28/01/2013

1

STICKY FAITH ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT LASTS

STICKY FAITH

Help for the journey:

X:site An event for Yrs 3-6 that

takes place 6 times a year.

Locations:

Sheffield, Teesside,

Tyneside, Keighley, Halifax

For more info, check the

websites:

www.scriptureunion.org.uk/neyevents-yp www.xsiteuk.org

STICKY FAITH

Help for the journey:

Refuel An event for Yrs 3-6

that takes place

several times a year.

Next event:

Saturday 2 March

4:00 – 6:00pm

St George’s Leeds www.refuelleeds.org.uk

STICKY FAITH

Help for the journey:

It’s Your Move

STICKY FAITH

Energize High quality resources for church youth groups

www.energizeuk.net

Help for the journey:

STICKY FAITH

What is STICKY FAITH

ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT LASTS

28/01/2013

2

STICKY FAITH STICKY FAITH

What do we mean by sticky faith?

STICKY FAITH STICKY FAITH

STICKY FAITH

What is STICKY FAITH like?

1. Internal and External

2. Personal and Communal

3. Mature and Maturing

STICKY FAITH Listen , people of Israel! The Lord our God is the

only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Always remember these commands I give you today. Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your forehead to remind you, and write them on your doors and gates.

(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NCV)

28/01/2013

3

STICKY FAITH

The Sticky Gospel - findings • Strange ideas about what it means to be a

Christian

• Too easily use participation in religious activity as a measure of success

• Gospel like a jacket

• A ‘Red Bull’ gospel

• A gospel of ‘sin management’

STICKY FAITH

History has brought us to the point where the Christian message is thought to be essentially concerned with only how to deal with sin: with wrongdoing or wrong-being and its effects. Life, our actual existence is not included in what is now presented as the heart of the Christian message, or it is included only marginally... the current gospel then becomes a "gospel of sin management".

(Dallas Willard)

STICKY FAITH

A Gospel of grace You, yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,

and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

(Exodus 19:4-6a TNIV)

STICKY FAITH

The Sticky Gospel - practice • Explain terms

• Teach with an understanding of the context of obedience

• Case studies and real life examples that focus on what it means to trust God

• Contrast doing good things with trusting in a good God

• Make trust an on-going teaching theme

• Teach about recovery and repentance

STICKY FAITH STICKY FAITH

The HEADLINES 1. Shift from a behaviour based gospel to a

grace based gospel

2. Shift from separating children and young people from the rest of the church to integrating them into the life of the church

3. Shift from a dry-cleaner view of parenting to partnering with parents

28/01/2013

4

STICKY FAITH

Church & Community

ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT LASTS

STICKY FAITH

Research findings

“Involvement in all-church worship during high school is more consistently linked with mature faith in both high school and college than any other form of church participation.”

STICKY FAITH

Research findings

“The more teenagers serve and build relationships with younger children, the more likely it is that their faith will stick.”

STICKY FAITH

Research findings

“Sixth form students don’t feel supported by adults in their congregations.”

STICKY FAITH

Research findings

“By far, the number-one way that churches made the teens in our survey feel welcomed and valued was when adults in the congregation showed interest in them.”

STICKY FAITH

Research findings

In summary:

• All-church worship.

• Serving younger children.

• Older students feel unsupported.

• Adults taking interest Feel valued.

28/01/2013

5

STICKY FAITH The 5:1 Principle

• 5 Adults involved in every 1 young persons life

• Consider the role of parents in 5:1

• Ongoing support for young people through all transitions and into university life

STICKY FAITH Relationships in Church

Changing your church culture…?

• How much time do children and young people spend with the church congregation?

• What activities can the whole church do together?

• Can you influence how your leadership thinks?

STICKY FAITH Relationships in Church

in practice • Browse the various ideas

• Add your own!

STICKY FAITH

Relationships in their groups

How do we develop meaningful relationships in our groups? What gets in the way?

STICKY FAITH

Relationships in their groups

What they said…

• More deep conversations & one-on-ones

• 3 most significant things…

• The adults involved

• The community formed

• Friendships

STICKY FAITH

Experiences: Who Am I? Plot the key trigger moments or transition

points for children & young people as they go from 4-18.

