A party about purity

Crowds of young people, glow sticks and a multicolored light show made an unusual forum to discuss purity and abstinence, but young people came from as far as Lubbock to see the performance at CrossRoads Fellowship in Odessa.

“It’s really interesting,” 15-year-old Presley Miller said. “It helps you understand the consequences (of premarital sex).”

Miller and her boyfriend, 15-year-old Greg Palatios, both purchased silver purity rings at the event since Miller said she lost the one she purchased at Silver Ring Thing last year.

Miller and Palatios were only two of about 1,000 people who attended Silver Ring Thing on Friday, high school youth leader Scott Windham said.

While the performance was geared toward teens and people in their early 20s, a parent session was held separately for about 30 minutes in the beginning of the performance, Silver Ring Thing promotions manager J.C Andrews said.

The parents’ session discusses how to best support their child and statistics regarding teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, Andrews said.

“I think it’s important for people to maintain purity before marriage,” parent Crystal Campbell said.

After hearing about the Silver Ring Thing event, Campbell, her husband and their ninth-grade daughter decided to attend for the first time.

“I’m here to see what it’s all about,” Campbell said.

While Campbell said she thinks it’s important to wait until marriage so people don’t go into marriage with as much emotional baggage, her biggest concern was spiritual.

“That’s what God requires of us,” Campbell said of sexual purity.

Inside the auditorium videos, music and testimonials brought the subject to life in a nonexplicit and Bible-based way.

“It’s telling them the options that they have,” Andrews said about the show.

After the show, Silver Ring Thing follows up with participants with text messages, e-mails and social networking, Silver Ring Thing founder Denny Pattyn said.

However, the numbers of young people participating in the follow up program is unknown, since the Silver Ring Thing doesn’t measure success through statistical data, Pattyn said.

“Our thing is not statistically in numbers, how many do or don’t do whatever,” Pattyn said.

Instead, instilling a sense of ownership about the decision to remain abstinent is considered success, Pattyn said.

Silver Ring Thing first performed for local youth last year, also at CrossRoads Fellowship.

“The pastor and I were really burdened about the teen pregnancy rate,” junior high student pastor Brittney Bethel said.

The performance was so popular Bethel said they decided to invite the group again this year.

“We had a great turnout in Odessa before,” Andrews said.

Following the event, CrossRoads Fellowship had follow-up sessions with their youth groups to explain what the purity commitment meant and how it impacted their spiritual life on Saturday and Sunday, Windham said.

The follow up sessions had not been a part of last year’s program, Windham said, and were added to provide additional information and support for teens making the purity commitment.

After attending last year, Permian senior Davis Browning said he wanted to come to meet some first time participants and fan the flames of his own purity commitment.

“It’s really simple to understand. This actually proves why you shouldn’t do it,” Browning said about why Silver Ring Thing, and its teen friendly spiritual approach to abstinence, appealed to him.

“It was nothing like I thought it would be,” Browning said.