40%
16%
When it comes to preparing seniors for life after youth group, these are probably the two most important statistics you need to know.
Approximately 40% of youth group seniors significantly struggle with their faith and with finding a church after graduation. 1
Only about 16% of college freshmen felt well prepared by their youth ministries for what they encountered after graduation. 2
For us though, this curriculum is about more than numbers. It is about real students — students just like the ones in your ministry right now.
The Sticky Faith Movement
In 2004, the Fuller Youth Institute launched the College Transition Project, a collection of initiatives studying over 400 youth group graduates from around the United States during their transition to college. The goals of this project were to better understand the dynamics of life after youth group, and to pinpoint steps that parents, youth leaders, churches, and students themselves could take to help launch students on trajectories of lifelong faith and service.
What started as a handful of research initiatives has become a movement — a movement of churches, parents, grandparents, youth leaders, children’s leaders, and senior pastors who want to help students’ faith not merely survive, but thrive, after high school.
Defining Sticky Faith
The goal of this curriculum is — quite simply — to help teenagers develop sticky faith. By “sticky faith” we mean a combination of characteristics, all of which exist in a dynamic tension…
- Faith that is both internalized and externalized: a faith that is part of a student’s inner thoughts and emotions, and is also externalized in choices and actions that reflect that faith commitment. These behaviors include regular attendance in a church/campus group, prayer and Bible reading, service to others, and lower participation in risk behaviors, in particular sex and alcohol (two behaviors we are studying specifically). In other words, sticky faith involves whole-person life integration, at least to some degree.
- Faith that is both personal 3 and communal: a faith that celebrates God’s specific care for each person while always locating faith in the global and local community of the Church.
- Faith that is both mature and maturing: a faith that shows marks of spiritual maturity but is also in process of growth. We don’t assume a high school senior or college freshman (or a youth worker for that matter) will have a completely “mature” faith. We are all in process.
The Two-Word Glue of Sticky Faith
Based on our research and our ongoing theological reflection, if we were asked to summarize the glue that creates sticky faith in two words, it would be gospel and identity (which perhaps is three words if you count the “and” between “gospel” and “identity”). The “gospel”, of course, is literally the “good news” of God’s Kingdom plan of saving us and transforming us into Kingdom people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Identity” is a bit harder to grasp. Quite simply, it’s a mix of what we think about ourselves and what others think and portray to us about ourselves, which inevitably influences, if not determines, the choices we make and the way we relate to God and to others. Our identity development is a process; one that started when we took our first breath and will end when we take our last.
We cover the gospel and identity extensively in sessions one and two of this curriculum. But we also encourage you to make those threads that weave their way through this entire preparation process. To help you do that, we have strategically sprinkled “gospel” and “identity” re-enforcing discussion questions and learning activities throughout the other eight sessions.
In particular, in session two entitled “How Do I See Myself After Graduation?”, students will complete a handout entitled Identity That Sticks that helps them dream about who they want to be—or their identity—a year from now. Since identity formation is a process, we have tied that particular activity into other sessions that follow it so that students can continue to edit and expand their view of who God wants them to be after graduation. So we encourage you to collect that Identity That Sticks handout at session two as well as every time you reintroduce it into your discussion.
Other Ways to Get the Most Out of This Sticky Faith Resource…
First, realize (and celebrate) that this curriculum is a mixture of Scripture and social science data, of theology and research. Theology based in Scripture beats at the heart of this curriculum, but good research conducted by the Fuller Youth Institute and other research centers also pulses throughout.
Second, relax knowing that this curriculum doesn’t require a lot of preparation or props. You’re dealing with seniors, not seventh grade boys (not that we don’t like seventh grade boys; one of us was one and one of us is married to someone who was one). The goal is deep, provocative, authentic, and practical discussions that will undoubtedly be fun and lively. But you won’t need marshmallows or inner tubes to make it happen.
Third, understand the Now, New, How format of each session. Following the pattern of some of our previous books…
- Now helps you and your students discuss what is, and isn’t, happening now.
- New brings new insights from Scripture, research, and experience (yours and your students’).
- How prompts your seniors to translate their new insights into new patterns in their own lives.
Fourth, customize this lesson to fit your seniors. We know students, but we don’t know your students. We’ve given a suggested order, but feel free to cut, add, and re-shuffle the deck of lessons to develop a sticky faith game plan that best fits your ministry.
On that note, we’ve geared each session to last approximately 60-90 minutes, but we’ve also sprinkled Have More Time? and More Prayer and Worship activities throughout this curriculum that you can add or use instead of what we have suggested.
Fifth, speaking of series, be creative with how you use this curriculum. Some groups do one session per month for the school year, others have waited until January and launched a more intensive series in the winter and spring of students’ senior year. Still others choose to dive deep into this curriculum during weekend retreats or overnighters during the summer following graduation.
We Need to Hear Your Voice
The sample sessions we are sharing are from a pilot version that we are testing in 2010 and distributing more broadly in 2011. We are eager for your feedback, so please send us your thoughts and input as you use this curriculum. What works? What doesn’t work? What ideas do you have to make this even better?
