Nearly every Christian parent in America would give anything to find a viable resource for developing within their kids a deep, dynamic faith that 'sticks' long term. Sticky Faith delivers. Research shows that almost half of graduating high school seniors struggle deeply with their faith. Recognizing the ramifications of that statistic, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted the 'College Transition Project' in an effort to identify the relationships and best practices that can set young people on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service. Based on FYI findings, this easy-to-read guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children's spiritual growth so that it will stick to them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith. Written by authors known for the integrity of their research and the intensity of their passion for young people, Sticky Faith is geared to spark a movement that empowers adults to develop robust and long-term faith in kids of all ages.
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Dr. Kara E. Powell is executive director at the Fuller Youth Institute and a faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has authored or co-authored several books, including Sticky Faith, Essential Leadership, Deep Justice in a Broken World, and Help! I'm a Woman in Youth Ministry. She is the general editor for The Fuller Youth Institute E-Journal and regularly speaks at conferences and seminars. She lives with her husband and three children in Pasadena, California. SPANISH BIO: Kara Powell es directora ejecutiva del Instituto para la Juventud del Seminario Teologico Fuller en Pasadena, California. Es autora de una amplia variedad de exitosos libros para el ministerio juvenil. Ademas, Kara a traves de www.ymwomen.com, anima, equipa y conecta a mujeres que sirven a los jovenes.
Chap Clark, PhD (Univ. of Denver), has more than 25 years of experience in youth and family ministry. He is Associate Provost for Regional Campuses and Special Projects and Professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. Chap's extensive books, articles, and videos focus primarily on relationships. Among his many books are Hurt and Hurt 2.0; Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World (coauthored with his wife, Dee); and Deep Justice in a Broken World. Chap and Dee live in Gig Harbor, Washington. SPANISH BIO: Chap Clark, PhD (Universidad de Denver), tiene mas de 25 anos de experiencia en el ministerio juvenil y de la familia. el es decano asociado de los campus universitarios regionales, Profesor y encargado de proyectos especiales en temas juveniles, de la familia y cultura en el Seminario Teologico Fuller. Chap es autor de un sinnumero de libros, articulos y videos enfocados en vinculos amistosos, familiares y amorosos. Entre sus libros se encuentran, Dolido y Dolido 2.0; Desconectado: Como criar hijos en un mundo de redes sociales como Myspace (escrito junto a su esposa, Dee); Justicia profunda en un mundo roto. Chap y Dee residen en Gig Harbor, Washington.
Chap Clark, PhD (Univ. of Denver), has more than 25 years of experience in youth and family ministry. He is Associate Provost for Regional Campuses and Special Projects and Professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. Chap's extensive books, articles, and videos focus primarily on relationships. Among his many books are Hurt and Hurt 2.0; Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World (coauthored with his wife, Dee); and Deep Justice in a Broken World. Chap and Dee live in Gig Harbor, Washington. SPANISH BIO: Chap Clark, PhD (Universidad de Denver), tiene mas de 25 anos de experiencia en el ministerio juvenil y de la familia. el es decano asociado de los campus universitarios regionales, Profesor y encargado de proyectos especiales en temas juveniles, de la familia y cultura en el Seminario Teologico Fuller. Chap es autor de un sinnumero de libros, articulos y videos enfocados en vinculos amistosos, familiares y amorosos. Entre sus libros se encuentran, Dolido y Dolido 2.0; Desconectado: Como criar hijos en un mundo de redes sociales como Myspace (escrito junto a su esposa, Dee); Justicia profunda en un mundo roto. Chap y Dee residen en Gig Harbor, Washington.
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those who care about the faith of the next generation, the book Sticky Faith is a must read. Youth experts Kara Powell and Chap Clark record the findings of the "College Transition Project," which is a six-year research study of over 500 graduating seniors. Here is their stated goal: "To better understand the dynamics of youth group graduates' transition to college, and to pinpoint the steps that leaders, churches, parents, and seniors themselves can take to help students stay on the Sticky Faith path" (18).
According to their research, between 40 and 50 percent of kids who graduate from a church or youth group will fail to stick with their faith in college. Only 20 percent of those who left the faith planned to. That means 80 percent of those who abandoned the faith were planning to stick with it. On the positive side, they estimate that between 30 and 60 percent return in their late twenties. But this still means between 40 and 70 percent of students who leave their faith never return.
Powell and Clark make a few initial points I found particularly helpful. First, parents influence the faith of students more than anyone (or anything) else: "More than even your support, its who you are that shapes your kid" (21). My research and experience as a teacher confirms that this is true. Second, there is no sticky faith bullet. There is no single reason why kids leave and no single reason that will make them stay. Young people are complex and their faith is influenced by a host of factors.
