By Lindsey Townsend

Speaking in Words that Youth Can Hear

INDIANAPOLIS, IN—"We have a cultural crisis in this country today. Rappers, rock stars and major league athletes are now the primary role models for our young people. And the values they're selling are that having money, the right clothes and possessions are what matters--and that having sex with multiple partners is the cool thing to do."

Father Charles and Chester Smith, SVD, are passionate about the youth of America, the Catholic Church, and their African-American heritage. They've already made history by becoming the first African-American twin priests to be ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in America.

While growing up in a tough neighborhood on the South Side, both brothers were strongly influenced by their mother, a social worker and community activist. "Every day she would tell us that we could become anything we wanted to be," says Chester. As members of the Society of the Divine Word, an international religious order, the brothers met and grew fond of several priests who were helping abused and neglected kids and working to rid the neighborhood of gangbangers.

"Essentially they challenged us to take on their jobs and become the "Jesse Jacksons" of the Catholic Church," says Chester. Both chose to answer the call. After they were ordained in 1988, Charles moved to San Bernadino, California to minister while Chester went to St. Anselm's Church on the South Side of Chicago.

Both also soon realized there was a great need in their communities for specialized ministry and programs focused on youth. "Many of our members were black female head of households whose children had no positive male role models. We felt we needed to reach out and evangelize more to these young people to reach them," Chester says.

That focus led them to direct the Bowman-Francis Ministry Project in Atlanta, Georgia, an innovative program that produces culturally relevant educational materials, fosters cross-cultural awareness, africenter approaches to the challenges and problems facing the African-American family and community.

After three years in Atlanta, Father Tony Clark invited them to return to their Midwestern roots at St. Rita's Catholic Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a World Church, St. Rita is inclusive of all ethnic groups, including the Vietnamese community and the many nationalities of the Divine Word Missionaries who serve there.

While helping all youth is a key mission, the specific needs of African-American kids remain a top priority for both brothers. They are co-creators and directors of the Ambassadors of the Word Ministries, an African-American youth program that educates and encourages youth in learning and exchanging their knowledge, culture, faith and skills. They have served in pastoral, education, retreat and revival ministries; have written Boyhood to Manhood, a rite of passage manual for African-American boys; and developed a manual for the African-American family Kwanzaa celebration, My Family our Family.

"What a lot of kids in the inner city today see around them is that they can sell dope and make quick money. The gangbangers, the pimps and the hustlers look successful to them. We show them that they have other options: to be a businessman, a fireman, a priest, a fireman," Chester says. "When these kids can sit down and talk with someone with their heritage who is successful, it changes them."
But while the twins focus on educating African-American youth about their cultural heritage, they believe that many of the problems that young people deal with today are universal: drugs, sex, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases. "It goes beyond a black and white thing. Kids everywhere are listening to hours and hours of rap music every day and watching these angry and violent videos. They're bombarded with imagery that demeans their character and their personhood. It's no wonder they're confused," Chester says.

To make sure he speaks the same language as his young parishioners, Father Chester even assigns himself homework. He regularly listens to popular rappers and singers like 50 Cent, Britney Spears, Snoop Doggy Dog, then leads discussions with his young charges about the lyrics and the messages they deliver.

Father Chester believes the Church is now at a crossroads where it must find new ways to communicate its values and traditions to future generations. Towards that end, he and his brother plan to continue their work, speaking in language that kids can relate to. "We're losing a lot of young people today because they go to Mass and find it boring and irrelevant," he says.

"We must understand the culture these kids live in and be able to communicate to them how the message of Jesus applies to their lives. The people will come if you meet their spiritual and cultural needs," he contends.


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