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The faith of our youth group graduates is not sticking. Here are some statistics that should shake us awake 40-50 The percentage of kids who graduate from a church or youth group who fail to stick with their faith in college.1 20 & 80 The first number: the percentage of college students who leave the faith but had planned to do so in high school. The second number: the percentage of college students who leave the faith but had fully intended to stick with it.2 30-60 The percentage of youth group graduates who abandon their faith and the church but then return to both in their late twenties. That may seem like good news, but heres the problem: Those young adults have already faced significant forks in the road regarding friendship, marriage, vocation, worldview, and lifestyle, all while their faith has been pushed to the back seat.3 16 The percentage of college freshmen who feel well prepared by their youth ministries for what they encountered after graduation.4 To foster a faith in young people that lasts beyond high school and throughout life. Group Q: In your opinion, what are the components of a faith that sticks? What does a healthy, resilient faith look like?

Kara E. Powell and Chap Clark, Sticky Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 15. The authors get this estimate from a compilation of studies conducted by the Barna Group, LifeWay Research, and the National Study of Youth and Religion.
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Ibid., 16. These figures come from a 2007 LifeWay Research study. Ibid.

Kara E. Powell and Brad M. Griffin, Sticky Faith Teen Curriculum (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 7. This figure came from the authors study, the Fuller Youth Institute College Transition Project. For a research overview of this study, see the appendix in Kara E. Powell, Brad M. Griffin and Cheryl A. Crawford, Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 199-206.

Defining Sticky Faith Three Descriptors of Sticky Faith5 1. It is both internal and external. [It] is part of a students inner thoughts and emotions and is also externalized in choices and actions that reflect that faith commitment. It involves whole-person integration. It is both an internal set of beliefs and an external way of life. 2. It is both personal and communal. Sticky Faith celebrates Gods specific care for each person while always locating faith in the global and local community of the church. Youre not automatically a Christian because you go to church (thats the personal element), but on the other hand, you cant be a faithful Christian without the church (thats the communal element). 3. It is both mature and maturing. Sticky Faith shows marks of spiritual maturity but is also in the process of growth. And truthfully, we are all in process. Four Marks of Devoted Young Christians6 1. They have a personal and powerful God-story that they can articulate. 2. They belong to a community of faith. 3. They have a sense of call to live for a larger purpose. 4. They have hope for the future promised by their faith. Here are four words to help us remember these: Father, family, focus, future. Un-Gospeled Many of our kids find it difficult to articulate the basic tenets of their faith. They dont know what the gospel is. When asked, What is being a Christian all about? one-third of youth group graduates didnt mention Jesus, and of those, 35 percent did not mention God or Jesus!7
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Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 22-23.

Kenda Creasy Dean, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 49, 69-78. The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest ever conducted on teenagers about their faith, found that most devoted Christian young people in the United States have these four traits in common.

Listen to another author talk about the National Study of Youth and Religion: Time and time again in our interviews, we met young people who called themselves Christians, who grew up with Christian parents, who were regular participants in Christian congregations, yet who had no readily accessible faith vocabulary, few recognizable faith practices, and little ability to reflect on their lives religiously.8 Many young people embrace the Red Bull gospel. Its enough to sustain them through high school, but then they crash when they get off of it in college.9 If sticky faith is to develop, a young person must have a grasp on the gospel and how it impacts his or her life. The authors declare that the core of Sticky Faith is developing a clear and honest understanding of both the gospel and biblical faith. When it comes to a faith that lasts, there is nothing more important than students view of the gospel.10 Group Q: How would you summarize the gospel? How would you lay out the basic components of the gospel message?

One Way: We were created good (Genesis 1:27-31), but our fall into sin has now burdened us with guilt (Ephesians 2:1-2). However, out of His immeasurable grace, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to bring us salvation (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8). And now we live in constant gratitude for that gift (Ephesians 2:10).11 Another Way: We were separated from God because of our sin. But our Savior Jesus Christ has come to bring us salvation. And now, God is sanctifying us as we live faithfully for Jesus (see Colossians 1:21-23; 2:6-15).
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Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 33. Dean, Almost Christian, 16. Powell, Griffin, and Crawford, Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition, 30 Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 32.

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Kara E. Powell and Brad M. Griffin, Sticky Faith Learning Lab (National Youth Workers Convention, Atlanta, GA, November, 2011).

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What (and Who) Helps Build Sticky Faith? Group Q: What practices, programs, or ideas do you believe can help build a faith in young people that will last?

