Diocese of Lafayette
Middle school youth rally: ‘Put God in everything you do’
Several middle-school boys share a laugh as they watch friends participate in a word game at “God’s Game Plan” April 12 in Alexandria. (Photo by Kevin Cullen)
By Kevin Cullen (The Catholic Moment)
ALEXANDRIA — Middle school can be a tricky time in faith formation. Students in grades six through eight are impressionable, and full of energy, but hard to reach. They’re too old for messages aimed at “little kids,” but not old enough for Destination Jesus and other high-school retreats.
“God’s Game Plan,” a middle- school rally held April 12 at St. Mary School, bridged that gap by using 11 local high-school teens as activity leaders. The 56 middle-schoolers spent more than six hours with them, singing, praying, playing games and listening to Jamie Dillon, a Pittsburgh-area musician and speaker. The rally, the first one sponsored by the parishes of the Anderson Deanery, attracted participants from 10 parishes.
Organizers hope to offer it again next year. “I hope to be more in touch with God, in a fun way,” said seventh-grader Alexis Flynn, 13, of St. Mary Church, Anderson. “The high-school kids want to make it fun for the middle-school kids. You think, ‘These people are older than us. Let’s follow what they are doing.’”
Hunter Wallace agreed with her. He’s a 14-year-old eighth-grader from St. Ambrose Parish, Anderson. “I hope to bring home more knowledge of how to take God into my life and how I can party with God, how I can party religiously,” he said.
Wallace said he was impressed by the willingness of high-school students to devote a Saturday afternoon and evening interacting with younger kids. His heroes range from Jesus to the musical group Insane Clown Posse, which speaks out against racism. The retreat organizers included Rebecca Fritchie, youth minister for St. Mary and St. Ambrose parishes in Anderson; Marcie and Jay Frazee, youth ministers at St. Joseph Parish, Elwood; seminarian Travis Stephens, and Joe and Becky Rice, of St. John the Baptist Parish, Tipton, where Joe is director of religious education.
“Just as long as at least one youth walked away inspired it made all the hours of planning well worth it,” Fritchie said. “… This age group is such an important age to evangelize to. Peer pressure really starts to manifest during this time and questions arise about their faith. In my opinion, we must do everything possible to try to reach this age group and get them excited about their faith so when they enter high school they will want to continue attending Church events.” The diocese formerly sponsored a middle-school youth rally each March. Four retreats for high- school students are held in Northcentral Indiana annually, but there is only one other middle-school event.
Several high-school students who had attended Destination Jesus “brought a lot of spirit to this,” said Becky Rice, one of 20 adults who were at the Alexandria event. One skit, for instance, focused on temptations. “When I first saw the kids doing it, it just created a spirit in them,” she said. “Because of the age closeness, the middle-schoolers look up to the high- school kids. They’re not that far away from them.”
“Any place, any time, any where we can reach them, that is what we need to do,” Mrs. Rice said. “… These high-school kids experienced a lot at Destination Jesus. Now they want to keep that spark, and spread the fire (of faith).” Beth Sampson, 17, of St. Joseph Parish, Elwood, said that when she was in middle school, she “wanted the older teenagers to help me out. It’s taken three weeks of Fridays and Saturdays (to plan and rehearse the program), but this is worth it. Two years ago, we were middle-schoolers.”
Her friend, 16-year-old Shelby Williams, said her older sisters were involved in leading retreats in years past, and she wanted to follow their example. Dillon, a guitarist, songwriter and motivational speaker, talked about her many years as a youth minister near Pittsburgh. She was once a highly-paid consultant and wellness coordinator.
“I had a lot of money. I had everything but one thing: I wasn’t happy,” she told the students. After much prayer, she decided that her true calling was youth ministry, even if that meant a large pay cut. “I’m happy. I’m probably the happiest person I know because I’m doing exactly what I want to do,” she said. “… I think I’m blessed.”
She said that people often “compartmentalize” their faith when it should permeate their entire lives and shape everything they say and do. “People who have that kind of faith have contagious faith,” Dillon said.
She encouraged the youngsters to be the kind of friends who lift people up instead of tearing them down. “That’s God’s game plan for you,” she said. “Put God in everything you do.”
Ray Mulvaney, a youth group leader at St. Mary Church in Frankfort, attended “God’s Game Plan” with his wife, Amie; their daughters, Addie, 12, and Jade, 11; plus three other youth from his parish. “We have two middle-school girls and two high-school boys,” he said. “The high-school group has done a whole lot. We wanted to do more with the middle-school group. There’s not much happening with them.
“It can be a tough time for the middle-school kids to get motivated,” he said, “but once they see something like this, they will be encouraged to become more involved. They see it’s cool to be involved in Church at their age.” Mrs. Mulvaney teaches eighth-grade religious education classes at St. Mary.
“It’s great for them to be together and know it’s OK to be spiritual, that it’s a good thing to pray,” she said. “In high school, you’ve found yourself, but right now, they are learning about who they are. To keep them focused, we need to enforce this part of their lives, and show that it can be fun, too.” Travis Stephens, a seminarian at the Pontifical College Josephinum, is spending a pastoral year serving the parishes in Alexandria and Elwood.
Middle- school students, he said, tend to be “eclectic” in religion and other areas, so they need plenty of positive Catholic reinforcement. “At this age, they’re exposed to bad influences, negative influences, but they will be exposed to good influences here today,” he said. “It’s wonderful that we have all the high-school kids here helping out. They can show middle-school kids how to live their lives.”
Jay Frazee, the volunteer youth minister from St. Joseph Church, Elwood, said that parishes throughout the diocese were invited to send students to the rally. Finding high-school students to work and perform wasn’t difficult. “The high- school kids are really good kids, so strong in their faith and active in their youth groups,” he said. “We didn’t have to twist their arms.”
His wife, Marcie, agreed. She first suggested organizing “God’s Game Plan.” “I want the kids to have fun, and I want them to come away from this feeling a little more spiritually enriched than when they came in — a day of fun with a splash of spirituality,” she said. “Events like this will make them want more. There will be a lot more when they hit the high-school level.”
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