The group gathered in the high school gym Sunday morning looked like they’d had too little sleep and too much fun the night before, but enthusiasm soon took over as one side of the room tried to outdo the other.

“We’ve got spirit!” those sitting in bleachers on the west side of the gym shouted. They stood up, clapped their hands and stamped their feet. No sooner had they sat down, than the east side did the same.

It’s not unusual to hear cheering in a school gym, but this was in a church of sorts last weekend when the Old Town High School gym was transformed into a place of worship for teen-agers celebrating the annual Winter Carnival.

More than 800 Catholic high school students and adults, representing more than 60 parishes throughout the diocese, attended the two-day event, “That We May Be One.” St. Ann’s in Bradley and Holy Family in Milford were hosts for the program.

Kyle Bouchard, who attends St. Martin of Tours in Millinocket, admitted that “religion is serious,” but observed that the Winter Carnival is “a fun way to have religion.” He said the best part of the event was meeting and getting to know new people.

“You always know that you will find friends here that you can trust, unlike other kids you might meet in other situations,” he said just before Mass on Sunday morning. “Meeting the host family and spending time with people in another town is good, too.”

Spending time with other Christians was very important to Ann Kucheryavenko, who attends Holy Family in Old Town. The high school senior came to the United States from Russia 31/2 years ago. Kucheryavenko was not sure how to describe the role religion plays in her native country today, but she did not attend church until moving to Old Town.

Marc Desrosier of Most Holy Trinity in Saco hugged Frankee Waldron, who attends St. Mary’s in Bangor. The two met last year at Christian Leadership Institute, a summer seminar for teen leaders in youth ministry programs. The two keep in touch by e-mail and see each other at meetings of the Maine Diocesan Committee for Catholic Youth, of which both are members.

“Besides all the spiritual stuff that happens at Winter Carnival,” Waldron said, “I get the faith support of others who have the same beliefs as me. Just being here with all these kids who believe the same stuff I do strengthens my faith.”

Jeanne Bigelow, director of youth ministry for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, said the annual event is symbolic of the church’s vision for how teens and adults can interact in their home parishes so that the faith of each age group can deepen and grow. Bigelow also coordinated the November gathering of young Catholics ages 11-14 that was held in November at the Bangor Civic Center.

“The key to working with this age group,” said Kim Suttie, who works with high school students at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Fairfield, “is to let them lead the group. They want to feel they are part of the parish community and not excluded from the life of the church. In our parish, some students are lectors and others are Eucharistic ministers.”

The weekend in Old Town combined social activities with small-group discussions and workshops, as well as prayer, meditation, confession and Mass. Workshop topics included “Recognizing God in Society,” “Family Issues and Sibling Rivalries” and “Open Your Heart and Develop a Relationship with God.”

One exercise, which involved exchanging shoes with other teens, impressed Lesley Levesque who attends St. David’s in Madawaska.

“I want to take the shoe exchange back to my home parish,” she said. “From that I learned not to judge people until I’d tried on their shoes. It taught me to see their souls first.”

In his sermon, Bishop Michael Cote expanded on Pope John Paul II’s New Year’s message of peace

“You yourselves must believe in your own ability to make peace in your own lives,” he said. “That is what hinders persons from being able to be at peace with others. The Holy Father is so at peace with himself that it is easy from him to be at peace with others. He knows it is important to see the goodness of God in ourselves and others.”

Cote quoted the concluding paragraph of the pope’s Jan. 1 homily, and urged the teen-agers to accept the Holy Father’s challenge.

“Dear young people of every language and culture, a high and exhilarating task awaits you: that of becoming men and women capable of solidarity, peace and love of life, with respect for everyone,” said the pontiff. “Become craftsmen of a new humanity, where brothers and sisters – members all of the same family – are able at last to live in peace.”

Emotion overcame many of the young people attending as they shared their faith and farewells.

“I’m taking out more than I ever put into this,” said Heather Shorette, who attends St. Ann’s in Bradley and worked for more than four months planning this year’s Winter Carnival. “What I’m getting back is a lot of love and faith which is what I need to survive. Sharing that with others makes my own faith stronger. It has been really great to see how important youth ministry is to my own small parish.”