The core of building a sticky faith, say Powell and Clark, is helping kids develop a clear and honest understanding of the gospel and biblical faith. Sadly, most Christian kids understand the gospel in terms of what we do. We do go to church, read our Bibles, and pray, and we do not watch the wrong movies, cuss, be sexually active, drink, or talk back. Yet this misses the core of biblical faith, which involves trusting God (John 6:28-29). Whether they are doing homework assignments, serving the poor, choosing a college, or responding to a bully, our role with the next generation is to help them genuinely trust God in all they do. Instead of giving simple answers when problems arise, we ought to ask the simple question, "How can we trust God in this situation?"
One of the most powerful parts of Sticky Faith was the emphasis on having conversations with students about faith (not lectures!) Sadly, only 12 percent of mothers and five percent of fathers have regular conversations with their kids about faith. Creating space for genuine conversations about God and faith is one of the most helpful steps we can take to help students build a lasting faith. As a teacher, I give my students assignments that require they engage with their parents about important theological issues. The more we talk with our students about faith, and the more we foster conversation with other significant adults, the better chance they will have of sticking with it.
Here are a few of the practical things Powell and Clark found in their research about Sticky Faith:
§ Kids who left the faith report having questions about faith in early adolescence that were ignored by significant adults (parents, pastor, teacher).
§ A factor causing kids to shelve their faith is the segregation of kids and adults in church. Kids who attend church-wide services are more likely to keep their faith.
§ The more kids serve and build relationships with younger children the more likely they are to hang on to their faith.
§ Short-term mission trips seem to have little impact on the lasting faith of young people (they are not more likely to give to the poor or become long-term missionaries).
§ The more students feel prepared for college the more likely their faith is to grow.
Sticky Faith is a powerful book. That's why I recommend picking up a copy, studying it, and applying it to your own kids or the kids you work with. There is just one key point I wish they had included--the importance of apologetics in preparing this generation. By apologetics I don't mean arguing about faith. Apologetics is also not about providing pat answers for complex issues. It involves the biblical command to respectfully give reasons for what we believe (e.g., 1 Peter 3:15). As David Kinnaman points out in UnChristian, one of the reasons we are losing a generation is that we are not teaching them how to think. I have seen apologetics help many students develop a sticky faith beyond youth group. And I have seen many kids without apologetics training lose their faith.
As I was writing this review on a plane to Denver, a young man next to me sparked up a conversation. He proceeded to share how he grew up going to a Baptist church in Ireland. He left his faith when his college anthropology professor tore into Christianity. He felt stupid believing in the biblical God and so walked away. What brought him back five years later? Someone gave him a DVD of a Christian apologist who laid out the scientific evidence for God. I hear this type of story over and over again. Apologetics is critical for helping students build a sticky faith.
According to Powell and Clark, the doubts young people have generally involve four questions. Two of these key questions are: "Does God exist? " and "Is Christianity true or the only way to God?" These are apologetic-oriented questions that we must help students work through. I agree wholeheartedly with Powell and Clark that we need to create safety zones for kids to doubt. And let's make sure we view their doubts as an opportunity to lovingly and patiently guide them to the truth.
According to their research, between 40 and 50 percent of kids who graduate from a church or youth group will fail to stick with their faith in college. Only 20 percent of those who left the faith planned to. That means 80 percent of those who abandoned the faith were planning to stick with it. On the positive side, they estimate that between 30 and 60 percent return in their late twenties. But this still means between 40 and 70 percent of students who leave their faith never return.
Powell and Clark make a few initial points I found particularly helpful. First, parents influence the faith of students more than anyone (or anything) else: "More than even your support, its who you are that shapes your kid" (21). My research and experience as a teacher confirms that this is true. Second, there is no sticky faith bullet. There is no single reason why kids leave and no single reason that will make them stay. Young people are complex and their faith is influenced by a host of factors.
The core of building a sticky faith, say Powell and Clark, is helping kids develop a clear and honest understanding of the gospel and biblical faith. Sadly, most Christian kids understand the gospel in terms of what we do. We do go to church, read our Bibles, and pray, and we do not watch the wrong movies, cuss, be sexually active, drink, or talk back. Yet this misses the core of biblical faith, which involves trusting God (John 6:28-29). Whether they are doing homework assignments, serving the poor, choosing a college, or responding to a bully, our role with the next generation is to help them genuinely trust God in all they do. Instead of giving simple answers when problems arise, we ought to ask the simple question, "How can we trust God in this situation?"
One of the most powerful parts of Sticky Faith was the emphasis on having conversations with students about faith (not lectures!) Sadly, only 12 percent of mothers and five percent of fathers have regular conversations with their kids about faith. Creating space for genuine conversations about God and faith is one of the most helpful steps we can take to help students build a lasting faith. As a teacher, I give my students assignments that require they engage with their parents about important theological issues. The more we talk with our students about faith, and the more we foster conversation with other significant adults, the better chance they will have of sticking with it.
