As a Eucharist-centered movement within the Roman Catholic Church, Life Teen leads teenagers and their families into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. With the Blessed Virgin Mary as our intercessor and guide, Life Teen seeks to unleash the fullness of the Sacramental power present within the young Church.

In 1985 Life Teen was launched as a parish-based youth ministry in Mesa, AZ focused on the Mass and gathering high school aged teens together at a Life Night. We continue to be focused on bringing teens to Christ in the Eucharist and gathering them to be formed in the Roman Catholic faith.

In 2003 Edge Middle School catechetical resources were developed in response to age compression and middle school youth having experiences that were previously common only with high school students. Edge middle school youth ministry is an essential part to any parish faith formation program. It is created specifically to reach out to 6th-8th grade students and lead them closer to Christ.
We currently have 1,800+ parishes implementing Edge and/or Life Teen. Life Teen can be found in 31 countries, including Canada, South Africa, China, Malaysia, The Philippines, East Africa, Uganda, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, England, and the Netherlands.

In our desire to serve parishes and dioceses and help them lead teens to Christ, we have seen the need for training grow continually. Requests for training were outgrowing our ability to meet them, so we trained Life Teen Certified Trainers for local Parish and Diocesan Trainings. We now have a solid team of veteran youth ministry leaders who are familiar and confident training in the Life Teen and Edge model as well as resources. We will gladly work with your diocese to bring in a Life Teen Certified Trainer or two upon your request.

From a joint survey by the USCCB Office for Vocations and Life Teen 2018
• 35% of all current seminarians in the United States were involved in some Life Teen activity.
• 25% of all current seminarians in the United States said their involvement in the Life Teen Movement helped support their discernment to enter the seminary.
• Adoration was the most powerful activity that made an impact on the call to vocations.

“Life Teen helped me to discern my vocation. Life Teen is a great witness and tool in the parishes so that teens can understand where God wants them to be” Fr. Marvin Bearis O.F.M., Garrison, NY

Life Support now includes digital parent handouts for every Life Night. These handouts include questions for families to discuss, alongside a brief teaching overview for parents. These parent letters are available in Spanish for families that may have a parent that doesn’t speak English as a primary language.

Two main components present in a collaboration between your diocese and Life Teen are relevant resources and training on up-to-date methods and best practices in youth ministry. While we want to work with you to get resources for retreats, large group and small group gatherings, and more into the hands of the youth ministry leaders of your diocese, we also want to make sure your youth ministry leaders are trained to implement the resources.

Youth ministry can be a roller coaster, but building the right foundation, setting the parish up for long-term success, and sharing the vision with the entire parish are paramount. Our goal is that all youth ministry leaders and adult volunteer Core Team members feel confident leading small groups, understand relational ministry, and are able to give an effective proclaim teachings to teens.

Having one of our Regional Directors or a Life Teen Certified Trainer come out to spend time with you and your parish youth ministry leaders is a vital component of all of our Diocesan Collaborations. We know that receiving training helps youth ministers and Core members to be more effective and to commit for a longer period of time, on average.

Since no two dioceses are the same, there is not a “one size fits all” approach to our collaborations. If you are interested in working with Life Teen to support the parishes in your diocese, please let us know and we would be happy to meet, learn about your diocese, and brainstorm how we can together work to help your priests and youth ministry leaders teach teens about the truths of our faith.

Curriculum

When we collaborate with a diocese, we are able to supply parishes with the Life Teen and/or Edge resources at a reduced cost. Working together with you, we will create benchmark goals of how many parishes will be receiving resources, and will help you work with the parishes in your diocese to grow youth ministry.