Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Dr. Kara E. Powell is an educator, professor, youth minister, author, and speaker. She is the Executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute and a faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary (see www.fulleryouthinstitute.org). Kara also serves as an Advisor to Youth Specialties and currently volunteers in student ministries at Lake Avenue church in Pasadena, CA.  She is the author of many books including Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids (with Chap Clark) and Deep Justice Journeys. Kara lives in Pasadena with her husband, Dave, and their children, Nathan, Krista, and Jessica.

Brad M. Griffin is the associate director of the Fuller Youth Institute, where he develops research-based training for youth workers and has co-authored Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition and Deep Justice Journeys. A native Kentuckian, Brad now lives in Pasadena with his wife, Missy, and their three children. After more than fifteen years in youth ministry, he now volunteers at his church.

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Sticky Faith, Youth Worker Edition

ZONDERVAN

Contents

Acknowledgments.................................................................91. The Not-So-Sticky Faith Reality..............................................112. The Sticky Gospel............................................................273. Sticky Identity..............................................................494. Sticky Churches..............................................................715. Sticky Justice...............................................................976. Sticky Family Relationships..................................................1157. Sticky Youth Groups..........................................................1378. Sticky Seniors...............................................................1639. The Path to Sticky Change....................................................185Appendix: The College Transition Project: Research Overview.....................199Notes...........................................................................207

Chapter One

I guess for a high school student I had an okay understanding of my faith, but in college I was really forced to own the values that I thought I had and make my own decisions ... I would definitely not say I've arrived by any means, but I feel a lot of growth going on at this point. —Becca

After Young Life and my youth group at church and everything like that ... I graduated and went off to college, and I didn't hear back from those people again. They didn't make any effort to stay in touch. So that was kind of a disappointing experience. —Trevor

I (Kara) have two favorite professional football teams.

One is the San Diego Chargers. I'm from San Diego and have been following my beloved Chargers through their ups and downs for three decades.

My second-favorite team is whoever is playing the Oakland Raiders.

My love for football has been passed on to my son, Nathan. His top team is the San Diego Chargers ('atta boy!). His second-favorite team is the New Orleans Saints, a team he's rooted for since our family went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to build homes for displaced families.

For Nathan's birthday a few years ago, we bought him a Chargers pennant and a Saints pennant. Being a Type-A mom, I suggested we tape his two new pennants to his bedroom wall that night. So Nathan and I put Scotch tape all over the back of the pennants and positioned the two flags on his wall right where we wanted them, staggered about 12 inches apart. They looked great.

For a few hours.

By the time Nathan woke up, both pennants were in a heap on the ground. The tape hadn't held.

Since the Scotch tape had failed, we decided to upgrade our tape selection. Before he went to bed that night, Nathan and I rummaged through our office supplies and found masking tape. Once again, we covered the back of each pennant with tape and hung them both up on the wall, hoping they would stay there.

The next morning, both pennants were still up. Nathan and I gave each other high-fives, excited that the masking tape had worked. To our chagrin, when we got home that evening, both flags were back in that same dreaded heap on the ground.

So we pulled out the big guns. We grabbed our duct tape, plastered it across the back of the pennants, and for a third time hung both flags on Nathan's wall.

Both pennants were still hanging on the wall the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. In fact, it's been over three years—and the duct tape has held. The pennants stuck.

Brad, Cheryl, and I wish we could say the same was true of the faith of teenagers in youth groups across the country—including the groups each of us works with. We wish we could say that the faith of these youth is so strong that even three years after high school graduation, they were still sticking with the Lord and with the church.

But we can't. To be honest, we've talked with countless high school graduates whose faith hasn't stuck three months, let alone three years.

The more that we at the Fuller Youth Institute study and talk with youth leaders and kids, the more we see that kids' faith is usually more like Scotch tape or masking tape. Maybe, just maybe, that faith is cohesive enough to hold them together through high school. Just barely. But then they graduate and tragically fall away.

Tiffany's Story

From the first Sunday she walked into our high school ministry when she was in ninth grade, Tiffany plunged into every activity. She was deeply committed to knowing Jesus and making Jesus known. Any event we offered—youth choir, beach days, weekend service trips to Tijuana—Tiffany was there. Not only was she there, but she usually showed up at least 30 minutes early to see if she could help.

And help she did. She was especially good at making posters. She and I would spread paper across our youth room floor and try to come up with creative images to promote upcoming events or reinforce the teaching topic for the next week. When we made posters together, we talked about our mutual desire to know Jesus and help others know him too.

Around eleventh grade Tiffany started to change. She began to wear lots of dark, heavy makeup.

Her skirts grew shorter. A lot shorter.

She stopped arriving early for youth ministry events. She rarely signed up for anything. When I asked if she wanted to help with posters, she said she was too busy. Throughout Tiffany's senior year, her involvement at church grew more and more sporadic.

Six months after Tiffany graduated from high school, she became pregnant. She felt confused and ashamed—and wanted nothing to do with our church. Or me.

Her dad called me from the hospital the day Tiffany gave birth to her son. Although Tiffany had avoided me during her pregnancy, I asked her dad if she would be okay with me visiting her that day and meeting her son. She said yes.

When I walked into Tiffany's hospital room, I felt like the clock had been turned back three years. She had no makeup on and greeted me with a smile, clearly glad to see me. After we chatted for a few minutes, Tiffany offered to let me hold her son. It was the first time I'd ever held a baby who was only a few hours old. I told her so, and she grinned.

I asked Tiffany if I could pray for both her and her son, and she said yes. As I walked out of the hospital, I continued to pray—that the Lord would use this new son to somehow draw Tiffany back to her faith.

Any hope I had that Tiffany would reconnect with our church or with the Lord was shattered within weeks. I have no idea where she and her son are today.

I'm left with all sorts of questions: What happened to poster-making, attend-everything-our-youth-ministry-offered Tiffany? Why did her faith—a faith that seemed so vibrant at first—fail to stick? What could we have done differently that might have helped her develop a faith...