Here are a few of the practical things Powell and Clark found in their research about Sticky Faith:
§ Kids who left the faith report having questions about faith in early adolescence that were ignored by significant adults (parents, pastor, teacher).
§ A factor causing kids to shelve their faith is the segregation of kids and adults in church. Kids who attend church-wide services are more likely to keep their faith.
§ The more kids serve and build relationships with younger children the more likely they are to hang on to their faith.
§ Short-term mission trips seem to have little impact on the lasting faith of young people (they are not more likely to give to the poor or become long-term missionaries).
§ The more students feel prepared for college the more likely their faith is to grow.
Sticky Faith is a powerful book. That's why I recommend picking up a copy, studying it, and applying it to your own kids or the kids you work with. There is just one key point I wish they had included--the importance of apologetics in preparing this generation. By apologetics I don't mean arguing about faith. Apologetics is also not about providing pat answers for complex issues. It involves the biblical command to respectfully give reasons for what we believe (e.g., 1 Peter 3:15). As David Kinnaman points out in UnChristian, one of the reasons we are losing a generation is that we are not teaching them how to think. I have seen apologetics help many students develop a sticky faith beyond youth group. And I have seen many kids without apologetics training lose their faith.
As I was writing this review on a plane to Denver, a young man next to me sparked up a conversation. He proceeded to share how he grew up going to a Baptist church in Ireland. He left his faith when his college anthropology professor tore into Christianity. He felt stupid believing in the biblical God and so walked away. What brought him back five years later? Someone gave him a DVD of a Christian apologist who laid out the scientific evidence for God. I hear this type of story over and over again. Apologetics is critical for helping students build a sticky faith.
According to Powell and Clark, the doubts young people have generally involve four questions. Two of these key questions are: "Does God exist? " and "Is Christianity true or the only way to God?" These are apologetic-oriented questions that we must help students work through. I agree wholeheartedly with Powell and Clark that we need to create safety zones for kids to doubt. And let's make sure we view their doubts as an opportunity to lovingly and patiently guide them to the truth.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sticky Faith
By Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark
ISBN 978-0-310-32932-9
Zondervan Publishing
Reviewed by Clint Walker
Drop into many churches in the United States and you will hear parents and grandparents making the same complaint. The church will be full of older folks, with a few middle-aged people sprinkled in. In most of these churches you will hear how the church was once full of children, but now there are hardly any young adults or children present. They will go on to say that some of their children live nearby, and yet they cannot get them to join them in their church involvement. "What are we to do?" they ask, "How could have things been different?"
Into this world of concern about young people retaining their faith come the Fuller Youth Institute, and its leaders Kara Powell and Chap Clark. Combining keen insight with painstaking research, Powell and Clark believed they have uncovered some thoughtful ways parents can raise their kids so that their faith "sticks" even after they leave home. Their learning is compiled in the book Sticky Faith. Much of what they have to share is very helpful, and parents would be wise to heed it.
Over and over again, children and teenagers cite their parents as their primary role models and their heroes. Thus, Sticky Faith directly challenges parents to be very intentional in their child's spiritual development, and addresses them as the primary influencers that they are.
The book challenges parents to be involved in their children's lives on a number of fronts. First, it encourages parents to live their faith transparently before their children, and to invite their children into a family that functions as a community of faith. Sticky Faith gives parents helpful hints about how to have spiritual conversations with their teenage children. The book exhorts parents to develop larger, intentional networks of caring adults to support themselves and their children as they work to lead their children to Jesus. Through the whole book, Sticky Faith argues in a number of different ways that meaningful intergenerational relationships are essential to a child's longevity in the church and overall spiritual vitality.
I enjoy the way the book is set up. Sticky Faith helps parents know more about what their child is going through, and that it is normal. It helps parents with specific practices they can have as parents to be stronger in leading their children into an authentic life of faith that lasts through college and beyond. It is a book that is less driven by guilt than by faith. The authors even occasionally point out times where they have struggled to implement the principles that they describe. Their humility encourages me, and makes me want to hear more from them.
Occasionally I was amused with the discussion of larger churches, and their inability to integrate young adults into "big church". I serve in a small church, and there are several facets of "sticky faith" that we practice just by virtue of being small. At times, some of the things that Chap and Kara shared seemed to be obvious. But if they felt the need to say what they said, maybe the ability to relate to teens and children in a meaningful way is rarer than I expected.
Based on both Kara and Chap's research studies, Sticky Faith is a gem of a book that should be in the hands of both pastors and youth workers across the country. This book is full of the cutting edge information about the spiritual lives of teens can endure into adulthood. And, although some of the discoveries may not be all that earthshattering, Sticky Faith is, at the very least, full of helpful reminders on how to love our children well, and hints on how to guide them best to Jesus.
By Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark
ISBN 978-0-310-32932-9
Zondervan Publishing
Reviewed by Clint Walker
Drop into many churches in the United States and you will hear parents and grandparents making the same complaint. The church will be full of older folks, with a few middle-aged people sprinkled in. In most of these churches you will hear how the church was once full of children, but now there are hardly any young adults or children present. They will go on to say that some of their children live nearby, and yet they cannot get them to join them in their church involvement. "What are we to do?" they ask, "How could have things been different?"
Into this world of concern about young people retaining their faith come the Fuller Youth Institute, and its leaders Kara Powell and Chap Clark. Combining keen insight with painstaking research, Powell and Clark believed they have uncovered some thoughtful ways parents can raise their kids so that their faith "sticks" even after they leave home. Their learning is compiled in the book Sticky Faith. Much of what they have to share is very helpful, and parents would be wise to heed it.
Over and over again, children and teenagers cite their parents as their primary role models and their heroes. Thus, Sticky Faith directly challenges parents to be very intentional in their child's spiritual development, and addresses them as the primary influencers that they are.
The book challenges parents to be involved in their children's lives on a number of fronts. First, it encourages parents to live their faith transparently before their children, and to invite their children into a family that functions as a community of faith. Sticky Faith gives parents helpful hints about how to have spiritual conversations with their teenage children. The book exhorts parents to develop larger, intentional networks of caring adults to support themselves and their children as they work to lead their children to Jesus. Through the whole book, Sticky Faith argues in a number of different ways that meaningful intergenerational relationships are essential to a child's longevity in the church and overall spiritual vitality.
I enjoy the way the book is set up. Sticky Faith helps parents know more about what their child is going through, and that it is normal. It helps parents with specific practices they can have as parents to be stronger in leading their children into an authentic life of faith that lasts through college and beyond. It is a book that is less driven by guilt than by faith. The authors even occasionally point out times where they have struggled to implement the principles that they describe. Their humility encourages me, and makes me want to hear more from them.
Occasionally I was amused with the discussion of larger churches, and their inability to integrate young adults into "big church". I serve in a small church, and there are several facets of "sticky faith" that we practice just by virtue of being small. At times, some of the things that Chap and Kara shared seemed to be obvious. But if they felt the need to say what they said, maybe the ability to relate to teens and children in a meaningful way is rarer than I expected.
Based on both Kara and Chap's research studies, Sticky Faith is a gem of a book that should be in the hands of both pastors and youth workers across the country. This book is full of the cutting edge information about the spiritual lives of teens can endure into adulthood. And, although some of the discoveries may not be all that earthshattering, Sticky Faith is, at the very least, full of helpful reminders on how to love our children well, and hints on how to guide them best to Jesus.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sticky Faith is the best book I have read in guiding parents on how to instill the Christian faith into your child's life. Backed up by new research and interaction with Scripture, Powell and Clark cover a variety of things that contribute to developing a life long relationship with Christ. Rather than simply looking at the problems facing our kids today and panicking, they give many creative ways and ideas for parents of children of all ages. They do so without oversimplifying the process of faith development, but instead affirm that it is often a winding and bumpy path kids and teens will walk on their path to spiritual maturity.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical, easy things to do
This book motivated me to want to find some children in my church that I could know better and encourage. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Shirley Dietz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
High school and the transition to adulthood that follows is a tricky time. I really appreciate how this book deals with the heart issues rather than the behavior of teens.
Published 1 month ago by K. Bennett
2.0 out of 5 stars
Condemning
I felt this book condemned those of us that might not have followed a perfect Christian path in college. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jill Wolverton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sticky faith is a practical book for parents
An excellent book for those interesting in their children to not lose their faith when off to college or out of the home. Read more
Published 1 month ago by laser
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for all parents
I have only got through a portion of this book and have learned so much.
I think I would like to do a bible study on this one!
I think I would like to do a bible study on this one!
Published 1 month ago by Traci Whittecar
3.0 out of 5 stars
book
I do like it but it wasn't what I thought it would be. I do enjoy the wisdom and comfort words.
Published 2 months ago by Joline Sawyer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Practical advice
Fantastic book-gives really practical advice to parents about how to raise young people with a faith that sticks!
Some excellent ideas for youth leaders too
Some excellent ideas for youth leaders too
Published 2 months ago by Cathie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome
If you are around children in any way and are the least bit concerned about providing them a solid foundation to build their life on this is the book for you. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Cain
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical ways to encourage trust in Jesus
This book has very practical ways to help you engage your kids in their faith and develop trust in Jesus on a personal level.
Published 3 months ago by Kristen B
5.0 out of 5 stars
definite read for families/pastors
This is one of those books that families and Pastors need to read. Eye opening statistics and great application. Now time to reread it with my wife.
Published 3 months ago by vcckids
