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Author Archives: Matt Smith

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Cool Life Teen Events this Fall

By | October 5, 2011

Autumn is finally here! The leaves are beginning to change, a new chill is in the air, and college football is reigning supreme. Most importantly, your Life Teen and Edge programs are in full swing. (Whoa, did that rhyme?) Over the next two months, Life Teen will be hosting seven events in seven states. If your parish is close to any of these seven cities, then please consider joining us for a great time with great people. I will be at three of them! Core Member Universities | Oct 15, 22, 29 Who? For

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5 Reasons to Attend the Life Teen Musician’s Retreat (Sep 21-23)

By | August 22, 2011

One of the more defining aspects of the Life Teen movement is our reverence for music. We believe that music can be divinely inspired and thus turn our hearts and souls to God. Music has the power to attract teens to Mass in ways that we can’t even understand. Music matters to our Church! This is why we look for every opportunity to support music ministers who serve in our parishes. This is why we’re hosting the Life Teen Musician’s Retreat in one month. It’s going to be an awesome three days! If

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Do You Know a Teen Who Deserves a College Scholarship?

By | February 8, 2011

In January we announced a very cool partnership between Life Teen and Holy Spirit College that would provide free college tuition to students who were interested in serving the Church after graduation. So if you know a teen in your group who wants to eventually become a missionary, youth minister, consecrated religious, or priest, then please let them know about this opportunity!

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Video: Randy Raus “The New Mission Field,” Life Teen Beyond 25 Years

By | December 13, 2010

Can you believe that 2010 is already coming toa close? I am excited to finish this year with a bang by sharing the most-requested session from the 2010 Life Teen Training Convention. In this video, President Randy Raus shares a vision for Life Teen beyond 25 years within the context of Pope Benedict’s writings about Movements of the Holy Spirit.

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Video: Mark Hart “Behold the Man” from the 2010 Life Teen Training Convention

By | November 30, 2010

Are you in youth ministry because of a promise you made to God, or are you doing this because of God’s promise to you? Mark Hart challenges how we see the Son of Man. Excerpt from the 2010 Life Teen Training Convention. Behold the Man [Life Teen] from Life Teen on Vimeo.

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Video: Fr. Bob Schreiner “The Sacramental Mystery” from the 2010 Life Teen Training Convention

By | October 14, 2010

Many of you have requested that we share some of the best keynotes from Life Teen training conference here on CatholicYouthMinistry.com. I am pleased to share with you all keynote from Fr. Bob Schreiner unpacking our 2010 theme “Behold the Mystery” amidst ordinary–and often funny–experiences of the sacraments. Fr. Bob spoke to a group of 600 at the Life Teen Training Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona. You’re gonna love this! Sacramental Mystery [Life Teen] from Life Teen on Vimeo.Excerpt from

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JPCatholic University: Answering the Call of the New Evangelization

By | August 16, 2010

This summer I had a talk with Martin Harold from San Diego’s John Paul II Catholic University after learning the school is kick-starting their MBA program. As an MBA student myself, I was curious to see what they’re up to.

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The Thinking Behind the New LifeTeen.com

By | July 23, 2010

Earlier this summer at the Life Teen Training Convention we launched the new LifeTeen.com in front of a crowd of 620 people. If you weren’t able to make it to the event, let me share with you what the new LifeTeen.com is all about. We started the redesign of LifeTeen.com earlier this spring by surveying a combined 600 teens and adults who are regular visitors of the website. We asked for honest answers to tough questions about how much they liked the old website. What’s good? What’s bad? What are we totally missing?

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Extreme Makover: John 23rd Cabin at Camp Covecrest

By | May 3, 2010

I just got an email from my dad showing all of their work over at Camp Covecrest in Tiger, Georgia. They’ve spent several months rethinking the old John 23rd Villa to make it more comfortable without losing its historic charm. Take a look at the new photos!

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The Decade’s Best Praise & Worship Songs, Part 2

By | April 15, 2010

If you’ve already read my first blog, you know that I believe that good music is a critical component of Catholic Youth Ministry. That’s why I’m sharing my top 20 favorite praise and worship songs of the decade. In today’s blog, I am sharing songs 11-20, in no particular order