Is there actually a point to this whole faith thing? And if there is, what does faith look like as a teenager?
Join us for the Dead Theologians Society (DTS), a youth group for grades 8-12 every Tuesday evening at St. Columba in Hopewell Junction, as we learn about how to live as a Catholic teen in a secular world, make the faith our own, and grow closer to God together! (Plus food. And fun!)
You're trying to figure out your place in the world and what role faith has in that. Here, we ask - and answer -"Does this faith stuff even matter?"
We do that by talking about the saints - and no, not in a bland back-of-a-prayer-card kind of way, but actually illuminating all of the really messy parts of their lives that led them to holiness - and how to find your own purpose in the process.
You know, the ones you were always too afraid to ask in religion class - Why does the Church teach ____?
We want DTS to be a place where you can get actual answers to live your faith with understanding. Each week, we'll draw a question from our anonymous "tough topics" bucket and grapple with them together to discover the truth.
No, we're not talking about youth group romances - we're talking about the One who loves you so much that He died for you, who isn't waiting for you to change or grow up or learn everything to love you.
Our goal with DTS is simple - teach you about people so convinced of that love that they changed the world, and then share that love with you so you'll change the world too.
Friends who share your faith end up becoming more like family. At DTS, we share, serve, and have fun together through our regular meetings, "Play and Praise" nights, outings, and our spring retreat.
In our first year last year, we were excited to welcome 15 teens as fully initiated members — and we'd love to welcome you to our family too!Because they're the OG influencers. The saints were real people - often teenagers like you - whose lives were much more complicated and messy than statues and prayer cards will have you believe.
And yet? They lived lives of holiness and service, often in direct contrast to the world around them. Some of them lived hundreds of years ago, but they faced the same challenges to faith we do today. Others were born just decades ago and are already changing the world.
Wish there was a "how to be a Catholic in today's society" guide? Each week we’ll break open one of these saint stories and show how it can be a model for us today as we grapple with our own faith.
The Dead Theologians Society is a national organization, with a chapter here at St. Columba. The name is based on a classic movie, The Dead Poets Society, with Robin Williams. (Ask your parents, they'll tell you all about it.)
But the premise was a secret literary society, hidden away from the world, that totally changed how the members looked at the world. That's what we want to do here at DTS: take a break from the bustle of the world to discover our place in it.
That's why we meet by candlelight in a hushed atmosphere. Because you're constantly surrounded by noise, internally and externally, which makes it hard to actually reflect on your life and decide where you want to go with it. Come experience your faith in a different light.
Some weeks, we'll change things up with a special guest or a project, but most of our meetings go something like this:
Some yaking and snacking in the Bishop Dom room to catch up on the week
We move to the Adoration Chapel and begin with prayer. Then one of our moderators leads us through a talk on an unlikely saint (i.e. "There was a saint who slept around, had a child out of wedlock, and then converted") and what we can learn from their story here in the 21st century.
After the saint talk, we discuss how it relates to our lives today and crack open a tough topic together.
Then we close with some prayers, including intercessory prayer, which is a fancy name for praying for the things going on in each other's lives - sick relatives, big tests and decisions, etc.
Finally, more yaking and more snacking to close out the night.