Sticky Faith, Youth Worker Edition: Practical Ideas to Nurture Long-Term Faith in Teenagers
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
When the seniors walk out of your ministry and head towards college, do you think they’ll be taking their faith along with them? What helps a teen stick with their faith after they’ve left the youth group? Here you’ll find compelling research and practical ideas to help your students develop a faith that sticks.
Many of the statistics you read about teenagers and faith can be alarming. Recent studies show that 40-50 percent of kids who are connected to a youth group throughout their senior year will fail to stick with their faith in college. As youth workers are pouring their time and energy into the students in their ministries, they are often left wondering if they’ve done enough to equip their students to carry their faith into adulthood. Fuller Youth Institute has done extensive research in the area of youth ministry and teenage development.
In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a theological/philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI’s quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide. This resource will give youth pastors what they need to help foster a faith that sticks with all the teenagers in their group long after they’ve left the youth room.
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- Uses research to explore the reasons why so many youth drift away from their faith
- Examines the results from the College Transition Project, other studies, and ongoing explorations of theology and Scripture, and offers proven and practical youth ministry ideas
- Provides "Sticky" discussion questions at the end of each chapter
- The Not-So-Sticky Faith Reality
- The Sticky Gospel
- Sticky Identity
- Sticky Churches
- Sticky Justice
- Sticky Justice
- Sticky Youth Groups
- Sticky Seniors
- The Path to Sticky Change
- Appendix: The College Transition Project: Research Overview
Top Highlights
“Instead of allowing faith to be merely one of many voices clamoring to be heard, those with Sticky Faith had determined their faith would sit at the head of the table.” (source)
“As you help your students understand Sticky Faith, then, every decision, every thought, and every action comes down to this: Where do I place my trust? Do I trust my own instincts, desires, and convictions, or do I trust Christ?” (source)
“When it comes to Sticky Faith, there is nothing more important than students’ view of the gospel.” (source)
“We never shared what we had learned in church. We were interviewing our kids instead of having a mutual conversation with them. Now when we ask our kids to share about what they learned in church, we talk about what we learned too.” (source)
“Quite simply, kids receive inconsistent and too much feedback in response to what they say and how they act, so they often postpone committing to who they want to become.” (source)
The world of youth work is desperate for reliable pylons of truth to which we can anchor our ministries. Sticky Faith research helps our ministry staff all over the country to understand what they can do NOW to help these young people—initially distant from local churches—develop a faith that lasts for a lifetime.
—Dr. Dave Rahn, Senior Vice President and Chief Ministry Officer, Youth for Christ
It’s been a long time since something grabbed my team’s attention like Sticky Faith has! Our youth ministry is already hard at work implementing many of the principles and strategies in this fantastic work. Rarely does research come along that has the potential to change the youth ministry landscape in local churches, and Sticky Faith might do just that…it has already changed the landscape at Saddleback, and for that I’m grateful!
—Kurt Johnston, Pastor to Students, Saddleback Church
Sticky Faith isn’t a “read once and you’re done” type of resource. It’s a way of life and serving that has the potential to transform detached, silo youth ministry into a fully functioning, faith-sharing community. As you read through ministry-tested experiences and research, you uncover plenty of possibilities that could work in your own ministry context. My copy of this book can be found on my desk, on my e-reader, and on my phone. It’s that important.
—Brooklyn Lindsey, Middle School Pastor, Highland Park Church of the Nazarene