Faith Shaper1
Current statistics overwhelmingly tell us that the present generation of young people are walking away from church and or their faith in early adolescent years. “50,000 young people a year are leaving the Christian faith and deciding that they have no religion.” (Philip Hughes, Christian Research Australia)
David Goodwin in his thesis Lost In Transition states “There is no doubt that pre and early adolescence is a time when many children drop out of church. What makes the situation worse is that many children, who do stay in church during their high school years . . . are possibly only there because parents insist they attend church, or their social life is linked with the church youth group.”P.7
Making lifelong disciples of children and youth is a key priority of our church. We believe that it is time to have the important discussions on what formational experiences they need. In partnership with the Interdenominational National conversation here2stay South Pacific Division and Australian Conferences Children’s Ministries have put together 7 Essential Experiences that will shape this faith that stays. We want this faith to be deep, and it needs to be strong and active.
This is not a program. It doesn’t sit with one department. It doesn’t sit with one age group. ‘Faith Shaper’ is a set of experiences from birth to eighteen years that should determine how all Departments do ministry. We are asking that everyone – church, home and school, to study the experiences and put in place strategies that ensure they happen well. In his Valuegenesis research, Dr Barry Gane found that “There is an increasing probability that young people will develop high Christian commitment, and high loyalty to the Church if they have the benefits of effective homes, effective churches and effective Adventist schools.”
It is time to work together for the faith of our present and future generations of children and young people. We have a problem, and we have a solution. We believe that collaboratively we CAN achieve this. We can reverse the flow. We CAN produce lifelong disciples for Jesus. Click here to view the Faith Shaper Information Booklet.
- Faith Shaper – Guide for Worship Leaders
- FS6: Noteworthy Memories and Events
Noteworthy Memory Events “A Memory event is activity being enough to dominate an adolescent’s horizon, so that he or she becomes so fully immersed in the event they will never forget it o its message.” (Wayne French, Creating Memories for Teens, 2005 ) Resource and equip homes to create special daily, weekly and yearly rituals and […] - Just for Kids – Understanding our Church and traditions
An essential part of helping kids to fully participate in our church community is explaining our church traditions. These can often appear to be abstract and irrelevant to kids until we take the time explain what is going on, why we do it and what it all means. To help you generate discussion with your […] - 5 Ways to Say I Love You
We believe that we were created by a loving God, so it is only natural that children need to feel loved in order to best develop and succeed. But if you and your child speak different love languages, your display of love might get lost in translation – affecting your child’s attitude, behaviour, and development. […] - 10 Things I Love About You
We believe that we were created by a loving God, so it is only natural that children need to feel loved in order to best develop and succeed. The power of words is an unbelievable thing. They cultivate a range of emotions. Words can inspire, encourage, devastate, uplift, tear down and ultimately change the direction of […] - Let’s Start Talking
Sometimes talking to children and each other can feel daunting. That is why we have developed these question sets, to give you a spring board for starting those conversations in your church, home and school. The weekly challenge is to pick up one question set and talk to someone you have not talked to before. Click […] - My Church Family Tree
We were created with the ability and need to communicate and connect in meaningful ways with those around us. Building safe places, authentic relationships and intergenerational connections all start with simple conversations. But building intergenerational connections is more than ‘a’ conversation. For true connections and authentic relationships to be formed it takes intentional, regular conversations. […] - Faith Shaper Information Booklet
- Faith Shaper – Shaping Life Long Faith @ Church
Shaping Life Long Faith is a journey. As you plan to give the children in your church the experiences they need for life-long faith, have a look at the following checklist and tick off how many practices you do. Put a star beside those that as a church you want to do.Use this handout to […] - Faith Shaper Posters
Please feel free to download, print and display any or all of the Faith Shaper 7 Essential experiences posters. Download by clicking on any of the images below. - Faith Shaper – Guide Booklets
Designed for anyone interested in building lifelong faith in children. These booklets include articles and practical tips on how to implement the 7 essential experiences in your church, home or school. Please feel free to download by clicking on the links below.These booklets are currently being written over the next few months… so there are […] - Daily Bites
K.I.D. Footprints for kids has been contextualised for family. Formatted into three booklets: Come to Jesus, Dig Deeper and Share Jesus, Daily Bites is resources designed to equip parents and carers to grow spiritually strong children. If you would like to order Daily Bites contact us.