The challenge

While "working" on Facebook, I ran across the status of my friend, another youth minister.

Mary is trying to use Final Cut Pro to make a version of Donnie Darko that's edited for the kids.

It's particularly funny because, once again, it's the time of year for Confirmation candidates to make their "day of reflection" retreat. I work with a team that facilitates just such a retreat. For the past few years, I've been tasked with finding video clips which stimulate discussion about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, like Courage and Right Judgment. Lots of movies could fit that criterion, but, alas, they must be unoffensive (to youth and their chaperones, a near-impossible task), clear, brief...Furthermore, based on adult evaluations, they must not involves witches, witchcraft, or sorcery. So Harry Potter is out. But, by those standards, so are the G-rated films Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Nanny McPhee. Or the PG Princess Bride.

We've tried to apply our own rules like "permitted for viewing by adults and adolescents by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Film and Broadcasting." Apparently, while the good bishops saw no major problems with The Devil Wears Prada, the chaperones were less forgiving. By the way, the bishops mention no objection to magic or wizardry in Harry Potter.

It's challenging. It's frustrating, and sometimes aggravating. Ministers are asked to catechize youth in the teachings of the Church. We are asked to reach out to young people in their element, which means engaging them in discussion about music, clothes, movies, socializing. And yet, we're asked not to get too real. Sure, they've all seen Harry Potter and The Devil Wears Prada, but that was in their secular lives. This is their church life and it should be naively pious, even if it means isolation or willful ignorance. Why equip kids with the moral and intellectual tools observe, question and challenge their own culture, when you can just show them The Song of Bernadette from 1943 and then have a nice, innocuous, vapid discussion on French saints?

There's lots of room for talking about Christian identity--saints, apostles, sacraments and all. But if we can't make ministry relatable and relevant, what's the point? We're not raising youth to be hermits. We're raising them to be conscientious adults, formed by the world in which they live, and informed by the values of the discipleship.

Mary, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The Mormons used to offer edited movies at CleanFlicks.com but apparently the copyright people weren't pleased. Now they offer rental services for movies that do not include nudity, profanity and violence. So that should give you a stock of about 6 movies to choose from. (They do offer Harry Potter and The Princess Bride!)