The authors of Sticky Faith include many ideas for building a lasting, durable faith. A lot of these are within our realm of control as youth ministers: 12 1. Go on retreats. 2. Connect students with many faithful adults. 3. Dont avoid the deep end. Students want to connect with God. 4. Allow space for questions and doubt. 5. Stop playing so many games. 6. Make time for conversations between young people and leaders. 7. Dont cause young people to regularly miss church-wide worship services.13 But above all these, the factor that most impacts the development of sticky faith is parents. For the College Transition Project, graduating seniors were asked to rank five groups in terms of the quality and quantity of support they received from them. Those five groups were friends inside of youth group, friends outside of youth group, youth leaders, parents, and adults in the congregation. Which group did they rank number one? Parents. More good news: our research shows a relationship between this parental support and Sticky Faith. 14

Most of these come from chapter 7, Sticky Youth Groups, in Powell, Griffin, and Crawford, Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition, 137-61. In one of their boldest statements, the authors say, The closest our research has come to that definitive silver bullet is this sticky finding: for high school and college students, there is a relationship between attendance at church-wide worship services and Sticky Faith. See Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 97.
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Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 23.

TOne obvious reason for this is the amount of time that young people spend with their parents as compared to other adults. These graphics show how many hours parents have with their kids versus how many hours their kids spend with the church.15

The authors boldly say to parents, its who you are that shapes your kidHow you express and live out your faith may have a greater impact on your son or daughter than anything else.16 This goes without saying, but if parents are not involved in the faith formation of their children, then the likelihood they will develop a faith that lasts beyond graduation is very low. The Role of Youth Ministers With this in mind, its peculiar that many youth ministers have viewed parents as obstacles to their ministry and hindrances to their effectiveness. For instance, youth ministry legend Mike Yaconelli asks, Whats the biggest obstacle to effective youth ministry? Parents. Strange isnt it? The people who most benefit from our ministry with their children are often the ones who create the most grief for our ministry.17 Yaconelli wants to circumvent parents, but we cannot afford to do that!
Reggie Joiner, Think Orange: Imagine the Impact When Church and Family Collide (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2009), 87, 88.
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Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 23-4.

Mike Yaconelli, The Problem of Parents, Youth Specialties, posted October 3, 2009, www.youthspecialties.com/articles/the-problem-of-parents (accessed June 25, 2012).

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However, the fact that parents play the primary role in building sticky faith doesnt mean youth ministers should be out of the job. F. Lagard Smith seems to head in this direction. In a 2001 interview, he was prompted with this scenario: Imagine that you have the undivided attention of every member of churches of Christ for ten minutes. What do you say? One of Smiths responses was this: In all seriousness, I would call on the church to abandon youth ministries, which have toppled the spiritual hierarchy. Throughout Scripture, spiritual leadership is not only male, but its elder. Its the wisdom of the years that leads and nurtures younger generations. Were just a youth-driven church, like the youth-driven culture were part of.18 I dont think abandoning youth ministries and youth ministers is the answer. I believe that youth ministers have a very special role to play, though it may differ from what we think it should be. Using the historic Jewish terms, Phyllis Tickle says that youth ministers should see themselves as the first line of contact between the tent and the synagogue. We champion the faith-building disciplines that occur in the tents of our families, and we help to equip our parents to live out their faith at home. Additionally, we are the link between these families and the synagogue, which comes after the tent but not instead of it and, most assuredly, not as substitute for it.19 Partnering with Parents to Build Sticky Faith: Some Principles 1. If you can work with parents, you should work with parents. In some contexts, it is more difficult to get parents and families involved in your ministry. In some churches, what you teach to your young people may even run counter to what they hear at home. Reggie Joiner offers a challenging idea to ministers in any church context: What would happen if you decided that every parent in your community is your partner? Make the choice today: Will you measure the parents you meet by your ideal standard of what a family should be, or will you see them as a part of Gods story of redemption and restoration?20
Ted Parks, A Conversation with Lagard Smith, The Christian Chronicle, April 30, 2001. This article was brought to my attention by Kevin Langford at the Youth Workers Workshop at the 2009 Freed-Hardeman University Lectures. Phyllis Tickle, The Campground is Changing: Embracing the Tent Dweller Within Us, Immerse 3, no. 3 (September/October 2012): 5-10.
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Joiner, Think Orange, 161.

Instead of wishing your parents were different, partner with them right where they areeven the ones who are frustrating, even the ones you wish were more involved, even the ones who you may not see eye to eye withand believe that every parent can be a better parent.21 If each of us views parents this way, then we can work with parents. And therefore we should work with parents. 2. Remember this three-tiered relationship model.

3. One of your most important ministry roles should be equipping parents to influence their children spiritually. We want to help all our parents move in three important directions a. Toward knowing what they believe. Study after study has shown that teenagers conform to the religious beliefs and practices of their parents to a very high degree.22 For this reason, we shouldnt be surprised when young people with spiritually immature parents seem unsure of what they believe.
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Joiner, Think Orange, 167-68. Dean, Almost Christian, 18.

