These are the findings of the Fuller Youth Institute’s (FYI) multi-year study on students and their faith once they leave high school. One way to illustrate this is with a jacket…

The Jacket from Fuller Youth Institute on 45% of students toss their faith aside when they get to college…

These are the findings of the Fuller Youth Institute’s (FYI) multi-year study on students and their faith once they leave high school. One way to illustrate this is with a jacket…

The Jacket from Fuller Youth Institute on Vimeo.

To help address this issue, we’ve adopted a “four + one” mentality of ministry to high school students. This means that we’re trying to think not only of the four years the students are with us at Grace, but we’re trying to care for students in that first year they are off at college. This way of ministry comes from the suggestion of FYI and their new initiative entitled Sticky Faith.

One way we’re caring for our recent 2011 high school graduates is by sending them care packages. These packages include contents to feed their stomachs (like crackers and Starbucks gifts cards), support their schooling (like scantrons and pens), and encourage their faith. Last Wednesday evening, all our current students wrote encouraging notes to our graduates that will be included in this package. It was a great time for our students to pray for and support our friends who have graduated.

We are praying for our graduates to continue growing in their faith.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Fuller Youth Institute and their Sticky Faith program, you can check out two books published by the FYI. Both were published just last month in September 2011.

Kara E. Powell and Chap Clark, Sticky Faith:
Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids,
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011).
Find it on Amazon.

Kara E. Powell, Brad M. Griffin, and Cherly A. Crawford,
Sticky Faith, Youth Worker Edition: Practical Ideas
to Nurture Long-Term Faith in Teenagers,
(Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2011).
Find it on Amazon.

For more resources like this, check out our “resources” page at Senior High Resources.