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1. Well what if we are not waking people up? In my brief experience of church, our formational (educational) model simply poorly copies what we see in the public school model of education. At least with public school they have five school days with students, church typically has 90 minutes of formational time (if that, and by the way we do not count actual worship as formational time, because you cannot learn anything at Sunday services). Our bishops gave us a great formational paradigm in their high school curriculum, yet publishers do a fairly decent job at standardizing the framework because the demand from their consumers for resources that mirror the factory based paradigm that they know. Then we wonder why teens zone out when the lessons given to them do not connect because they are re-experiencing anaesthetization they received from the prior week in the public school system and to our dismay, our product of anaesthetizing is worse because at least schools have a few better techniques.

   Instead of producing our young people to be “church cogs”- people who are expected to show up, sit down, listen, kneel, insert money into the basket, get in line, kneel, listen to announcements, take a bulletin, and leave (and then repeat next week), we should create “church linchpins”- people who are authentically taught that they matter, they have unique gifts and talents, they are encouraged to use them for the good of others (a message delivered in the school room and sanctuary). As church we have always been different, it has only been in the last century we have begun to conform. We need to honor the guideline placed before us in what our pastors and bishops desire for a student to learn, but then we need to be as creative as possible in making the experiential learning as unique, engaging, and eye opening as possible.

   Comment by Joe Mele — Wednesday, January 5, 2011 @ 8:07 am

2. Curious what you all think… I’m torn about how to feel about the idea of divergence thinking. If coming up with 200 answers to a question is good, how do we ever approach authenticity in our Catholicism. For example, if we keep expanding our concept of Catholicism, will we do so until the term loses it’s meaning?

   I’m not a big fan of limited thinking, especially in regards to our Catholic faith, but we have to be careful that there are certain things that are taught and embraced by our tradition as “truth” and there are things that aren’t. Is knowing “the answer” dangerous in faith formation?

   I honestly see both sides, but I’m curious what you all think.

   Comment by Kevin Feyen — Wednesday, January 5, 2011 @ 2:14 pm

3. Fully agree with you, Kevin, about TRUTH…

   But have we engaged our imaginations, and their imaginations, enough coming up with 200 possibilities regarding regarding Prayer, what is sacred and sacramental (both small “s”), how to live life, how to serve, experiencing grace…, and so much more.

   We’ve got to think divergently and invite young people to think divergently about all those topics… Eucharistic Adoration has not been around forever… what will next generations be attracted to that will come from these times? How can we re-understand community/ communion in a world of virtual relationships??? And, everyone has been questioning if the way we do service really elicits collaboration into the mission of the church or if it was just a “nice” experience.

   TRUTH is truth… but the way we get to it is not the only path towards truth… Are we limiting young people to only our experience and does that, in the end, fail them?

   That’s what I was getting from this clip…

   Comment by Scott — Wednesday, January 5, 2011 @ 2:29 pm

4. First of all, amazing presentation of an already great Ted.tv video! The paradigm has been shifting a long time in our little part of the Mission Field, and we’ve always depended upon someone to give us all the swift kick now and then. Thanks to the good Sir Ken and also Mike Carotta, and of course other great Catholic YM paradigm shifters: Mr. Merchadante, Mr. McCarty, Mr. Roberto, Mr. Reynolds, and Mr. Zanzig (yep there are many more!). The theme from this most recent challenge, that is similar to those that have come before, is the tone of “Why not?” and the request for permission to simply let them (our kids) give it a try.

   Reading the paper from Carotta, (and finally seeing the latest Narnia Chronicle) the quote from CS Lewis jumped off the page, challenging church to allow folks not only attend GOD, but become alive with HIM, and noting the Good Sir Ken’s challenge to embrace the concept of “The Arts” achieving an appreciation of fully engaging the senses, allowing one to become fully alive… Jesus in the Gospel of John said first… I have come so that you might live life to the fullest!

   Thanks Scott for placing the challenge before us yet again… Not only should we resolve to be happy this New Year, we should vow to help the faithful become more fully alive in their faith! This means that even if the old systems fade away, the Truth will live on… Remember the echoes of our own most recent paradigm shifters, and the thought that we might have to try something new…

   WHY NOT? Let the kids give it a try?

   Comment by Greg Thompson — Thursday, January 6, 2011 @ 1:21 am

5. Scott, Joe, Kevin, Greg, et.al.
   I personally connected with Mike’s challenge to try one or two small things, along with his challenge and insights on mentoring. Next year, my Godson in another state will be entering into their local Confirmation preparation program. I’m feeling personnaly challenged (through this video, article and your coments) to try ‘one or two small things’ and possibly through the wonders of Skype, video messaging, and other means really try to connect with him as a companion on his journey in ways that haven’t been possible until recently.
   Also, Kevin, I LOVE the idea and challenge of divergent thinking. The TRUTH of God is so big that we’ll never be able to completely embrace it, which leaves LOTS of room for questions regardless of how many answers we think we already have. I think that kind of thinking along with good mentoring relationships is what adolescents crave, what will ‘wake them up’ and what Jesus modeled for us.

   Comment by Kevin Dougherty — Thursday, January 6, 2011 @ 1:32 pm

6. I find this video to be brilliant.

   It’s not only the drugs we give our youth that has turned them into zombies, look at our methods. It simply is not good enough to keep doing the same old thing, that may have worked for us but not for too many of our peers, with our youth. We need to design experiences that allow the youth to do their own meaningful work and reflect upon it in light of Scripture, Tradition, and Doctrine.

   If we focused on equipping our teens for dicipleship in their every day lives, how would our methods change? Would we try to cram “everything” into a two year program or would we take the time to build real relationships with our youth and freely offer them what we believe they need at that time? Will we force service on our teens or will we evangelize, equip, and support our youth’s desire to serve others? Are we going to believe we know better than God or are we willing to trust God so much that we will allow Him to be truly present in our midst?

   I must admit that I’m currently part of the “traffic jam” of the old model, but the GPS is saying, “Exit here.” Who’s with me?

   FYI – http://www.21stcenturyskills.org has some excellent examples of best practices and new ideas in this area.

   Comment by Greg Sinclair — Thursday, January 6, 2011 @ 2:32 pm

7. Amazing way to present an interesting message. I agree that this concept should be applied to youth ministry. However, I do want to point out that one reason why the traditional education system is still around is because it does work for some. I was the kid in the classroom that when given the choice between taking a test or writing a creative short story – I picked the test. It was the way I learned. I love the idea of having the ability and capacity within our parishes to provide a multitude of learning opportunities and environments for all of our parishioners when it comes to learning and experiencing their faith. I think we just need to start trying stuff out.

   Comment by Marissa — Friday, January 7, 2011 @ 1:19 pm

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