We're actively refreshing every Faith Stepping Stone. Updated Stones are released as they're completed, and are available for immediate download to current members.
Entering Adolescence
The early teen years bring heavier pressures just as the support systems kids rely on begin to thin. This Stone gives parents and teens a plan for the journey: understanding the pressures, dreaming together about the relationship they want, and building a simple nightly habit that keeps a family connected.
What families will do
Over the course of this Stone, parents and teens come together to share, laugh, and learn about:
- The pressures and supports of adolescence today, and how parents can become the “Impact Adults” in their teens' lives
- Describing the relationship they dream of having by graduation day, and taking specific steps to make that dream real
- A simple ten-minute nightly practice, the FAITH5 (share, read, talk, pray, bless), that connects Highs & Lows with Scripture, and a Family Covenant to take home
The three sessions
Each session follows the same shape (an Opening, a Presentation, Small Group Time, and a Closing) and builds on the one before it.
Haystack Theory
ObjectiveTo help parents and teens understand how the pressures and supports of adolescence are different today than a generation ago, and to lead parents to commit to being the “Impact Adults” in their teens' lives.
Working on the Dream
ObjectiveTo help parents and teens describe the relationship they dream of and take specific steps to make that dream real, including sharing Highs & Lows as a family each night throughout the adolescent journey.
The Secret Formula
ObjectiveTo help parents and teens understand the importance of nightly communication and commit to applying God's Word to their Highs & Lows every night throughout the adolescent journey.
Stone 6 is written for teens and parents to learn together. Teens stay with their parents throughout, so no separate youth team or room is needed.
Built to scale down, not just up
An optional Theme Team can set up and lead the sessions, and optional Table Hosts can help the small groups formed during the course keep meeting afterward. Neither is required: a single volunteer can run this Stone just as well, using the provided Leader's Guide and PowerPoint. If your congregation is small, don't let the idea of a “team” hold you back from starting.
A Stepping Stone Blessing
Many churches choose to close the course with a worship service, “A Blessing for Entering Adolescence,” where parents and teens make their Stepping Stone promises together, and parents are commissioned as faith mentors for their own teens. An editable Word version is included, so your congregation can use its own Lord's Prayer, baptismal promises, and other wording.
Optional, and easy to adapt to your church's own tradition and your pastor's guidance.
A quilt that grows for eighteen years
If your congregation has been growing a Graduation Quilt, this is a fun place to add to it. Handprints of small group leaders and teens can be added to the back of the quilt, or each family can choose a few symbols that stand for their “Dream Relationship” and place them around the house as a reminder that everyone is on the same team. It's a lovely tradition if someone wants to run with it, but entirely optional, and no part of Stone 6 depends on it.
Get started with Stone 6 - Entering Adolescence
Everything you need is included: Leader's Guides, Guest Handouts, PowerPoint presentations, drama skits, theme music, and the Blessing liturgy.
$199 per year — includes all 8 Faith Stepping Stones, cradle to graduation.