OUR MISSION

MISSION STATEMENT FOR THE TEC MOVEMENT
TEC reaches out in a spirit of love to young people, sharing with them an authentic encounter of Christ and his Paschal Mystery while accompanying them throughout their faith journey.

PURPOSE & IDENTITY STATEMENT
TEC is a Catholic ecclesial movement that evangelizes and accompanies older teens and young adults within an intergenerational community. Participants are invited into this community through a 3-day retreat, drawing them into the heart of the Paschal Mystery. TEC awakens spiritual lives and creates disciples who strengthen the local Church.

OUR PURPOSE

PURPOSE OF THE TEC CONFERENCE
The TEC Conference is committed to providing formation and education of adult leaders, quality resources, and a network of support and communication. The TEC Conference remains committed to the development of TEC as an integral part of the vision of total youth and young adult ministry.

Theological Foundation
History Our Patron Saint

TEC is a Catholic movement that invites older teens and young adults to enter into and embrace Christ’s Paschal Mystery in a personal and profound way. The symbol of a grain of wheat, as described by Christ in John’s Gospel, is featured prominently in TEC to help break open the sequence of Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension, flowing into Pentecost. The mystery of his life-giving death is at the heart of what we believe as Catholics, affecting who we are and how we see ourselves.

TEC participants begin by experiencing a three-day retreat that echoes the liturgical year. Both the activities and their sequence are prayerfully designed to create a space where emerging adults can have a deep, loving, and personal encounter with Christ. Christ is truly present throughout each TEC weekend through sacramental opportunities such as Mass and Reconciliation, as well as Eucharistic Adoration, engaging speakers, discussion, and lots of fun while spending time with peers.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains but a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
John 12:24

TEC is authentically Catholic, and participants are encouraged to enter fully into all that is being celebrated. The flow of the weekend aims to help the young person experience how much God loves him or her and is calling him or her to a fuller, joy-filled life through genuine discipleship and community. It is amazing how close a group of people can become after just three days!

Those who make TEC often describe the feeling of family as they form a new community of friends which continues after the initial three-day experience. This intergenerational community is mutually beneficial and enriching to all who participate. There is the opportunity for community members to accompany and mentor those who are beginning to understand what their faith and relationship with Christ means to them. Those being mentored can talk through questions and find support from someone who understands them. Those mentoring can experience the joy of discipleships. The power of a loving community shows that benefits go both ways and has a ripple effect at the parochial and diocesan levels. TEC community members of every age engage more enthusiastically in the life of the parish, and vocations of every sort spring forth as TEC community members experience the encouragement and support of the people of God.

The theological foundation of TEC is more exhaustively explored in the TEC Conference Manual, which is the normative resource for formation and leadership for TEC communities.

The first TEC weekend, October 1965

A NEW KIND OF RETREAT
In 1965, high school teacher Fr. Matthew Fedewa (Diocese of Lansing, MI) realized his seniors weren’t responding to the traditional retreat models being employed. However, he realized their real need for an authentic encounter with Christ as a compliment to his classroom efforts. Inspired by the Cursillo movement, Fr. Matt responded to this need by applying some of the principles that he was learning in summer courses at the Loyola Institute for Pastoral Studies in Chicago. He designed a retreat experience focused on the Paschal Mystery that would provide a personal and lived experience of the essentials of the Catholic faith.

Fr. Matt handled the theological and spiritual aspects of the retreat while Sr. Mary Concetta, RSM (Dorothy Gereke) worked out the practical details. The experience had a deep and lasting impact on Fr. Matt’s students. A living community grew out of the retreat, supporting and mentoring the young people who were now embracing their faith.

This three-day weekend, which Fr. Matt called “Teens Encounter Christ,” quickly began attracting the attention of other dioceses and sparked a movement that still burns brightly today, over 50 years later.

LEFT: Sr. Mary Concetta and Fr. Matt Fedewa circa 1970
RIGHT: Fr. Jim Brown and Fr. Matt Fedewa 2009

THE TEC CONFERENCE
As TEC was spreading to new regions during its first decade, there was no central body to moderate and guide the growth. The field of youth and young adult ministry began to rapidly evolve, and as TEC expanded across the world, so did the need for unity and clarity.

The TEC Conference was formed in 1981 as a ministry charged with sustaining the spiritual quality of the local TEC communities, providing resources, training, and support. Around the same time, Fr. James Brown, OAR, gathered a team which would ultimately spend a decade creating the TEC Conference Manual as a guide to the core message, theology, and methodology of TEC. All affiliated TEC centers receive this copyrighted manual from the Conference, along with other support.

ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX

Because so many insights from St. Therese of Lisieux’s life parallel the spiritual process that guides the TEC Movement, the Conference named Therese the patron saint of TEC in 1998.

ENCOUNTER
A central tenet of TEC is a personal encounter with Christ and authentic encounters with others. Therese’s mission was to enter into and bring others to the heart of Christ. Both TEC and Therese share the goal of bringing those on our path to God.

WHEAT
Like the grain of wheat that must die to produce fruit, we “die to self” on TEC and make sacrifices of wheat throughout the weekend and beyond. Therese’s “little way” explains that everything, even the smallest daily tasks, can be sacrifices when done with great love.

YOUTH
The young adults who experience TEC are around the same age as Therese was at the time of her major writings and death. Having joined God at the age of 24, Therese remains young despite the passing of time, acting as a relevant role model to all. Her words and example are a gift directly to her contemporaries.

GOING FORTH
After a TEC weekend, we are encouraged to go forth and share the encounter that we just experienced with those in our lives. Therese sought to share her own love of God with all and believed everyone could attain holiness and sainthood. She continues to share God’s love with her “shower of roses” from heaven.

OUR MISSION

OUR PURPOSE

ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!