What began as an initiative for youth choirs in the Dioceses of Kerry
and Cloyne four years ago has grown into a national phenomenon, with
thousands of teenagers performing a mixture of liturgical and chart
music in concerts across the country.Teen SpiriT began in 2009 when Noel OSullivan, a keyboard player with the youth choir in Killarney cathedral, started working with Nodlaig Lillis, a secondary school teacher working with a school youth choir in Donaraile, Co. Cork, to figure out how they could integrate contemporary Christian music into their choir repertoire.
Other youth choirs from Killorglin and Milltown came on board, and in the end they were working with 80 people in a combined choir and booking out the INEC in Killarney. Since then Teen SpiriT has started to grow across the Kerry diocese and beyond, with pastoral areas taking on the project themselves and new youth choirs being created.
Teen SpiriT Caherciveen started off the year in August, then in November 65 teenagers from Teen SpiriT Millstreet Pastoral Area performed three concerts across three parishes to about 1,000 people. Later that month Teen SpiriT Tralee had 68 teenagers do a special concert to begin Advent and a Mass for Catholic Schools Week.
Teen SpiriT Kerry, Cloyne and Dublin Diocese got together for 'Carols from the Castle' on RTE on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, performing with the RTE orchestra.
In March Teen SpiriT North Kerry, which spans three pastoral areas, had a choir of 30 teenagers in concert in Listowel.
Last April Teen SpiriT Kandle (Kildare and Leighlin) had their first show in Carlow with about 70 teenagers coming together from four different counties for the concert, and Teen SpiriT Thurles had their first concert with 25 teenagers performing.
Meanwhile Teen SpiriT Dublin Diocese’s choir of 50 performed two concerts, one in Dublin and one in Arklow, Co. Wicklow.
In early May, Teen SpiriT Killarney once again sang at the INEC, but it was the first time the group performed a concert on their own, with 50 teenagers entertaining an audience of 1,000 people.
New groups are forming in Cork City and West Cork. In Kerry, Kenmare, Beara and Castleisland are preparing for concerts in the next academic year, and in Dingle students and teachers are translating Teen SpiriT songs into Irish.
“Each new group brings up its own challenges and working towards a common goal. The teams are problem solving all the challenges to help tailor the project to suit their needs and culture,” says Noel O’Sullivan.
Yvonne Rooney from the Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin Youth Ministry team says their first Teen SpiriT concert this year was very well received with young people. “We opted for a mini-Teen Spirit to start and over 50 teenagers and leaders signed up. The majority of the teens were also involved in their parish choirs so they loved the opportunity to learn some new material and meet other youth choirs around the diocese.
“The response to the music selection was great and the mix of secular and sacred pieces went down very well with the teens. Songs were specifically chosen for their meaning or deeper value and lyrics like ‘who will love me for me’ and ‘there’s no such thing as a perfect people’ really captured the teens and for me were a great example of spreading the values of the Gospel in a contemporary way,” Yvonne says.
While the organising team and the teens are at all stages of faith, the root of the Teen SpiriT project is to give teenagers a sense that they are loved by God and that they are using their talents to give thanks to God for the gifts of music, friendship, fun and health. “Teenagers learn so much about the Christian faith in a very practical sense through the process of doing a Teen SpiriT show,” Noel says.
“We pray before performances and when we know the group long enough we pray before and after rehearsals. Probably the most powerful thing we have experienced in this project is praying with a large group of teenagers, who all have heads bowed respectfully, eyes closed.
In these moments we have seen the real potential our teenagers have for letting God into their lives. For those who may not have had positive, or any real, experience of prayer in their lives, or for whom involvement in any parish activity may have ended after Confirmation, this provides a very necessary space for reflection and prayer with their peers.”
The team also talk to the teenagers about the content of some of the Christian songs or the inspirational songs that have a Christian theme, and the teens appreciate that they also include chart music in their song list.
“The modern nature and content of the songs witness that God is relevant, current and that people are experiencing a relationship with Him in their everyday lives in today’s world,” Noel says. “The songs we choose are very relevant to a teenager’s life in that they may help with poor self-image, being afraid, peer pressure, guilt and loneliness/helplessness in the face of adversity and a basic struggle to understand who they are and what their purpose is.”
Voluntary service is an important foundation to the success of the project – from the adult volunteers who organise the project but also the teens themselves who attend the rehearsals and bootcamps out of their own free will.
“Fun is a huge part of what we do and we make sure the project is balanced between the challenge of the Christian life and being light hearted and fun,” Noel says.
“The feedback after the shows is that the teenagers really enjoyed the project and this is the best news you can get. It is hard work, and that could be the greatest obstacle to face the growth of the project because people have to be willing to invest time, but it’s worth it!
“We are creating youth choirs but also a network of teenagers that get to know each other. To get young people together the first year is hardest part, then you have your team and nucleus of teenagers, and that can be a starting point for the parish or pastoral area.”