Tupelo youth nourished in faith Story & Photos by Fabvienen Taylor VIEW GALLERY
TUPELO — When people ask Judy Hunter, St. James Parish youth minister, why her parish has no Catholic school, her answer rolls off her tongue.
“I tell them we do have a Catholic school, it goes on every Wednesday night, just come and see,” said Hunter, who works full-time.
That’s the night religious education teachers (catechists), some parents, various volunteers and other parish staff gather to educate, or support, the parish’s 180 sixth - 12th graders in their Catholic faith.
But before the students are nourished in their faith, they feast and fellowship in the auditorium of the Family Life Center.
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Becky Weatherford, a professional chef who volunteers her services, dished up spaghetti, a salad, bread, dessert and iced tea for the crowd. “I love doing this,” said Weatherford. “This is my way of giving back to the parish.” A group of mostly senior parishioners serve as kitchen crew.
Eleventh-grader Bradley Michael, 16, attends every week.
“I’m here to learn about my faith, about Jesus, to be with my friends, and to have a lot of fun,” said Michael, who is preparing for confirmation. “And I come to eat. You know the food is free.”
After dinner and class, Michael attends the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). “We’re playing soccer today and in the meeting afterwards, we’ll get to write down our ideas about what we want to do this year, what we want to learn. But basically the premise is always for us to learn about our faith, to really get something out of this.”
Sixteen-year old Jordan Edwards said to her, coming to the parish on Wednesday is worth it.
“I love being here, they make it fun to be Catholic,” said the 12th grader. “You enjoy learning about your faith, hanging out with other people who share the same beliefs as you.”
Enjoyment also peppered Maggie Thomas’ conversation. “The teachers make it really fun so I enjoy being here. Everything is fun.
“I like seeing all of my friends and I also like how everyone comes together. But I know I am here first for religious education and then CYO,” said the 11-year-old sixth-grader, whose class has been reviewing what they learned last year, such as the rosary and the Ten Commandments.
When the review is over, Thomas and her fellow classmates will be introduced to the four pillars of catechism, said Mary Ann Plasencia, coordinator of religious education for sixth - 12th grades.
“The pillars are the creed, sacraments, the commandments and prayer,” said Plasencia. “We just moved to a new curriculum in some of our groups and Dawn (Steinman, coordinator for preschool to fifth grade) has switched curriculum in all her grades.”
Each of the upper grades will focus on two of the pillars, said Plasencia. “One year the focus may be on the creed and prayer, another year we might focus on morality and the sacraments,” she said.
In the course of the year, there are 30 classes on 30 Wednesdays for all levels of religious education, or catechesis, including Steinman’s program for the younger children.
There are 18 teachers for the upper grades and some grades have two classes of students. And grades six - nine are separated by gender.
“That has been very helpful to us for two reasons. It allows our kids to be a little more trusting, to say really what they want to say,” said Plasencia.
Steinman agreed. “Teens are really trying to impress a boy or girl sometimes and when they are separated that effort doesn’t have to be there, they can be more of who they are,” she said. “There are just fewer distractions.”
On Sunday mornings between Masses classes are held for the younger students.
“We start with an open assembly, where there are songs and Scripture, followed by a discussion where I ask them questions about the reading. Then we take up a collection and they are dismissed to class for an hour,” Steinman said.
The Faith First curriculum from RCL Publishers is used, she said. “Three-fourths of my teachers use centers to teach. There are centers for crafts, Bible review, computers, faith quest and Catholic games. Then they swap. When they get in fourth grade, the students don’t want to be in centers.”
There are 15 children in each class, with two adults. “If we don’t have two teachers, there is a teacher and a teen assistant,” she said.
Overall, in the two religious education programs there are 38 teachers and 20 youth helping as teacher assistants.
There is a separate class on Sunday mornings for eight Hispanic children preparing for First Communion and first reconciliation, according to Steinman.
By the time they get to third grade the Hispanic children attend the regular classes. “By then they are speaking English and are fully acclimated and integrated,” said Plasencia.
About 15 Hispanic children attend religious education Wednesday nights and 30 younger children attend on Sunday mornings.
Father Henry Shelton has served as pastor of St. James and St. Thomas Aquinas Mission in Saltillo for 10 years. There are 640 families and 200 Hispanic families.
Father August Langen-camp, sacramental minister, is in residence at the parish and Elquin Gonzalez is the Hispanic minister.
“I love these kids and they love each other,” Father Shelton said. “They enjoy being with each other. You can feel it when you walk into the auditorium on Wednesday night.”
The youth exude a depth of faith, he said, which is present in the whole parish.
“That depth of faith is in their parents, who are committed to the program,” he said.
“There is collaboration between the youth minister and the religious education program. They are not in competition with each other.
“The parish staff has given the kids a sense of their Catholic identity and a feeling of being bonded with each other,” Father Shelton said.
“The kids love their faith and are passionate about it. Their parents see what’s going on here and are very supportive of it.”
For the older youth, the Wednesday night fellowship is really important, Plasencia said.
The evening starts at 5 with supper and fellowship and catechesis begins 50 minutes later, lasting an hour. “A lot of things go on,” she said.
“Our main goal is to pass along the faith to our kids in as many mediums as we can. We do it through music, through liturgy.”
On the last Wednesday of the month, there is a youth Mass. “Father’s (Shelton) homily is dead-on to where teenagers are, and our youth band plays,” Plasencia said.
Also, there is “Wednesdays With Will” before dinner when kids come early to help with service projects on the grounds – mulch an area, move rocks.
“They come to give back to the parish,” she said. “And it’s a good inter-generational project because they work with an older parishioner, Will Garnett.”
After Wednesday night class, about 80 percent of the youth attend CYO, said Hunter.
“Of course our focus there is message, community and service,” she said. “We try to bring that to them in some way. We let them decide. It could be service work, a prayer service, or Bible study,” she said.
In addition, the high school youth and adult volunteers get together on Sundays from 5-7 p.m. for “Saturday Night Live.”
“Next week we will start a series on Catholic social teachings and have discussion panels,” according to Hunter. “Of course, we have fun too – sports, games, music. Sometimes we may go to a bowling alley, or save up money and go out and shop for a family in need, or have a special speaker or special program,” said Hunter.
“Most of all I just try to keep them connected with one another and let them know they have a Catholic identity within their family, within their church, within their youth program,” she said.
She said the youth are very committed to their faith. “They wear their Catholicism well up here. They have a pride about knowing it, learning it. In the Bible belt, we are a minority,” Hunter said.
Thomas is asked about her faith at school when she makes the Sign of the Cross. “People just ask me what I’m doing and I explain it to them. My friends especially are very comfortable asking me about my faith and I explain it to them. I ask them about theirs too,” she said.
Jordan said nobody says anything to her about being Catholic. “They’ll say, ‘someone said something about Catholics’ and they just don’t understand it.
“But that’s one of the good things about these youth nights. We learn about our faith, so when people come up to me and ask if I worship Mary, I am able to tell them no. That is a common misconception, we don’t worship Mary. I feel really comfortable that I know my faith well.”
“I love doing this,” said Weatherford. “This is my way of giving back to the parish.” A group of mostly senior parishioners serve as kitchen crew.
is worth it.
