FREEZE! Hierarchy and Teaching Authority of the Church LIFE NIGHT OUTLINE
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FREEZE! Hierarchy and Teaching Authority of the Church LIFE NIGHT OUTLINE Goal for the Life Night GATHER 15 Minutes The goal for this night is to have the teens understand the structure of hierarchy in the Church and the teaching Welcome and Introduce New Teens (5 min) authority given by Christ. The night will also help teens The youth minister gathers the group together and understand the virtue of obedience to those in authority. welcomes everyone to the Life Night. He/she introduces any teens at Life Night for the first time. Life Night at a Glance Why do most teens have a hard time following authority? No-Rules Freeze Tag (10 min) This Life Night helps teens understand the structure of The idea of this game is to create as much chaos as hierarchy in the Church and how the structure gives us possible. The youth minister should tell the teens that freedom. The night begins with a game of no-rules freeze we are going to play freeze tag and the winner will win a tag, which will inevitably end in complete chaos. The HUGE prize. No further instruction should be given—no teaching will help the teens understand how the hierarchy rules or explanation. Start the game and just let the teens and teaching authority of the Church is set up and why try and figure it out. Some of the more competitive teens we must practice the virtue of obedience to their authority. will get into it immediately, while some of the teens might The main point is to help the teens see the freedom we just stand on the sidelines. It is the role of the Core to gain through obedience. The Break will answer the teens’ get everyone involved. As the game is played have Core questions on the teachings of the Church in a large group members making up their own rules and confusing things setting. The night will end with a brief discussion and even more. For example, if someone tags them they do prayer for true freedom. The night ends with a second not have to freeze, or have a few Core members tagging round of freeze tag with all the rules in place. teens and going around telling people for no reason that they have to freeze. Play for about 10 minutes or until a Environment large number of teens complain that it is not “fair.” The environment for this night depicts symbols of authority in teens’ lives. On the walls hang silhouettes of authority figures such as police officers, judges, bosses, coaches, PROCLAIM 10 minutes parents, teachers, priests and the youth minister. Check at a local teacher supply store for full color pictures of these Freedom in Obedience Teaching (10 min) different people. Or cut out silhouettes and then paste the The person giving the teaching should stop the game and head of your priest, youth minister, etc. to the silhouette. bring the group together. Ask a couple of teens to share You can also use symbols that these authority figures about their experience of playing no-rules freeze tag. Use would use such as sheriff stars, gavels and rulers. Have their frustration as a starting place for teaching. This talk the Core dress up as figures of authority (cops, moms, will explain the need for rules and authority. The Church teachers, etc.). At the beginning of the night, the Core is not here to make sure we never have fun, she instructs should go around telling the teens what to do and make and teaches so that we might experience real freedom in sure they are following the rules. For example, if a Core Christ. member is dressed as a teacher have him/her telling the teens do to their homework or walk in a single file line. He/ The teaching for this night can be found on page 31. She can also make sure that the teens are raising their hands and waiting to be called on to speak. As teens enter the meeting space have the Core dressed up as authority figures ask the teens to write down one or two questions about the teachings/doctrines of the Church and put them in a box. These questions should be about FREEZE! anything the teens have wondered, “why does the Church teach that?” These will be used in the Break of the night. LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM28 GUIDE LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM GUIDE LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM GUIDE LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM GUIDE CATECHISM REFERENCES: SCRIPTURES: # 85-86 # 888-891 Exodus 23: 21 Acts of the # 2663 Micah 3:6 Apostles15:7 # 2032-2036 Daniel 6:4 Romans 13:1-10 # 874 Matthew 16:18-19 John 20:22 BREAK 30 minutes SEND 20 Minutes Large Group Q&A (30 min) Freedom (10 min) Have a Core member read through all the questions Recap the teaching of the night and conclude with the collected at the beginning of the night during the Gather concept of freedom: and Proclaim. Select the questions that can be answered during this time. Have a panel of the youth minister, a Many of us think that freedom means doing whatever we priest or deacon, and a Core member ready to answer the want, whenever we want. We do not understand why questions. After the teaching the Core member that read the Church has given us all these rules we have to follow through the questions will lead the large group discussion. and be obedient to. It seems that the Church gives us He/She will move into the Q&A time by explaining that the opposite of freedom. But Christ came to set us free many of us have questions about why the Church believes and established the Church so that we could experience and teaches what she does and why we have to follow true freedom. Freedom is not about doing whatever you so many rules. He/She will read the questions off one at want – it is the ability to choose the good. The Church’s a time and allow the panel to answer them. If teens have authority is there to help us choose the good. The follow-up questions, they can ask those to the panel as authority and structure of the Church gives us a clear well. Time will probably not allow for every question to be knowledge of right and wrong. From this authority given by answered so be sure to follow up with those teens whose Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we come to questions are not answered. know truth. It is from this truth that we can live freely. It is important that the panel is prepared to answer difficult Call the group to a time of prayer. Ask the teens to think questions about Church teachings. Have a catechism about the areas of their life where they are not free (i.e. handy so the teens can see where/how to look up addiction, sin, anger, etc.). Have the music minister play answers on their own. Encourage teens to ask the hard the song, “Freedom Reigns” by Jason Upton. As the song questions. It is in asking that our faith and knowledge will is played invite the teens to pray for the freedom of Christ grow. to reign over that area of their life. Close the time of prayer with the Hail Mary and Ave Maria. Here are some topics that might be asked about during this time: • Church’s teaching on sex, contraception, etc. • Why do we have to go to Mass every week? • Church’s teaching on war, death penalty • Church’s teaching on stem-cell research and other life issues • Why do we have to confess to a priest? • Why can’t women be priests? • Church’s teaching on other religions FREEZE! LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM GUIDE LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM GUIDE LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM GUIDE LIFE TEEN CURRICULUM29 GUIDE FREEZE! Hierarchy and Teaching Authority of the Church LIFE NIGHT OUTLINE Freeze Tag (10 min) • If there are more questions than you have time to Finish the night with a second round of freeze tag. Make answer, it might be a good idea to have a follow-up sure you have a prize for the winner(s). This time explain night to answer the rest of the questions. This night can all the rules clearly. Example of freeze tag rules: happen during the week or on another Sunday. • Have a few Core members and a few teens be “it” and trying to tag the teens. • Once someone gets tagged he/she must freeze in place. • To be unfrozen someone must crawl through the frozen person’s legs (for girls with skirts on someone must crawl around them). • Point out the boundary lines of the game • The winner is the person who can go the longest without being frozen. During this time have plenty of drinks and snacks. A great snack for this night would be popsicles, snow cones, or ice cream sandwiches—anything frozen. Community Connection • Instead of having the Core dress up as figures of authority, invite some of the parents and local teachers to come and greet the teens at the beginning of the night. • Invite other members of the parish staff or parish community to be part of the question and answer panel. • Invite your priest well in advance to be part of this Life Night • Ask local businesses (i.e. movie passes, iPod, restaurant gift certificate, etc.) to donate prizes for freeze tag. MAKING IT WORK • If there is a gym on the parish grounds, the two rounds of freeze tag can take place there.