They lied all along.

What you don't know can hurt you.

The Aldersgate United Methodist Church community learned that the hard way last fall when one of its youths was beaten for no reason in an apparent gang assault.

Don't think you need to know about gangs?

Think again.

"It seems as if people are unaware" of gangs in our midst, says Aldersgate Associate Pastor Kathy Lamon.

So Lamon and her church are holding a gang awareness seminar at 7 p.m. next Sunday, Jan. 28, at Aldersgate UMC, 3185 Wheeler Road. Anyone 21 and older is invited to attend. Child care will be provided.

Parents and other concerned citizens will be able to learn what to look for; why youths join gangs; what the dangers are; and practical things folks can do to combat the problem.

We've met the man who'll lead the discussion: Devon Harris, executive director of Full Circle Refuge, a not-for-profit youth ministry primarily aimed at youths in detention facilities from Americus to Augusta. Harris, a veteran of Desert Storm, is knowledgeable, has "street cred" and is spiritual in his approach.

Harris has done training for juvenile justice officials - and, in fact, some are planning to come to the Jan. 28 seminar from Valdosta.

In California in the past four years, gang-related deaths have nearly rivaled the Iraq War's: 2,400. Harris ranks the gang problem in Augusta at about a six on a scale of 1 to 10. But any gang activity is too much - and, Harris says, even the amateurish "wanna-bes" should be considered "gonna-bes."

It's also a symptom of a much larger problem that Harris sums up in one word: spirituality. Or the lack thereof. There's a lack of meaning in young lives, and a missing sense of belonging - both of which the family and church used to provide so well.

Dr. Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning, used to talk about an "existential vacuum" in many lives, especially young lives, that leads to the "neurotic triad" of depression, addiction and aggression.

Such are the seeds of gang membership and the resultant violence.

The fertilizer of the gang culture, though, comes down to illegal drugs and the money they bring.

It's a complex, deep-rooted problem. But the first step in getting at it is just being aware of it and understanding it.

That's what this seminar is about.