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leanne maree
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Hi everyone,
We have this initiative Life teen coming to a Parish nearby.
Have any of you had experience with this?
We are a year or so off this, but I would like your feedback, about this Youth group.
Leanne
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Leanne
Loving wife to Dermot and Adoring mother to Louise, Kristie, Kieran & Brid
http://leannemaree.blogspot.com/
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MaryM
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A good place to start your research could include these older threads. It is a topic that has been discussed here in the past on several occasions. What you will find is that there are very strong opinions on this program - on both sides. It can get very emotional and at times heated.
Life Teen Mass
Lifeteen Mass
It is fine to visit this discussion again as well - I'm not intending to squelch discussion by including the old threads. But as we respond in this thread and offer perspective for Leanne, please remmber to be respectful and courteous. Differing opinions are fine - judgement and specualtion are not. Thanks.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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JodieLyn
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I don't know anything about the program but my experience with ANY program is that it's VERY dependant on the people who are running it if it's going to be good or bad.. people can make a bad program good or a good program bad by the way they execute it.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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leanne maree
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 7:46pm | IP Logged
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BOY You girls answered quickly.
Thanks Mary for the previous links and your cautious words.
I will look through the links provided.
I too understand both sides of youth groups. We have 3 older adult children, but now we are much more aware- Long story-, so we are open to the idea (if its right)
God Bless and Today is Australia Day here, So May God Bless this nation abundantly
Leanne
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God is Love
Leanne
Loving wife to Dermot and Adoring mother to Louise, Kristie, Kieran & Brid
http://leannemaree.blogspot.com/
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jillian
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I had LifeTeen when I was a teenager. I LOVED it. It made the church and Christ really live for me. I had a great group of people though in my program. Our youth ministers and volunteers were amazing.
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guitarnan
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I went through both the threads linked above and wanted to comment about my own experiences since posting in both of those threads.
Our parish's LifeTeen program is well-established and well-run - under same youth minister as when I originally posted, which is great. He's had plenty of time to figure out what works for our teens. He's gotten married and watched some of our teens head off to college. Our pastor is very supportive of the program. We don't have any huge departures from the GIRM, dimming of lights, etc. during Mass. Teens come from other parishes to be part of our program. Twice-monthly meetings/activities range from retreats and spiritually-themed talks to ski trips. The LT peer leadership group is packed with devout, sincere young people, which is very reassuring.
Having said that, I had a conversation with another mom which highlighted the huge differences in perception, based on point of view, of what goes on at LifeTeen Mass in particular. Her child sings in the LT music group. My dh and children have often commented on the 1) "performance" aspect of their music and 2) large number of adult musicians in the group. This mom, however, clued me in...the music group's adult leaders do want to present a professional appearance, but not in a pretentious way. Some teens have been asked to leave the group because of lack of attendance/unreliability and/or immodest or inappropriate attire. The adult musicians, apparently, are there to provide stability and leadership. (I guess I wish they didn't all play the same instrument, but all the other instruments are played by teens.)
I say this to point out that there are many ways to view the same liturgy and LT/contemporary music group, and sometimes we need to seek out more information before making assumptions about what is going on.
My son never did join LT (in spite of the urgings of his friends), and I don't know what my daughter will do. She plays the same instrument the adult LT music group members do, so it's likely she will either join their group as a singer or stick with one of the other music groups in our parish. I do think she'll attend LT events now and then, as her schedule permits, when she's old enough.
I feel more comfortable with this idea than I used to, mainly because I have now had enough time (years) to observe the youth minister and the LT group at different times, and, as has been said throughout the LT threads, leadership sets the tone. Our pastor will not allow crazy liturgical abuses (especially since he presides at LT Masses) and the adult leadership has set very high standards for teen behavior.
As an aside...Happy Australia Day, Leanne! We've had the good fortune to meet many Australian military members over the years, and they are wonderful ambassadors for your fascinating country/continent. I love their enthusiasm for life in Australia and their willingness to share not only information but warm welcomes...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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leanne maree
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| Posted: Jan 26 2011 at 6:31pm | IP Logged
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Thank you ladies very much for your input, this has been very helpful indeed.
And thank you Nancy on your wishes. We had a VERY VERY HOT Australia Day 40 degrees C in many areas. We hit 39 were I live.
But It was Great celebrate being an Aussie..  
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Leanne
Loving wife to Dermot and Adoring mother to Louise, Kristie, Kieran & Brid
http://leannemaree.blogspot.com/
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Life Teen
