In Clinton Heights: Students deepen faith through Renew meetings

"Maybe if we do more helpful things,..." one begins.

"I gave up potato chips," another remarks.

The group finally agrees that being kind, donating money to charities and giving to others are good ways to boost their relationship with God during Lent.

Growing in faith

The groups came about when Sister Patricia Lynch, RSM, the principal, asked teacher Irina Clark whether it might be possible to have Renew in the school.

Ms. Clark, a religion teacher and member of the parish's Renew core committee, agreed to try rewriting the focus questions discussed in adult Renew groups for the children.

Successful effort

"I like the discussions," agreed sixth-grader Caitlyn Snider.

Ms. Clark said that she was surprised at the students' enthusiasm. Between seasons, she said, "they kept asking, `When are we going to do Renew again?' They really are starting to open up and share."

Group participation

The groups first picked up Bibles to read the story of the Transfiguration, then read handouts on finding God in the midst of their active lives and answered questions about their own faith experiences.

One group talked about good places to pray, from their bedrooms at home to church or the woods. The students agreed that there can be distractions wherever they try to pray: church-goers putting kneelers down noisily, for example, or telephones ringing and music blaring at home.

The groups moved on to discussing "awesome experiences" like that of Jesus and His friends at the Transfiguration. Joking about seeing chemistry sets blow up eventually gave way to talking about spirituality.

Deep discussions

"I've been amazed at their discussions," he told The Evangelist. "There have always been new insights for them. Even for those who aren't Catholic, it's good; they walk away with a better understanding of the Catholic faith."

The final exercise in the Renew groups is always a project, from making crosses to writing the "Serenity Prayer." This time, the students created cards that might encourage another person's search for God. Several wrote on their cards, "Follow your dreams."

Students pleased

While the sixth-graders admitted that one reason they enjoy Renew is because it's a break from ordinary religion classes, they added that they like the social and spiritual aspect of the groups, as well.

"You get into your inner self," said Francis Magnotta. "We know a lot of stuff we didn't know about each other before."

Andrew Barresi added, "We get to talk about how we really feel about God."

Thus far, Ms. Clark believes her experiment has been a success. "They need to learn to share their faith," she said of the students. "This is a great start."

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