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In the afterglow of Vatican II, the fresh new vision of the Church and the centrality
of the Paschal Mystery inspired Rev. Matt Fedewa, a priest of the Diocese of Lansing, MI, to design a retreat experience which
would bring into clear focus the essentials of the faith for seniors in high school and young adults. As a teacher of a Senior
class, he was well aware of the disenchantment of youth with the traditional retreat model. The initiative for his work came
out of an adult faith community who wished to share with their youth the spiritual experience they had had as adult believers
in movements like the Cursillo.
At the request of the Diocesan Office of Religious Education, Father Fedewa was
sent to attend the five summer programs at the Loyola University, Institute for Pastoral Studies in Chicago, IL. There
he was brought under the influence of Fr. Alfonso Nebreda, SJ, world famous for his leadership in religious formation and
the catechetical renewal after the Council. Fr. Nebreda was convinced that, due to the cultural shift of the times,
ministry to youth in America had to adopt the approach of missionary catechesis, which meant that the Good News had to be
presented within the context of youth culture.
The second insight which Father Nebreda contributed was: "As soon as
a person can act in a personal way they should be led to make a commitment by which faith becomes a human reality for them.
To lead [persons] to an adult conversion and true commitment to Christ is one of the greatest challenges facing religious
education." Fr. Nebreda believed that many youth had been sacramentalized without having been initiated into the faith vision
consonant with their age and culture. He taught that there was a need to experience the core truths of the faith by persons
at the time of a significant passage, such as youth moving into adulthood. Those are the times of faith crisis, and also times
in which youth may opt to accept the Christian vision as the guiding norm for building their adulthood. For this reason, Father
Fedewa deliberately chose to design the TEC process for those in the transition between later adolescence and young adulthood.
The
first TEC weekend was held October 9-11, 1965. During the following years the movement met with great success in the Lansing
Diocese, and was shared with many other diocese, both near and far.
North Coast Spirit TEC in Cleveland was born in April of 1988,
and Divine Mercy TEC in Erie was formed in March of 1996 by Fr. Larry Richards.
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