Some insights seem to arrive suddenly and intact like a blinding flash of lightning. Others seem to grow and mature more slowly like the dawning of day. The experience of Monsignor Dale Fushek provides an illustration of how an insight might arrive suddenly and of the impact such an insight can have on a leader. Fushek is the founder and former President and CEO of Life Teen, Inc., an organization that provides opportunities for teens to develop their Catholic faith. From a small initial gathering in a single church hall, Life Teen has developed into an international organization with chapters in thirteen countries, and was a primary catalyst in the gathering of half a million teenagers for theWorld Youth Day celebration with Pope John Paul II in Toronto in 2002.
Monsignor Fushek gained the insight that blossomed to become Life Teen while he was in seminary. He received a dinner invitation from the family of a teenager who had decided to leave the Catholic Church. After dessert everybody else at the table vacated the dining room leaving the not-yet-Father Fushek with the teenager.
What’s new?’’ Fushek asked.
‘‘You know what’s new,’’ the young man replied, ‘‘That’s why you are here.’’
‘‘I hear you are not Catholic anymore. Why? Do you have trouble believing in the Pope?’’
‘‘No,’’ the boy replied.
‘‘Do you have trouble believing the moral teachings of the church?’’
‘‘Not at all. I am following them.’’
‘‘Do you believe in the Eucharist—that it is really the body of Christ in communion?’’
‘‘You have to. It is right there in the Bible.’’
‘‘Does your new church believe that?’’
‘‘I don’t know. They never mentioned it.’’
A bewildered and frustrated Fushek then asked, ‘‘If you believe in the Pope, and you believe in the moral teachings of the church, and you believe in the Eucharist, what are you doing?’’
The young man looked Fushek in the eye and said, ‘‘For the sixteen years of my life, never once did I miss mass on Sunday. And never once when I was there did I ever feel loved. I don’t know what these new people believe, but I do know that they love me.’’
The now Monsignor Fushek says, ‘‘This was a life-changing experience-for me. I went home that night and I said: If I become a priest I will do everything I can to make sure that no kid walks away because they don’t feel loved.’’
Dale Fushek did not—could not—envision the scope of Life Teen at that dinner table, or at any time soon afterward. It can be reasonably argued that he has never envisioned it, even in the years since that fateful dinner. He began with an insight, not a vision, and started a movement that just kept growing. ‘‘When I did become a priest,’’ he says, ‘‘I asked: How do you create an environment where kids feel loved?’’ He held a meeting in a church hall, then subsequent meetings attracted more teens, and soon other parishes were calling to ask, ‘‘How did you do that?’’ At the end of 2002, Life Teen had over 800 programs worldwide, reaching over 100,000 teens weekly.