Youth conference geared to form the Church of the future
Members of the SMOKN’ Youth Ministry of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyds Knobs and St. Mary Parish in Navilleton display a few of the T-shirts they will trade with “One Bread, One Cup” participants from other communities. From left are Matthew Hamilton, Paul Crockett and Kevin Crockett, all members of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish. Their group’s slogan is “We’re fired up for Jesus.” (Photo by Patricia Happel Cornwell)
By Patricia Happel Cornwell
(Special to The Criterion)
ST. MEINRAD—St. Mary-of-the-Knobs parishioner Paul Crockett likes to “rock out for the Lord,” and he did just that at the June 25-29 “One Bread, One Cup” youth conference at Saint Meinrad Archabbey.
Paul, 17, sang and played the upright bass for the Liturgy of the Hours during the second of three such conferences on the southern Indiana campus this summer. The first conference was held on June 11-15 and the third one took place from July 6-10.
“One Bread, One Cup” is a conference that introduces Catholic youths, youth ministry leaders and religion teachers to the theology and spirituality of Catholic liturgy and trains them in various liturgical ministries.
A junior at Floyd Central High School, Paul attended daily sessions in “Music for Liturgy of the Hours.” Other students chose “Advanced Theological Reflection,” “Developing a Personal Witness Talk,” “Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion” and other ministry tracks. Skill-building sessions were also available for the adults who accompanied them.
This was Paul’s second year at the “One Bread, One Cup” youth conference. He was among 87 youths and 24 adults who attended the conference from 16 states. All told, 280 young people and 109 adults attended the conferences “on the hill.”
At the second conference, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis was represented by 34 teens and eight adults. They hailed from Bishop Chatard High School as well as St. Christopher and St. Mark the Evangelist parishes, all in Indianapolis, in addition to Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood, the Richmond Catholic Community in Richmond, St. Michael Parish in Bradford, and St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyds Knobs.
Students roomed with young people from other parishes rather than with their friends, and the first full day of activities included “ice breakers.”
Paul Crockett’s brother, Kevin, attended for the first time this year. They got to know teenagers from Virginia, California, Louisiana, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia.
“You strengthen relationships with the people in your parish group, and you make new friends,” Paul said. “It makes you remember that everybody is the Church, the body of Christ.”
Saint Meinrad has hosted youth conferences on campus since the mid-1990s. The program became known as “One Bread, One Cup” in 2000.
Mary Jeanne Schumacher, director of communications at Saint Meinrad, said the conference is “an original.”
Benedictine Father Anthony Vinson, Saint Meinrad’s director of vocational development, organized the conferences and recruited instructors from throughout the U.S. as well as from the archabbey’s staff.
Libby Wright, 17, also a St. Mary-of-the-Knobs parishioner, attended her second “One Bread, One Cup” conference this year.
An incoming senior at Floyd Central High School, she chose the training track for extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. She also rehearsed with the sacred choir for the conference’s liturgical observances, where teens got to put into practice the skills they learned.
Libby said the conference “gives you the chance to be around peers who believe the same thing that you do, and to celebrate God’s Word and the Eucharist together.
“It’s a great learning experience,” she said. “It fosters your prayer life and gives you more appreciation for the Eucharist.”
Before attending “One Bread, One Cup” last year, Libby did not participate in her parish’s youth ministry programs and activities, but the conference motivated her to become involved. After this year’s experience, she is now qualified as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.
“The best part of the conference for me,” she said, “was adoration on Thursday night.”
Ashley Niehaus, a member of St. Anthony Parish in the Evansville Diocese, was also in attendance for the second time.
She participated in the “Proclamation of the Word” lector training. She has already served as lector in her parish half a dozen times, but received valuable tips from Benedictine Father Gavin Barnes.
The eight teens in Ashley’s group scrambled onto the stage of St. Bede Theater to practice Father Gavin’s warm-up exercises. As he coached them, they dangled their arms and bent over toward the floor in a “rag doll” exercise.
He told them to relax their jaw muscles as well and advised them to “loosen up” in the sacristy before Mass so they are able to speak clearly.
The students next took turns reading and listened intently as Father Gavin critiqued the fine points of pronunciation, projection and emphasis.
“St. Paul’s letters are teaching devices,” Father Gavin told the youths. “If you’re reading this, you’ve got to convince us.”
The group put their new techniques to use immediately by presenting the daily Mass readings during the conference.
Audrey Harbeson, 18, a Floyd Central senior, attended “One Bread, One Cup” for the first time, taking the “Music for Eucharistic Liturgy” track.
She and a friend have organized rehearsals for teen choir at St. Michael Parish in Bradford for the past year.
While she had never met her roommate before, Harbeson said that, by the end of the week, “I was a little bit sad to leave.”
Joshua Book, 17, a junior at North Harrison High School in Ramsey, had never been to a “One Bread, One Cup” conference before. John Jacobi, his director of religious education at St. Michael Parish in Bradford, encouraged him to attend this year.
“John told me it was a kind of leadership camp, and I trusted him so I signed up,” Joshua said. “At first, it was kind of weird because you didn’t know anybody. By the middle of the week, you were more comfortable and, by the end of the week, you were good friends.”
Joshua attended the track for sacristans and servers. These sessions delved into the meaning of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist as well as the changes in the Mass prompted by the Second Vatican Council.
Using slides to reinforce her presentation, instructor Haley Todd of Finley, Ohio, discussed the Eucharist with 12 youths during a server training session.
“The wheat, ground and broken, then combined with water” for Communion hosts represents “the gift of ourselves, broken … and brought together by the water of baptism,” Todd explained.
While Joshua has served as an altar server since fourth grade, he said the “One Bread, One Cup” training “changed the way I think of Mass now. I’m more aware of what’s really happening, and it’s a lot more fun to go to church.”
Would he attend another “One Bread, One Cup” conference?
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I would love to go again.”
(Patricia Happel Cornwell is a freelance writer and member of St. Joseph Parish in Corydon.) †
