After a four-year hiatus, Junior High Spectacular was held Sunday, Nov. 12 at St. John Center in Little Rock for students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
“We needed something to introduce junior high-age students to youth ministry,” diocesan youth director Liz Tingquist said.
About 400 teens attended from 27 parishes to hear national speaker Bob Perron challenge them to be “Stooges for Christ.” The Des Moines, Iowa-based youth director looks like Curly from “The Three Stooges” and is known as the Stooge for Christ.
Tingquist said events for younger teens are important because many of the parishes don’t have full-time programs for them and many don’t have access to speakers and events in their areas.
She said this was especially true in the rural areas and many of the teens came from smaller parishes. She said some of them are among two or three teens in their school that are Catholic.
“They come and they can be with the larger Church community,” she said of the diocesan events.
The day also included icebreakers by the Youth Advisory Council, praise and worship music by Team Jesus from Christ the King Church in Little Rock and Mass celebrated by Father John Kerr of St. Edward Church in Little Rock.
Tingquist said she hopes to attract larger crowds to the diocesan events by booking national speakers like Perron.
“I’m not going to be happy until we have 1,000 kids at every event,” she admits.
In April, a Junior High Youth Rally with speaker and vocalist Jamie Dillon will be held at St. John Center. Dillon was the only American singer at World Youth Day in Germany last year.