Teens wowed and energized by national conference

Up to 17,000 teens attended the recent National Catholic Youth Conference in Atlanta, a total that included more than 200 teens from the Albany Diocese.

At the Georgia Dome, they joined a sea of t-shirts to participate in deafening worship songs, an experience that left some of them struggling to describe what happened:

* "It's crazy!" said Nicole McCormick, 16, a member of Our Lady of Victory Church in Troy and a student at Catholic Central High School. "All these people have the same belief as you. Seeing what it meant to them -- you can't really explain it. It makes you wonder how you can't see anything, but all these people can believe -- and believe so strongly."

* "It makes you realize, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm not alone in the world,'" said Brendan Beecher, 14, a student at Doane Stuart School in Albany and a parishioner of St. Mary's Church in Coxsackie.

Cool beings

The biennial conference, whose theme was "Winds of Change," took place Oct. 27-29. The teens took part in workshops, concerts, Masses, rosaries, prayer services and service projects, all to hear a strong message: It's cool to be Catholic.

For Stephanie Keaney, a tenth-grader, her first walk into the Georgia Dome to cheers and song was only the beginning of what she called an "amazing" experience.

The teen, who attends St. Joseph's Church in Worcester, explained that in "my small town, you don't have an opportunity to see that many people every day. It was so cool to see them, and they're just like you."

Why they went

Maeve Murray, 16, who attends Our Lady of Mercy parish in Colonie, attended because the stories she'd heard from previous conference-goers made it "sound like fun."

Douglas Lent, a 17-year-old high-school senior and parishioner of St. Mary's Church in Oneonta, was attracted by "the fact that I'd be around a lot of people of my same faith, and I could share my beliefs with people."

Talking about faith is "so important," he added, "because for a lot of the decisions I made in my life, I use my faith."

Trading spaces

Many of the diocesan attendees cited great experiences like trading "I Love New York" bumper stickers for cow bandannas from Iowa and pink cowboy hats from Texas; playing miniature golf and participating in the world's largest Twister game; touring Atlanta; listening to popular Catholic speakers like Tammy Evevard and musician Jesse Manibusan; and swapping stories and encouragement with teens from across the country.

They laughed at a comedy club set up for teens, attended a dance, shopped for Catholic goods, and talked to representatives from Catholic colleges and record companies.

They also donated their time to service projects, such as stuffing "care packages" for teens in New Orleans and blankets for newborns.

New perspective

Brendan was impressed by Mr. Manibusan, who "gave me a new perspective on things that I thought I had understood," he said. "But I realized there's more than one way to see things, and I realize how much you can see if you just slow down and realize it."

Mr. Manibusan, a Catholic musician whose trademark is playing guitar wearing a smiley-face shirt, spoke on caring for the poor, the unborn and teens' own faith.

Other speakers counseled teens to stand up for what they believe in, and to use their special gifts and talents to influence the Church and their world.

'Awesome' time

For Nicole, learning more about faith was "awesome."

"You think you're not going to have fun," she explained. "You go into it thinking it's going to be a whole bunch of people praying all the time, that you'd sit in quiet, praying. It wasn't anything like that at all. It was everything you hoped for and more.

"You see all the performers, and you see how much they love everything. They don't even know you, but they love you. You see God in everybody."

Energy

Brendan often began his conference days grooving to the early-morning Christian rock performances that preceded opening prayer as teens filed in from dozens of Atlanta hotels.

He felt comfortable with being a little more exuberant than he can be at home.

Teens "can be a little energetic and annoying," he said. "We like upbeat things. We like to switch it around. We're hyper! We like to move around, maybe even dance a little."

Lessons

Stephanie was impressed by a workshop on poverty, where organizers talked about the ways poverty manifests itself across the world and what teens in America can do about it.

"You have it good," she said. "There are people out there who don't, and they don't have a choice."

Brendan's eyes were opened at the "Tuned-In Teens" workshop, where he learned "how advertisers realize that teens are now a bigger market than they ever were before -- how much we are exposed to the media even when we're not thinking about it."

Prayer experiences also inspired the teens. Stephanie remembers linking hands with other conference-goers at a Mass, as they sang the same hymn and prayed the Our Father.

Douglas was impressed with the "reverence" and message of a homily given by Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta.

Changed lives

Many of the teens report seeing the world a little differently since coming home.

"I've always had second thoughts about God, but now I really do know that He's up there and we're not seeing Him from far away. He's in our hearts," said Stephanie.

Douglas can't pin down why he feels different, "but I do. I think it's more because I've seen more people with the same love for Christ that I do. Seeing this many teenagers makes [us] want to stick with [our] faith."

Others hold onto lessons about speaking up about their faith in their schools and hometowns, where being Catholic isn't always so easy.

"If you're afraid, just pray that you'll be able to do it, and there's nothing that can stop you if you pray to God," said Maeve.

(11/10/05) [[In-content Ad]]