SPARTA, Va. — Over 90 teenagers in the Caroline County, Va., area are wearing a thin silver band. Someday they hope it will be replaced by a wedding ring. In the meantime the silver band serves as a reminder of the decision they recently made to remain sexually abstinent until marriage.
The Silver Ring Thing is a high-tech, high-energy performance that appeals to today’s youth, inspiring them with the message that they are “worth waiting for,” said Dana Brawley, youth minister at Salem Baptist Church in Sparta, Va. Through messages of forgiveness and new beginnings, the program also reaches out to teens who have already become sexually active and offers an opportunity to “start over.”
Members of the Silver Ring Thing team used skits and high-energy presentations to engage students at Caroline County (Va.) High School on May 15. (Photo courtesy Silver Ring Thing) |
This is the third time that this national touring team of college students have come to the area, said Brawley. Invited by an interdenominational group of youth leaders and sponsored by the Hermon Baptist Association, the Silver Ring Thing live event on May 15 attracted over 240 teens and parents. Brawley said 50 people made professions of faith. In the days prior to the Caroline event, the SRT team conducted rallies in two North Carolina cities — Williamston and Rocky Mount — and Winchester, Va.
Created in 1995 by Denny and Amy Pattyn as a response to the escalating numbers of teen pregnancies in Yuma, Ariz., SRT has hosted nearly 1,000 events in nine countries, reaching more than 550,000 total attendees. Now headquartered in Pennsylvania, the organization also maintains offices in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
The theme of this year’s event was “REWIND: Begin with the End in Mind.”
“Every day we make choices about life, love, dating, faith, sex … and most mistakes come from living only for the moment — not thinking about tomorrow,” said one SRT team member. Teens were reminded that a Christ-centered marriage should be their end goal.
Engraved around the outside of the ring is 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable.”
“By using drama, humor and music, the SRT team does a fantastic job of meeting students on their level,” said Brawley. Prior to the event the team leads assemblies at local schools making a presentation to middle school students in the seventh and eighth grades and high school students — giving testimonies and inviting students to the live event.
A role for parents
At each event SRT representatives talk with parents about today’s teen culture and their role in encouraging and supporting their child’s commitment.
“Research shows that parents have more impact on their child’s sexual decision-making than any other influence — including their peers,” shared one SRT team member. “Parents play a key role in influencing behaviors and attitudes.”
The youth at Salem Baptist Church also are involved in an emphasis on True Love Waits each year around Valentine’s Day.
“The message about sex that the kids get from their peers and in schools is not from the Christian perspective,” said Brawley. She acknowledges that young people attending church with others in a youth group to support their decisions find it much easier to keep their commitment.
Once a person puts on a ring, he or she is asked to name an accountability partner of the same gender to encourage, share and support them in their decision. SRT initiates email contact with students to guide them to other resources available to encourage better knowledge of Scripture and challenge them to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
“As much as people say that it’s unrealistic to think today’s teens will abstain from sex before marriage, I know that some of them are,” said Lonnie Brawley, Dana’s husband. He said a student from Salem Baptist who is graduating from high school this year is applying to be on the Silver Ring Thing team. “It’s a great opportunity for young people with a passion for this ministry to be involved and travel, as well.”