Again, we’re giving this to you free in part because we hope you’ll help us make it better. That can only happen if you give us feedback! Below is a link to an evaluation survey you can take once or several times (e.g. after each session) to give us feedback. We take your input very, very seriously.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/stickyfaithseniors
Selected youth ministries have been testing the entire curriculum this spring, and the revised, published version will be released in Fall 2011 by Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Please be sure to subscribe to the FYI E-Journal to stay abreast of research findings and resource releases.
Here’s to sticky faith!
DOWNLOADS:
Sample Session: Identity (319 kb pdf download)
Sample Session: Finding a Church (262 kb pdf download)
40%
16%
When it comes to preparing seniors for life after youth group, these are probably the two most important statistics you need to know.
Approximately 40% of youth group seniors significantly struggle with their faith and with finding a church after graduation.[1]
Only about 16% of college freshmen felt well prepared by their youth ministries for what they encountered after graduation.[2]
For us though, this curriculum is about more than numbers. It is about real students—students just like the ones in your ministry right now.
The Sticky Faith Movement
In 2004, the Fuller Youth Institute launched the College Transition Project, a collection of initiatives studying over 400 youth group graduates from around the United States during their transition to college. The goals of this project were to better understand the dynamics of life after youth group, and to pinpoint steps that parents, youth leaders, churches, and students themselves could take to help launch students on trajectories of lifelong faith and service.
What started as a handful of research initiatives has become a movement—a movement of churches, parents, grandparents, youth leaders, children’s leaders, and senior pastors who want to help students’ faith not merely survive, but thrive, after high school.
Defining Sticky Faith
The goal of this curriculum is—quite simply—to help teenagers develop sticky faith. By “sticky faith” we mean a combination of characteristics, all of which exist in a dynamic tension…
· Faith that is both internalized and externalized: a faith that is part of a student’s inner thoughts and emotions, and is also externalized in choices and actions that reflect that faith commitment. These behaviors include regular attendance in a church/campus group, prayer and Bible reading, service to others, and lower participation in risk behaviors, especially sex and alcohol. In other words, sticky faith involves whole-person life integration, at least to some degree.
· Faith that is both personal[3] and communal: a faith that celebrates God’s specific care for each person while always locating faith in the global and local community of the Church.
· Faith that is both mature and maturing: a faith that shows marks of spiritual maturity but is also in process of growth. We don’t assume a high school senior or college freshman (or a youth worker for that matter) will have a completely “mature” faith. We are all in process.
The Two-Word Glue of Sticky Faith
Based on our research and our ongoing theological reflection, if we were asked to summarize the glue that creates sticky faith in two words, it would be gospel and identity (which perhaps is three words if you count the “and” between “gospel” and “identity”). The “gospel”, of course, is literally the “good news” of God’s Kingdom plan of saving us and transforming us into Kingdom people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Identity” is a bit harder to grasp. Quite simply, it’s a mix of what we think about ourselves and what others think and portray to us about ourselves, which inevitably influences, if not determines, the choices we make and the way we relate to God and to others. Our identity development is a process; one that started when we took our first breath and will end when we take our last.
We cover the gospel and identity extensively in sessions one and two. But we also encourage you to make those threads that weave their way through this entire curriculum. To help you do that, we have strategically sprinkled “gospel” and “identity” re-enforcing discussion questions and learning activities throughout the other eight sessions.
In particular, in session two entitled “How Do I See Myself After Graduation?”, students will complete a handout entitled Identity That Sticks that helps them dream about who they want to be—or their identity—a year from now. Since identity formation is a process, we have tied that particular activity into other sessions that follow it so that students can continue to edit and expand their view of who God wants them to be after graduation. So we encourage you to collect that Identity That Sticks handout at session two as well as every time you reintroduce it into your discussion. We’ll make that clear in the pages that follow but we wanted to give you a heads up now.
Other Ways to Get the Most Out of This Sticky Faith Resource…
First, realize (and celebrate) that this curriculum is a mixture of Scripture and social science data, of theology and research. Theology based in Scripture beats at the heart of this curriculum, but good research conducted by the Fuller Youth Institute and other research centers also pulses throughout.
Second, relax knowing that this curriculum doesn’t require a lot of preparation or props. You’re dealing with seniors, not seventh grade boys (not that we don’t like seventh grade boys; one of us was one and one of us is married to someone who was one). The goal is deep, provocative, authentic, and practical discussions that will undoubtedly be fun and lively. But you won’t need marshmallows or inner tubes to make it happen.
Third, understand the Now, New, How format of each session. Following the pattern of some of our previous books…
· Now helps you and your students discuss what is, and isn’t, happening now.
· New brings new insights from Scripture, research, and experience (yours and your students’).
· How prompts your seniors to translate their new insights into new patterns in their own lives.
