Sticky Faith by Dr. Kara Powell & Dr. Chap Clark

I have another great book to share with you!  I just finished reading Sticky Faith by Dr. Kara Powell & Dr. Chap Clark.  I have gotten to review some really good books lately!  I originally picked this book title to review because: 1.  I'm a parent.  And 2. I feel incredibly unprepared and unqualified to teach my kids about spiritual things.  I thought this book was about teaching your kids about having a spiritual relationship with Christ.  At first I was disappointed because it didn't do that.  I think I was looking for a step-by-step, which this book is not.  But I kept reading.  And I'm so glad I did!

Every Christian parent dreams of their children growing up knowing the Lord as we pass the baton of faith on to them.  But it's not that easy.  Many kids abandon their faith once they reach high school, but especially when to reach college-age.  The authors of this book have conducted tons of research as to why kids walk about from their faith in hopes of equipping parents and youth leaders with the knowledge they need to help their kids' faith become sticky.  Sticky enough that they don't turn from it when entering adulthood.  This book shares what their research has found, as well as way that we can correct those situations/atmospheres that have allowed our kids to abandon their faith. 

I think the most enlightening part of this book for me personally was their adult to child ratio.  In so many youth groups,  leaders strive for a ratio of 1 adult leader to every 5 teen.  They suggest that that ratio is completely the opposite of what it needs to be.  We should have 5 adult leaders to every teen!  As adults, we need to adopt a mentoring lifestyle towards the youth in our church.  Every teen should have a group of adults to which they can go for prayer, wisdom, and accountability on a regular basis. 

Something also mentioned in the book was the fact that most church segregate teens.  Churches need to realize that our youth are the upcoming generation of adults.  Our churches should be a place where youth should be accepted and integrated into our weekly services, instead of being made to sit in the "kid service".  When we segregate our youth from the adult worship service, it communicates to the teens that they aren't good enough or that they have nothing to offer adults, which is not true! 



All in all, this is a great book for all pastors, youth leaders, and parents to read!  There are many great ideas on how to slow down the likelihood of our teens to walk away from their faith.  I passed on my copy to the youth pastor at our church, so he can implement some changes in our own church community!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review.