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b. Toward living their faith. Before the ancient Israelites were commanded to impress Gods commandments on their children, they were expected to exemplify what it means to be fully-devoted followers of God.23 Deuteronomy 6:5-6 declares, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. The Israelites were to give to the LORD their undivided loyalty (their heart), their physical assets and talents (their might), and their own lives if necessary (their soul). If parents wish to pass on a devoted faith to their children, then they themselves must be moving toward a more devoted faith and practice of that faith. c. Toward talking about their faith. The researchers behind the National Study of Youth and Religion found that the vast majority of U.S. teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their faith. These researchers hypothesize that the youth [they] interviewed were inarticulate in matters of faith because no one had taught them how to talk about their faith, or provided opportunities to practice using a faith vocabulary.24 Findings of the Search Institute back up their theory. According to their study, only 12 percent of youth have a regular dialogue with their mom on faith/life issues while only 5 percent talk about faith their dad.25 The authors of Sticky Faith offer many ideas for improving family conversations:26 o The best discussions about faith happen when parents dont just ask questions, but also share their own experiences (especially stories about their faith).27 o Learn to listen and ask questions, not lecture. o Parents who allow their children to ask questions and express doubt are helping them build sticky faith.
David Fraze, Theological Principles Behind Intergenerational Youth Ministry: Its Not Rocket Science, Fuller Youth Institute, posted November 3, 2008, http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/articles/theologicalprinciples-behind-intergenerational-youth-ministry (accessed January 22, 2013).
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Dean, Almost Christian, 18-19. Powell, Griffin, and Crawford, Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition, 117. See chapter 4, Sticky Faith Conversations, in Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 69-92.

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For more on this, see Mark Oestreicher, The Importance of Storytelling in Families, WhyIsMarko.com, entry posted March 15, 2012, http://whyismarko.com/2012/the-importance-ofstorytelling-in-families (accessed April 10, 2012).

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o Dont avoid touchy subjects. o Make space and time each week with your family for quality conversations. o Create a rhythm of conversation.

Group Q: How can we as youth ministers equip parents with tools that will help them to grow in these three areas?

Getting Super Practical Ideas for Equipping Parents to Influence Their Children Spiritually28 Value one-on-one conversations with the parents of your students. In formal or informal settings, share the sticky faith stories of other innovative parents. Host regular parent meetings for the purpose of training and helping. Give parents regular updates on youth culture.
Some of these come from chapter 6, Sticky Family Relationships, in Powell, Griffin, and Crawford, Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition, 115-35.
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Send out regular emails not only with activity information, but also with tips for building faith in the home. Make yourself accessible to parents. Encourage them to check in with you. Spend social time with entire families and not students only. Invite parents to your youth class. Ask them to share thoughts about their faith with your students. Alter your current programs to make them more family-focused. Include at-home devotionals for families from class lessons you teach. Tips for Planning a Students + Parents Teaching Series Only push people as far as theyre willing to go the first time. Consider your context as you plan. Have a stated end to the series. Sell it is a temporary arrangement. Acquaint everyone to the new environment gradually. For instance, start the series with parents and students sitting at separate tables, then mix everyone together later. Tough Questions Related to Equipping Parents29 How do I help parents whose kids dont want to talk to them? o Be creative. Figure out what your son or daughter is interested in and capitalize on that. o Realize that not all kids who say they want to be left alone really mean it. Just listen to the words in this note I received at camp a couple years ago from a high school student: Its hard for me to be [at church] and be completely comfortable. . . . I dont feel the same as everyone else. Everyone has their parents there with them and my parents are both working or something. I want that drive in the morningmy parents telling me to get up, were going to church. If Im going to church I get myself up and come with friends or my sister. Which is fine, but its not like having your whole family with you. I would do anything to have a family thats together, and comes every Sunday together. What do I do when I dont want the kids in my ministry to have the faith of their parents? Whats my role with parents who dont yet know the Lord? What about parents who have no interest in being involved with the faith formation of their kids? Why should I try to partner with parents when all they do is criticize me? How do I help parents whose kids have already shelved their faith?

Some of these come from chapter 6, Sticky Family Relationships, in Powell, Griffin, and Crawford, Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition, 115-35.

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Group Q: Lets discuss some answers to these tough questions.

There is no Sticky Faith silver bullet. There are no guarantees. From the authors: As we share our research with parents, including parents who are grieving the way their children have strayed from the Sticky Faith path, we are repeatedly reminded of the God who transcends all research and all easy answers. We are struck by how much we need to depend on God for wisdom and strength for ourselvesUltimately, the Holy Spirit, not us, develops Sticky Faith in our kids Our top suggestion is this: trust the Lord with your kids and continue to askmaybe at times begthe Lord to build in them a Sticky Faith.30

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Powell and Clark, Sticky Faith, 28-29.

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