Hi, it's Katy. I figured to start this Sticky Faith Initiative I should share some of my own story. So here goes...
I grew up going to church. Since my dad was a pastor, there was never a question about going to church - or even being involved in things other than just Sunday morning. It was simply what was expected. I never really thought a great deal about it. Then I went to college.
I attended Elon University, which was about 7 1/2 hours away from home. No one was making me go to church anymore. For the first time in my life, I realized the choice was mine. In fact, I distinctly remember walking across campus one night after Inter Varsity campus ministry with the thought that I needed to make the decision because no one was going to make it for me anymore.
And I did. I made the decision that my faith was going to be a part of my life. And I am so glad I did. There are so many things that have helped my faith stick since that decision - campus ministries like Inter Varsity and later Sigma Alpha Omega (the Christian sorority I joined as a second semester freshman), working at Camp Wanake through my summers, being involved in churches that supported and encouraged me, and far and away most important, the people I met in each of these places that have challenged me and been there for me every step of my journey. I admit, it's not always easy and there are times that I get closer to God and times that I move away, but I know that if I keep seeking God first and surrounding myself with people who encourage and challenge me in my faith, it will definitely stick.
Now, I'd love to hear your story. Email it to me at kwright@sunburyumc.org, and together we can help make faith sticky.
~ Katy
Saturday, August 4, 2012
What is sticky faith?
Essentially sticky faith is what it says: faith that
sticks. Many people grow up going to
church, they come to VBS and Sunday school as children, youth group as
teenagers, and then they go to college.
The Sticky Faith research done by the Fuller Youth Institute suggests
that 40-50% of young people who are connected to a youth group when they
graduate high school will not stick with their faith in college, and that only
20% of the college students who leave the church planned to; this means that
80% planned to stick with their faith but didn’t.[1] There are a number of reasons for these
statistics, and each story is different and each story matters. And it’s not just college students who leave
the church. Sometimes it’s a matter of
life getting busy and church doesn’t fit into the schedule. Sometimes hard things happen in life and we
can’t understand why God would let those things happen. But faith is so much more than the busyness
of life, so much more than the challenges life presents.
Just as there is no one reason people leave their faith
behind, there is no one size fits all solution to this reality. But there are steps that we can take as a
church to help our children, youth, and adults, move toward a faith that
sticks no matter what life circumstances change. And we want Sunbury UMC to be a place where
faith sticks, no matter what changes or challenges come along. So this August we are kicking off the SUMC Sticky Faith Initiative. We
will hear people’s stories. We will see
videos and talk about what it means to be sticky. There will be a parent Bible study
offered. There will be new ministries
started and different faces in ministries that have been around awhile. We want your faith to stick, and to grow, and
for you to experience the fullness of what God has for you.
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