April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Youth are in charge of Albany Renew group
The 16-year-old parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Church in Albany is a member of a youth-led Renew group that meets Sunday evenings at her parish.
"It helps me so much," she said. "You go through the whole week at school; then when you go to Renew, it feels like a weight is lifted off your shoulders. It makes me feel like I'm not alone."
Youth in charge
The group is made up of approximately 10 youth from Blessed Sacrament as well as other parishes in Albany. The meetings are completely run by youth.Theresa Gecewicz, 16, is serving as the group leader this semester. "I'm facilitating," she said. "I plan the prayer and look at the theme for the week."
While the group has the Renew 2000 booklets, Theresa said they don't hold the attention of youth. She reads the text for the week, determines the theme, and plans activities that will facilitate discussion on the theme. Youth minister Rose Reed attends the meetings, as well.
"We do a lot of discussion," Theresa said. "Problems are brought up that I relate to."
Beneficial
Alisa has found that the group challenges her. "In today's society, self-consciousness is high for teenagers," she said. "They turn to drugs for a solution. In Renew, you can turn to other things and not take the easy way out."Another benefit of participating in Renew is getting to know other youth. Alisa said the teens in the group come from different high schools, so they normally wouldn't know each other.
"I've developed a whole bunch of new friends," she said.
Leadership
Theresa was interested in leading Renew because of her participation in the Christian Leadership Institute, a leadership training program for youth offered by the diocesan Office of Religious Education."I went to CLI, and I was really interested in something that would help me share that spark," she said. "I wanted to do something to bring me back to that."
Involvement
The faith-sharing experience of Renew 2000 has helped her capture the feelings she had at CLI, Theresa said, adding that Renew is one way youth can be involved in the Church. "We want youth involved," she said.Theresa would encourage young people in other parishes to get involved in Renew.
Of her own group, Theresa said, "We are really trying to grow spiritually and are continuing to try to bring youth into the Church."
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