The first TEC weekends were held at a former nurses' residence hall on the campus of the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Battle Creek, MI where Sister M. Concetta, RSM (Dorothy Gereke), the administrator of the hospital, hosted the weekends and helped to work out many of the practical details.

Providentially, at the request of the Diocesan Office of Religious Education, Father Fedewa was sent to attend the five summer programs at the Loyola University, Institute for Pastoral Studies in Chicago, IL. Later, Sister Concetta also attended. There he was brought under the influence of Fr. Alfonso Nebreda, SJ, world famous for his leadership in religious formation and the catechetical renewal after the Council. After having worked in Japan for many years, Fr. Nebreda was convinced that, due to the cultural shift of the times, ministry to youth in America had to adopt the approach of missionary catechesis, which meant that the Good News had to be presented within the context of youth culture.

The second insight which Father Nebreda contributed was: "As soon as a person can act in a personal way they should be led to make a commitment by which faith becomes a human reality for them. To lead [persons] to an adult conversion and true commitment to Christ is one of the greatest challenges facing religious education." Fr. Nebreda believed that many youth had been sacramentalized without having been initiated into the faith vision consonant with their age and culture. He taught that there was a need to experience the core truths of the faith by persons at the time of a significant passage, such as youth moving into adulthood. Those are the times of faith crisis, and also times in which youth may opt to accept the Christian vision as the guiding norm for building their adulthood. For this reason, Father Fedewa deliberately chose to design the TEC process for those in the transition between later adolescence and young adulthood.

The first TEC weekend was held October 9-11, 1965. During the following years the movement met with great success in the Lansing Diocese, and was shared with many other diocese, both near and far. However, no over-seeing authority to moderate the quality of the process was in place. As a result the original process underwent various changes in various places, until under the same name of TEC a vast variety of manuals were being used. In Lansing itself, the number of weekends was such that the adequate preparation of adult teams suffered, and by 1970, the local movement closed down. However, around the country, strong centers continued to maintain the high quality in the original movement.

Starting in 1975, these solid centers of the movement, sensing the need for unity and clarity in their work, started to come together to share their experiences and efforts to maintain authentic spirituality in the movement. These annual gatherings resulted in the formation of the National TEC Conference, an organization designed to sustain the spiritual quality of the local movements. One of the projects that was constantly in the forefront of their considerations was the publication of an official manual which would contain clear concepts and authentic norms for the unfolding of the process.

In the summer of 1984 in Omaha NE, concrete plans were laid to draw the fragmented movement together and re-establish it on the basis of the original principles and spirituality. Fr. James Brown, OAR served as a leading force and inspiration in drawing a research and study group together which included Fr. Matt Fedewa and many other TEC leaders from around the country. Through a series of annual workshops and retreats over a 12 year period the group developed the material for an official manual. Fr. Brown continued to provide a leading role in editing the materials and writing an official TEC manual. The manual was accepted by members of the National TEC Conference at Roseville, MN, June 8, 1997. In ongoing efforts to rebuild the TEC Movement, the new manual has been shared with local diocesan movements only after the adults handling the movement have made a Renewing the Vision of TEC workshop. These workshops are designed to restore the spiritual vision of TEC and to share the insights which have been gleaned from the experience of over thirty years and which now appear in the Manual.

The movement first requested an Episcopal Moderator in1976, with Bishop Maurice Dingman of Des Moines serving in this role. Through the years, the Bishop Moderators have taken an active role in encouraging and advising the TEC Conference in their efforts to establish the movement on sound spiritual principles and practices. Bishop Bernard F. Law (now Cardinal) is found among those who have advised the Conference.

In recent years, the word National has been dropped from the title TEC Conference. The TEC Leadership Council which guides the work of the Conference has assumed a more spiritual role in the movement. Within the Council, a Spirituality Committee has been established to monitor and facilitate the proper unfolding of the movement. No local TEC Movement may be established unless it is under the direct authority of the local Bishop. Since the renewal of the movement, it has been growing at a rapid pace.