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St. Mary's Life Teen
420 High Street, Dedham, MA 02026
Phone: 781-326-0550
Fax: 781-326-1809

The Life Teen Mission Statement

 "Life Teen is an international Catholic ministry that serves the church and leads teens closer to Christ by providing resources and training that encourage vibrant Eucharistic celebrations and opportunities for teens to grow in their faith." - from lifeteen.com

What is LIFE TEEN?

LIFE TEEN is a Catholic youth ministry program that began in 1985 at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa, Arizona. It's founder, Msgr. Dale Fushek, developed the program out of a need he saw for young people to feel loved in the Catholic church. There are now over 900 parishes around the world that have adopted the LIFE TEEN program, which is geared towards high school teens in grades 9-12.

LIFE TEEN began here at St. Mary's on September 19, 1997 and has continued with great success since then every Sunday night. In the LIFE TEEN philosophy teens are recognized as a sub-culture; the Mass and the entire program are designed to address the specific needs of teens today. This new vision of teen ministry alows the teen to immerse him or herself in the life of the parish and on a larger scale, of the Church. LIFE TEEN provides our teens with a "Catholic Identity".

"Young people of America and the World, listen to what Christ the redeemer, is saying to you."

LIFE TEEN answers this call with:

• a life formed in the Gospel as taught by the Church
• a life centered in the Eucharist, weekly without exception
• a life marked by a growing spiritual maturity and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

• a life lived out in daily prayer, decisions and actions
  
  

The LIFE TEEN Liturgy

The LIFE TEEN Mass is the core of the program providing teens and their families with a liturgy geared toward their spiritual needs. The LIFE TEEN Liturgy requires a "full and active participation of the entire community". The Mass, homily and music are specifically directed to the teens and they have responded wholeheartedly. The teens also take an active role in the ministries at the Mass specifically, Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Sacristans and Hospitality. There are many other elements of the liturgy that speak to teens on their emotional level found mostly in the unconditional love of Christ and of that same sharing in the community.

LIFE Nights

LIFE Nights follow the LIFE TEEN Mass every Sunday night and provide an opportunity for teens to go deeper in their faith, share their faith with their peers through witness talks and interactive discussion and learn more about issues facing teens today and how to deal with them. These nights are presented by our Core team made up of young adults from the parish under the direction of Fr. Matt and our Youth Minister, Jason Deramo. Topics for these nights come from the team's own ideas, ideas suggested by teens, and resources obtained from the National LIFE TEEN office. Our LIFE Nights end with a prayerful song to Our Lady. This Marian Devotion is held by all LIFE TEEN programs - for Mary is the patroness of LIFE TEEN.

Prayer Nights - Pizza & Prayer

As with the Mass, our prayer nights are held weekly. We gather each Monday night to pray as a LIFE TEEN community for our intentions and for any issues confronting our teens. In an informal way we further our relationship with Jesus and experience His unconditional love by praying as a community, with and for one another. Once a month, we offer our teens the opportunity to approach Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration. The tradition of Eucharistic Adoration is enhanced by LIFE TEEN prayers and music. These nights always prove to be a powerful experience for everyone in attendance.

Retreats

Our teens are given several opportunities to be on retreat. We hold retreats both in the fall and in the spring as well as Days of Recollection for the leadership team and the adults. The retreats have given us a very special opportunity and setting for the sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration.

Adult Ministry

Fr. Bill Williams, as pastor is the head of LIFE TEEN here at St. Mary's. Fr. Matt Williams is the Priest Director and works in collaboration with Jason Deramo, our Youth Minister and Jon Niven, our Music Director. Together these four make up our leadership team and oversee our Adult Ministers. Our Adult Ministry consists of two separate groups, our LIFE Guards and our Core.

Our LIFE Guards are adult volunteers including many of the teens' parents. They are responsible for setting up and cleaning up the church before and after Mass and providing refreshements following the LIFE Nights. Our LIFE Guards have taken great responsibility for providing hospitality at the Mass as well as helping out anywhere else that's needed.

The Core group is made up of young adults who are more intricately involved in the lives of our teens. Their job is to be mentors to the teens in the presenting of LIFE Nights and most especially being present in the teens everyday lives. This includes the Mass, LIFE Nights, prayer nights, retreats and social outreach - chaperoning trips or attending events important to the teens.

The EDGE

As a result of the success of LIFE TEEN, in the fall of 2004 we started The EDGE program - LIFE TEEN's religious education program for 6 - 8 graders. This program has become a huge success with 300 teens attending on a weekly basis. The EDGE core team is made up of parents, college students and high school juniors and seniors.