www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization ByzanTEEN Teaching religion to youth

Dear Friends,

Although I am no longer young, I did teach religion to our youth.

I've often wondered what subjects our youth would find the most interesting and exciting in a religion course.

Any ideas?

Also, what teaching format - open forum discussion, homework etc.

As today is May 8th, the Enlightenment of the Buddha, or so my friend here tells me, I am ready to be enlightened by you!

Alex

While watching EWTN there was a youth minister, leader, what have you, talking about how he taught the many children that were with him. His main point was that he has to become a child, and think like a child and understand the mind of a child. Ultimately he said that the children must be taught primarily and constantly about the Lord's love for his children and that they all are loved. I think he was aiming at getting the youth interested in God by relating Him to them in an intimate way.
Then again, this is an ignorant Roman talking... :rolleyes:

Hi guys (and gals),

First of all, one must make the splendor of truth inter-personal. Real catechesis is more caught than taught. In the words of a famous Orthodox theologian and writer with a thick British accent, catechesis must be "person to person".

In my limited experience in both Byzantine Catholic and Roman Catholic youth ministry settings, I've found that one simply cannot just "teach" the faith to the young. It just can't be delivered to them like American History, although this is precisely what many people try to do. I myself learn the Faith through good books. I didn't even touch a catechism until way after I decided to join the Church.

You can't just make youth ministry an annex of religious Ed...that is to academic-cize the Faith to death.

John Paul II said that without the personal experience of the Son of God, religion becomes a set of propositions increasingly hard to accept and a set of rules increasingly hard to fulfill (I forget the exact words).

I've discovered that teens like more interactive discussion.

see my comments in the thread "Seeing with Byzantine Eyes".

Yours in the Theotokos,

Darrenn

Dear Kim and Darrenn,

As for the "caught than taught" I guess that applies to when some of my students said I was "really fishing" with some of my theories . . .

Looking at it from the point of view of the students, they often must wonder about the utilitarian value of a religion course.

And they get fidgety.

One story can serve to illustrate.

I began one class by telling some Grade 12 students about my trip to Hawaii with my wife, I forget in what connection to religion etc.

One genius asked me, then and there, if I had had sex.

There was dead silence as everyone, I was told later, was expecting me to turn red and throw the kid out of the room.

I didn't want to make a scene, so I just told him, "yes."

Dead silence again . . .

I didn't smile or laugh, as is my frequent custom .

And they all listened intently to the discussions that followed.

They did so for the rest of the school year.

The principal, however, was wondering about some reports she had received about me.

She said that she had heard that I was talking about sex and Adam and Eve.

I swore to her that I never, ever even mentioned Adam and Eve . . .

"Oh, good . . ." she said.

She could have at least given me marks for entertainment value, no?

Alex

Alex, you're absolutely hilarious.

I just had to pop in here real quick and say that.

On a more serious note: I have found in my years teaching young people that the more real you are with them, the more interested they are in what you have to say. Know the faith well and be able to present it to them in a manner that is orthdox and yet consistant with their "way of life". Very key. (And this combination is actually much more doable than many people think.)

Peace,

Greg

[ 05-09-2002: Message edited by: Mystic ]

Dear Greg,

You are absolutely right!

I taught religion for five years as a volunteer.

Things got ugly when a teacher there approached to ask if I would speak to her sister who was being hit on by a sect. Their family was upset and she was slowly being drawn into it.

She said her sister wouldn't speak to a priest and would I try?

The principal found this out and hit the roof - she spoke angrily to me and said that I couldn't try to "convert" anyone on school property etc.

I told her there was never any intention on my part blah, blah, blah.

The teacher saw me the next week and hugged me and said she was so sorry. I said that something is rotten in the state of Ukraine when a religion teacher is prevented from even speaking to someone etc.

I called a priest and he told me to "go for it!" (He always sounds like Dr. John ).

But all the arguing and bad feelings resulted in me being left afraid to do anything and I didn't.

Afterwards, when I thought about it, I got so mad at giving in and not standing my ground, I resigned.

I felt I sinned in not trying to reach that person, especially when specifically asked to get involved and receiving a blessing from my priest.

I felt I sinned by not standing up to the principal.

And after I resigned I felt I sinned by walking away from my students with whom I had developed such a wonderful relationship.

I still carry this with me.

It teaches me humility and a sense of my own weakness.

Thankfully, being on this Forum is toughening me up!!

Alex

Hey,

One of the best discussions I had with teens was about their life and their relationship with God. We laid down, with our heads touching together, forming a circle, in the middle of a parking lot looking at the sky. About ten kids and no traffic......Thank God! They were teaching me how to communicate, and I was asking the Holy Spirit to do His thing and he did.

Rose

I (with the help of my female co-teacher) teach the teen girls class at St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church in Seattle. I think the first thing to realize (at least when the teens are from pretty much functional families, and maybe all teens) is that you must ignore the example of those who think teens are only ready to hear about sex, drugs, rocknroll and "peer pressure", that is, the usual "youth" topics. This year, I led a discussion on the Epistle to the Hebrews, then the Epistle of St. James, and now we're in the middle of St. Jude's scary Epistle.

We read the text bit by bit in class, then talk about it. We refer to other parts of scripture and often to our liturgical practices. Some texts plainly speak for themselves, others require greater preparation on my part. So far, I hear good feedback from the girls, their parents, and my co-teacher. I think the Holy Spirit blesses honest inquirers into the Word of God.

These are young adults! Give them the tools to be adult Orthodox Catholic Christians!

Michael you are right.

If we equip them with the Word of God as in Ephesians with the armour of God, they will be victorius. The Word has to become alive to them.
It is like the 5 year old that turned around to me one day and said are you going to have Jesus Bread? That innocense of faith has to transfer, to remain as children they/we must understand the necessity for prayer, Scripture, Church, and Eucharist in their lives, not to forget repentence.

If we can bring the Gospel alive to them, as it was for me as a teenager, they will be OK. The interesting thing for me as a convert is the Word became so alive in the Sacramental Church. It was no longer as a remembrance, but the real thing. We have watched our teens transition from our faith and understanding and into their own. It is exciting to behold. When the Gospel takes place in their lives on their on accord, it is harder to come up with a happier time.

I am aslo amazed at how this age/generation talks so openly about things. For the baby boomers, at least myself, I had to put away the shy southern aspects of my generation as a teen and communicate with them in ways I never would have imagined. God is so good, they feel as though they can talk about anything.

That is the door we have always tried to leave open in Sunday School. There are so many issues that if we can relate them to Scripture, the Liturgy, the teachings of the Church, they gain a new reassurance that they will be OK and that God is with them no matter what.

Dear Friends,

The pinnacle of joy that I experienced when teaching was when a group of students got together to hold an all-night prayer vigil at church.

They were assisted by their parents, people I went to school with.

They read the Psalter, the Jesus Prayer, the Rosary, Akathists and Canons.

All night . . .

Alex