What do we already do and what else can we do to affirm them and support them at these times?

28/01/2013

6

STICKY FAITH

Experiences: Who Am I? • Trigger events

• Exposure to diversity • Physical/Emotional Challenges

• Develop rituals & rites of passage • Age, cultural, spiritual milestones

• Reflect on their experiences • Identify passions and gifts

STICKY FAITH

Experiences: Living & Believing

Can we draw up a plan of activities that we can do to help children and young people to connect living and believing?

What might be on this plan?

STICKY FAITH

@ Home and school

ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT LASTS

STICKY FAITH

Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 9

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

STICKY FAITH Some questions Whose role is it to bring up children to know God?

How much do parents talk to children about faith?

Are there subjects/issues that parents should

avoid with children/young people?

Is it helpful to discuss doubts about faith with

children?

How much freedom should a young person/child

have to make up their own mind about faith?

STICKY FAITH STICKY Findings Most parents don’t talk about faith with their

kids

Kids whose parents talk about faith have more

sticky faith

Christian Parents tend to avoid tricky subjects

Parents who talk about doubts help faith to

stick

Kids with Sticky faith have parents who

encourage individual thought

28/01/2013

7

STICKY FAITH

Reflection:

In your home as you were growing up, to

what extent did you see any of these

things taking place?

In your current work with children and

young people, to what extent do you see

these things taking place?

STICKY FAITH

STICKY Faith made practical 1. Provide space and time for quality

conversations

2. Learn to listen and ask questions and not

lecture

3. Create the right venue for meaningful

conversation

4. Don’t avoid the touchy subjects

STICKY FAITH

STICKY Faith made practical

5. Be creative if your child does not want to talk to you

6. Share your own faith

7. Seek out sticky faith ideas from other parents

8. Talk about your doubts

STICKY FAITH

STICKY Faith made practical

9. Develop conversation rituals

• Dinner conversations

• Creative worship experiences

• Special birthdays

• Family goals

STICKY FAITH

Split into 4 groups and for come up with as many practical ideas as possible for the topic on the green sheet.

Activity:

Now do the same for one of the orange sheets.

STICKY FAITH

Sticky Justice: Living for God at school 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17 - 21

How can we be parents who love and serve God and

others, and who raise kids who do likewise. …How can

we plant a vision for kingdom service so deeply in our

kids that they can’t help but offer love and hope to those

in need. Q

28/01/2013

8

STICKY FAITH STICKY Findings

Justice is a biblical value and theme

Biblical justice meets all sorts of needs

Kids want to be involved in justice and service work

Short term mission work does not lead to lasting

transformation (The before / During and after model)

Service is stickier when it hits closer to home

• Framing • Experience and reflect • Initial debriefing • On-going transformation

STICKY FAITH What does this look like for your kids at school?

Activity:

In small groups, look at the

scenario given and discuss

what this looks like in practice

for your kids at school.

STICKY FAITH

National Centre For Biblical Parenting

A resource to enable parents to adopt biblical models of parenting

www.biblicalparenting.org

STICKY FAITH

Making It Happen

ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT LASTS

STICKY FAITH

Albert Einstein

Insanity is doing the same thing

over and over again and expecting

different results.

STICKY FAITH Ready for the journey

1. Children need to own their faith

2. Growth and change are necessary and

often messy

3. The Power of shared stories

4. YOUR faith impacts your child more than

any other factor

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate

28/01/2013

9

STICKY FAITH Ready for the journey

6. Identify advocates and obstacles

7. Experiment around the margins

8. Foster a lifelong friendship with your child

9. Be patient. Good things take time

10. Give your child to Jesus

STICKY FAITH

Action Planning

Spend a few minutes

reflecting on and

answering the questions

on the sheet.

STICKY FAITH Resources for the journey 1. X:site

2. Bookstall

3. Sticky Faith website (www.stickyfaith.org)

4. Explore Together

5. Northern Training Conference (1-3 March)

6. Future Events

7. Light (www.lightlive.org.uk)

8. Breakthrough

STICKY FAITH

Let’s Pray

STICKY FAITH

Thanks and have a safe journey

ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT LASTS