Cable show focuses on religion in kids’ lives
By: Theresa Poulson
Popular opinion may be that talking about your religion is not "cool," but local teens, including Allentown resident Sarah Berlinger, are trying to turn that trend around.
She is one of about 30 teenagers who worked as cast and crew members on this season of Realfaith TV, a television program produced by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton in Lawrenceville and taped in Riverview Studios in Bordentown. The show airs Saturdays at 11 a.m. locally on cable channel CN8 and on networks in Baton Rouge, Boston, Detroit, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and New York City.
Sarah, 16, a senior at Trenton Catholic Academy, worked on two of the half-hour episodes as a studio guest after being recruited at her high school by the diocese office of radio and television. She appeared on the episode, "Changing schools," which aired on Sept. 23, sharing her personal experiences about changing schools between fifth and sixth grade. She will also appear on "The Internet: A New Source of Gossip, Rumors and Ruining Reputations," which airs on Dec. 9.
Each show has a planned topic. Two teen hosts read scripted material from the prompter, then lead an unscripted discussion among the teens about how they use their faith to cope with the issue at hand.
"It’s not usual to see people like open up about themselves and just talk so freely, because it’s not all like ‘politically correct,’" Sarah said. "But I think it’s really interesting that it’s doing as well as it is, because lots of people know about it, watch it and take things away from it."
Man-on-the-street segments are interspersed, showing the teenage staff interviewing their peers at Seaside Heights about the episode’s topic.
Fifteen-year-old John Graziul of Crosswicks said that getting to meet other students with an interest in their faith was among the most valuable rewards of participating in the program. "I learned that I’m not the only Catholic 15-year-old boy in the world," he said.
He said he felt alone as a Catholic teenager among his group of friends in his neighborhood, who are mostly of different faiths. "We all seem to get along and the faith thing didn’t bother us at all," he said, but he met people through Realfaith TV that he could connect with in a different way.
Though he works mostly behind-the-scenes as a camera operator, he went on camera for the episode, "Preserving Your Relationship With Both Parents After Their Divorce," which will air on Nov. 15.
He talked about his own experience as a child of divorced parents. He said he and the other teens talked about how "if you’re feeling sad about something, who you can talk to. If one parent is being angry, how you can deal with that. You might think you’re alone in the world, but there’s always God there to listen to you."
John, a sophomore at St. Mary’s Hall Academy in Burlington City, is in his second year as a cast and crew member. He has been going to Catholic school for eight years, and said as a result "a lot of Catholic ideals have been driven into my head."
But for viewers who have not had the same education, watching the show may be able to help them learn more about their faith, John said. "If you’re really curious about your faith you should take an initiative to learn about it, but I can also understand that someone is shy."
The cast members who talk on-camera about their personal experiences are anything but shy. Marianne Hartman, executive producer of the show and director of the office of radio and television at the Diocese of Trenton, said she thinks they’re inspiring and courageous.
"Even though I’m the producer of the show, they’re the face of the show. They’re the kids that go out there," Ms. Hartman said. "I admire them for their courage to share their faith with other kids. Some of them really share some deep, personal experiences and they do it for the purpose to help others. They are very caring. They do inspire me. There are times when I hear them share during the taping and I well up with tears."
The show’s topics range from being completely faith-based, such as "Does God Answer Prayers?" to topics that have a wider appeal to teenagers in general. In addition to the off-the-cuff conversation, Ms. Hartman said, "We have a spotlight guest who has an experience with the topic and share how in some way their faith helped them deal with it."
The team of teens tapes 26 episodes in six weeks at the end of the summer with the help of Ms. Hartman and other professionals. They spend three hours taping each half-hour show. The man-on-the-street segments that are "rolled in" are taped in May and June.
To participate, cast and crew members must be at least going into high school or as old as 19.
"It’s inspiring to see how they grow in their faith," Ms. Hartman said. "The experience of being with other kids that share their own views, even if it’s only six weeks of the year, you can’t help but learn more about your faith and grow more in the experiences." By listening to each other talk, they find they have had common experiences or they see a new way to look at an issue that did not occur to them originally.
Participants’ skills in front of and behind the camera grow each year, also. A crew member found she enjoyed assistant directing last season, which Ms. Hartman said is a complicated position. "You follow the script and tell the director about how much time is left, and what is going on in the show." Her dedication and commitment led her to have the opportunity to direct a show this season. This fall she is attending college and plans to major in film.
Ms. Hartman works closely with the teens, so she is attuned to what they think about their careers as what Sarah called "sort of little celebrities," but since there are no ratings it’s hard to tell what viewers think. However, Ms. Hartman said, "We’ve had older people watch the show and say they are impressed with the teenagers. They actually inspire people of all ages."
She said, "I think sometimes today teenagers get a bad wrap because you a lot of times you see when they’re getting in trouble but there are a lot of great kids out there."
For more information about Realfaith TV or to watch an episode, visit www.realfaithtv.com.

