil hear direct conflicts with the teachings of the Catholic church.
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stefoodie
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Just wanted to clarify on this program again just in case you're considering it for your teens.
We got the DVD set today and I watched the Parent Overview, and I am nothing but impressed. Jason, Crystalina and Brian Butler all do an excellent job explaining the what-why-how-when of this program.
I love that they stress the importance of family involvement and communication between parents and teens. They clearly tell parents that this can only work if we parents also look at our own marriages and evaluate if we are living out the teachings of the Church regarding purity, chastity and love.
And just FYI, Christopher West is NOT mentioned at all in the program. They briefly say that they've taken Waldstein's book and condensed it to something that the teens can digest. I remember Waldstein's book being mentioned in one of the Catholic homeschooling e-lists (can't remember if CCM or CCE or FCL) and the people talking about it basically saying it's a wonderful translation of the original JP teachings.
I am really looking forward to sharing this with our youth group. So far from what I've seen this is exactly what our teens need to see and hear at this time.
I want to wait for dh to get home from Italy before watching the rest of the DVDs, so this is it for now. If there's anything else worth mentioning about the program after we've watched everything I'll update again.
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Tina P.
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I have notn seen or heard anything about the DVDs, but I glanced through the book at our recent HS conference and was surprised by some graphic descriptions. Tread carefully.
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stefoodie
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Tina, I have not seen the book. Would you PM me about it, please? Thanks!
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margot helene
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Hi Stef,
I bought the book for my husband to go through with my oldest two boys this summer and he was concerned after reading the first few chapters. We are going to use it, but my dh is definitely going to skip the first chapter and a few of the activities in the other chapters. It does get graphic when it asks the students to reflect on what they have done sexually so far. (It's not written for a homeschooler who hasn't been exposed to worldly talk.) So just a heads-up to preread so you know what's coming. That being said, I thought that it has a great approach. I personally would prefer the classes to be all boys or all girls.
We also bought the teacher's manual and my dh thought that it had good ideas for discussions, but also had some dumb stuff like what kids' music to play for the class, etc. My husband was sort of balking at doing it, saying that we never had this kind of course at their ages. I say, it's a different world now and they have to be prepared. We have such a responsibility for their souls in this.
Hope that helps.
Margot
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stefoodie
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Thank you very much for your input, Margot. Yes, our audience will be mostly public schoolers. Only my dd-17 and 2 others are homeschoolers and they're pretty much "exposed" knowing what's going on with other kids in the community, etc.
The DVDs are divided into segments and there are two segments that are "boys only" and "girls only", which was prudent.
The kids' music suggestion sounds weird -- I don't think we're going to need that. These kids are into music but being in the Youth Ministry here they're a bit more serious about these matters than the average public schooler.
I can see now I'll have to pre-order the books and look them over with the other parents, before we formally launch this. Thanks!!
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stef
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Theology of the Body for Teens
