A different look at LifeTeen

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thanks forwarding this to new group in parish reviewing our YM needs. in general have found LT down here in SoTex not as problematic as the program my own kids experienced up north, and even that program (generall the benchmark for their part of the country) has improved greatly since then and seems very beneficial and well done for my grandchildren in the same parish.
 
Your parish is very beautiful and the episode seemed close to what you’d see in secular shows - meaning no talking heads (which even I sometimes can’t handle when I want quick, surficial information). The show seems like a good outlet and stepping stone into eventually diving deeper into spirituality for some teens.
I loved how the priest talked about the choir loft and the voices of the angels floating down from above and behind. That’s how I always thought of choir lofts - the voices and instruments of heaven. Does the LT program at your parish take advantage of that choir loft and use that lovely pipe organ?

If the LT parish of my teen years in the 1990s were as nice as it seems in this parish, I may have enjoyed it more and gotten more out of it. But unfortunately, for me and for people I knew who experienced it in their own parishes during the 90s, it was a total, superficial joke. Quite laughable and pandering, honestly, especially with the music. But that was just my experience and I hope that it has changed. Since I haven’t been to one since the 1990s, I can’t say whether or not it has.

Thank you for sharing.
 
That is a beautiful church and your pastor does an excellent presentation. 🙂

Do the kids really respond to that “Jesus’ Crib” stuff though? The priest sounds like he wants to disappear into the ground when he has to say “crib” and I don’t blame him. That stuff is so mid-90’s. 😉
 
ibkc said:
Do the kids really respond to that “Jesus’ Crib” stuff though? The priest sounds like he wants to disappear into the ground when he has to say “crib” and I don’t blame him. That stuff is so mid-90’s. 😉
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Hahaha! Yeah, but even as a teen in the 90s, I and my contemporaries never responded to or used the word “crib” either. Despite that, you are right, the priest did do a good presentation.
 
ibkc said:
That is a beautiful church and your pastor does an excellent presentation. 🙂

Do the kids really respond to that “Jesus’ Crib” stuff though? The priest sounds like he wants to disappear into the ground when he has to say “crib” and I don’t blame him. That stuff is so mid-90’s. 😉
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I’m a teen, and I know I sure wouldn’t…but our parish doesn’t have lifeteen or even a youth group, so it’s never come up :o

We do have a huge pro-life group though, run by the altar server coordinator.
 
Well, I didn’t expect to win anyone over to LifeTeen with this link. 😛

But I did want to point out, that the LT program isn’t just about drawing kids in to Mass with music.

Some programs, certainly ours, go much deeper than that. To see how these kids react to, and interact with, our Pastor, and how they display their faith is really something to see.

And, hopefully through the video clip, you can see that he goes much deeper into our faith than the Mass itself with the teens.
 
Sarabande said:
Does the LT program at your parish take advantage of that choir loft and use that lovely pipe organ?
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Unfortunately, no. Two accoustic guitarists at the front, left, by the piano.

What’s really fascinating, it the LT music director is a guy in his early 40’s, with 8 (yah, count em, eight) young children. He privately admits that he’d rather be at a Latin High Mass, but this is what Father has asked him to do, so he does it to the best of his ability.

The guy CAN sing. He led the Divine Mercy Chaplet a couple of weeks ago after the bus accident. His voice inflections truly led you into prayer.

The organ is used at our three other Masses, sometimes with guitar accompaniment. (yah, I know…) 😉
 
It’s important to note that viewing this video, (and also reading the lifenight programs dry) do not come across the same way to strangers as they do to the teens who know the people doing them.

The video seems a little juvenile…even the teens there probably see that, but that is the whole point. They realize its not serious…but they see their priest there, who perhaps may or may not be involved with them. THAT is the point of the whole thing.

I read a lifenight that seemed utterly ridiulous to me on paper…I saw it played out with the core members who had built relationships with the teens, and it was amazing. It worked.
 
ethelzguy said:
Unfortunately, no. Two accoustic guitarists at the front, left, by the piano.

What’s really fascinating, it the LT music director is a guy in his early 40’s, with 8 (yah, count em, eight) young children. He privately admits that he’d rather be at a Latin High Mass, but this is what Father has asked him to do, so he does it to the best of his ability.

The guy CAN sing. He led the Divine Mercy Chaplet a couple of weeks ago after the bus accident. His voice inflections truly led you into prayer.

The organ is used at our three other Masses, sometimes with guitar accompaniment. (yah, I know…) 😉
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That is fascinating about the LT music director. Talk about dedication to one’s parish even if he’d rather be attending a Latin High Mass. Perhaps he does both. I sometimes do when I have to cantor a mass so that I can be at a mass where I can just be part of the congregation.

And you never know, perhaps he may eventually be permitted to use the organ once in a while for the LT masses. It seems to be a good program there, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they would permit something like that like once or month for those teens (maybe even his own kids) who’d like to attend a “teen” mass with actual chant and organ. Now THAT would have been ideal to me when I was a teen. 😉 haha!

But I’m very glad to hear that they use the organ. 🙂 It would be such a waste if they didn’t. (I do know parishes in my area who have let their pipe organs go unplayed even though they did have competent organists who could play them. It’s a shame.)

Anyway… all the best for your parish and the LT program there.
 
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