9th Annual WML Academic Symposium

Time: 3:00
Room: 303
Presenter(s): Parker Barnes
Title: A Call for Sexual Education in the Church
Developed under the guidance of Dr. Ken Vandergriff , Christian Studies

“A Call for Sexual Education in the Church” draws attention to the detrimental physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of churches’ silence about sex. Research shows the more frequently young people attend worship services, the less they know about sexual and reproductive health and the more likely they are to engage in dangerous sexual behaviors. After critiquing churches’ silence about sex, the paper provides a constructive analysis of the United Church of Christ’s “Our Whole Lives” sex education curriculum, which addresses sex not simply as a series of behaviors but as an integral piece of persons’ whole lives.