Youth Supplement

One Bread, One Cup provide nourishment for growing youth interest

From left, Palmer Roth, Megan Faye, Eric Crockett, Joshua Isaacs and Susan Isaacs participated this summer in One Bread, One Cup, a program designed to help young people grow in their faith and their leadership skills. The five participants are members of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in St. Mary-of-the-Knobs. (Submitted photo)

By Emily Perkins (Special to The Criterion)

What started as a small leadership conference almost 13 years ago has now grown into a nationally-recognized youth liturgical leadership conference.

Saint Meinrad School of Theology’s One Bread, One Cup (OBOC) has become one of the most popular summer conferences for youths across the country.

It is also growing in popularity within the archdiocese. In 2007, young people from 21 parishes and high schools in the archdiocese participated.

For many, the trip to Saint Meinrad is something they have never experienced and it leaves a lasting impression. One Bread, One Cup is a leadership conference where they live in community with other high school students for five days.

During that time, they learn about Benedictine tradition, catechesis and liturgy. They also have the opportunity to participate in liturgical skills tracks where they learn to be a lector, an altar server, a cantor and an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

They are taught these skills with the hope that when they return to their home parishes or high schools they can put into practice what they have learned.

For Jacob Kraft of Holy Family Parish in New Albany, taking what he learned at One Bread, One Cup this summer was part of giving back to his parish.

“We have started a mini-OBOC for training other youths who want to participate in ministries,” Jacob said. “I still lector at both the youth Mass and the regular Sunday Mass.”

In 2008, there are three scheduled opportunities to participate in a One Bread, One Cup conference: June 16-20, June 27-July 1 and July 7-11.

Part of the uniqueness of One Bread, One Cup is that Saint Meinrad provides the perfect backdrop for creating an intentional community. The monks of Saint Meinrad are great examples of what living in community means. They provide the examples of gathering for prayer, sharing meals and providing support to each other.

One Bread, One Cup has been modeled after years of Benedictine tradition. The schedule is planned around morning prayer, Mass, evening prayer and night prayer. The One Bread, One Cup community also comes together to share meals. The experience made a difference to a group from St. Christopher Parish in Indianapolis.

“I believe it is important for youths to see Church as a community, and what better place than One Bread, One Cup,” said Tom Steiner, youth minister at St. Christopher. “OBOC offers such a great opportunity for the youth to truly see the Eucharist as a community gathering, and to experience that with a group of youths their age is an amazing opportunity.”

The experience at One Bread, One Cup is now coming full-circle. Former college interns in the program and ­participants are sharing the skills they learned with the Church community. Some have become youth ministers and teachers in the archdiocese and in other dioceses across the country.

“Being an intern for two summers has helped me to solidify my calling to be a Catholic high school teacher,” said Katie Ingram, a senior at Marian College in Indianapolis. “I always knew the call was there, but now I truly know.”

(Emily Perkins is the coordinator of youth ministry at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis. She has been involved in One Bread, One Cup as a participant and a college intern. She has been the associate director of the program the past two summers.) †