Fourth, customize this lesson to fit your seniors. We know students, but we don’t know your students. We’ve given a suggested order, but feel free to cut, add, and re-shuffle the deck of lessons to develop a sticky faith game plan that best fits your ministry.
On that note, we’ve geared each session to last approximately 60-90 minutes, but we’ve also sprinkled Have More Time? and More Prayer and Worship activities throughout this curriculum that you can add or use instead of what we have suggested.
Fifth, speaking of series, be creative with how you use this curriculum. Some groups do one session per month for the school year, others have waited until January and launched a more intensive series in the winter and spring of students’ senior year. Still others choose to dive deep into this curriculum during weekend retreats or overnighters.
We Need to Hear Your Voice
The version that you’ve received is a pilot version that we are testing in 2010 and distributing more broadly in 2011. We are eager for your feedback, so please send us your thoughts and input as you use this curriculum. What works? What doesn’t work? What ideas do you have to make this even better?
If you’ve received this curriculum directly from the Fuller Youth Institute, we’ll be sending you a short online survey and hope you take a few minutes to give us your feedback. If you received it from someone else and you think we probably don’t have your contact information, please contact us at Bgriffin@fuller.edu and let us know what you think.
Here’s to sticky faith!
[1] Extrapolated from Barna Update, “Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years.” The Barna Group, 2006, September 16, 2006; George H. Gallup, Jr., The Gallup Poll, 2006; and Christian Smith with Patricial Snell, Souls in Transition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 105, 108, 109, and 116.
[2] Fuller Youth Institute College Transition Project, results yet unpublished.
[3] We wrestled with how to describe the fact that God cares about and interacts with each individual and yet much of our faith growth is communal. “Personal” is our best attempt but in using that term, we do not mean to imply an individualistic faith.
- Extrapolated from Barna Update, “Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years.” The Barna Group, 2006, September 16, 2006; George H. Gallup, Jr., The Gallup Poll, 2006; and Christian Smith with Patricial Snell, Souls in Transition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 105, 108, 109, and 116. [↩]
- Fuller Youth Institute College Transition Project, results yet unpublished. [↩]
- We wrestled with how to describe the fact that God cares about and interacts with each individual and yet much of our faith growth is communal. “Personal” is our best attempt but in using that term, we do not mean to imply an individualistic faith. [↩]
©2010 Fuller Youth Institute
Trackback URL: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2010/05/sticky-faith-senior-curriculum/trackback/
9 Responses to “Sticky Faith Senior Curriculum”
Leave a Reply
- Post Tags
- College Transition
- RelatedContent
- Latest Blog Entry
- September 2, 2010 Moms – Cycle of Poverty
One of the things that is heartbreaking to me, and I’m guessing you too, is how poverty is such a vicious cycle – so hard to escape. An article in the Washington Post a few days ago…
- Latest Audio
- Children of Divorce August 2, 2010
- Fund Development for Your Ministry July 6, 2010
- John Losey Interview June 1, 2010
May 4th, 2010 at 12:04 am
[...] 12 FYI E-JournalMore E-JournalsVolume 6, Issue 5 FYI E-JournalMay 4, 2010 /**/ Subscribe Now! PrintSticky Faith Senior Curriculum EXCLUSIVE FREE SAMPLES!by Kara Powell and Brad GriffinThis month we’re excited to share with our subscribers 2 free [...]
May 4th, 2010 at 5:01 am
[...] Fuller Youth Institute is giving away free curriculum samples from their “sticky faith” research. I like the idea of the name, and its resonance for digital culture. When I get a chance, [...]
May 4th, 2010 at 6:14 am
I’m trying to figure out how to download the free samples…they don’t seem to be linked to anything.
May 4th, 2010 at 8:53 am
they seem to be working on this end–try again! hover over the words and you’ll see the link.
May 4th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
’tis now! Thanks!
May 6th, 2010 at 9:16 am
This is very good stuff. With a decade and a half of youth ministry behind me, this is still the biggest challenge: when students aren’t compelled by parents/friends to attend a consistent Christian gathering, what happens? Some of my best students have gone to college only to be overwhelmed by the competition for time that exists in college/life. Thanks for producing such good, thought-provoking and practical curriculum!
May 6th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Thanks for the feedback, Jody! I agree that relational connections are key. While the hope is that internal motivation alone would spur students to get plugged in, relationships are such a huge part of the reality of participation (true for adults too on many levels). We can’t force/nag them very effectively, but we also can’t simply send them off and hope for the best… thanks for pointing out this tension.
June 8th, 2010 at 8:15 am
[...] The Fuller Youth Institute just reported that less than half (40 percent) of even church-going high-school seniors “significantly struggle with their faith and with finding a church after graduation.” And other statistics show that, by the time they end their college education, 90 percent will have dropped out of church. [...]
June 8th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
[...] The Fuller Youth Institute just reported that less than half (40 percent) of even church-going high-school seniors “significantly struggle with their faith and with finding a church after graduation.” And other statistics show that, by the time they end their college education, 90 percent will have dropped out of church. [...]