Evangelical Christians say It Is Time to Talk About Sex Openly

The statistics, some evangelicals say, no longer can be ignored. Eighty percent of young evangelicals have engaged in premarital sex, according to a new video from the National Association of Evangelicals. And almost a third of evangelicals’ unplanned pregnancies end in abortion.

Jenell Williams Paris, a Messiah College professor who has written several books on Christian approaches to sexuality, spoke recently both at the Q conference in Washington, D.C., and at the Baptist Conference on Sexuality and Covenant in Decatur, Ga.

It’s time to speak honestly about sex because abstinence campaigns and anti-abortion crusades often aren’t resonating in their own pews, certain evangelical leaders say. In addition to its video, the NAE is preparing to distribute information packets to pastors that include testimonies from birth mothers and adoptees, as well as definitions of almost a dozen “prevention methods” ranging from abstinence to sterilization.

At the recent Q conference in Washington, D.C., participants were asked at the end of a session on “reducing abortion” if churches should support the use of contraception among their single 20-somethings. Responding by text message, 64 percent said yes, 36 percent said no.

“This cultural moment calls for a both/and approach that I think can be challenging for churches,” said Jenell Williams Paris, a Messiah College professor, at the Q conference. “Both lift up the ideal of premarital chastity, and support people who do otherwise with knowledge and resources that can help them prevent pregnancy.”

Paris, who has written books on Christian approaches to sexual identity and birth control, also spoke at the Baptist Conference on Sexuality and Covenant in Decatur, Ga., cosponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Mercer University’s Center for Theology and Public Life.

Sarah Brown, the CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, said the majority of the Q audience probably preferred reducing premarital sex over considering conception. But that no longer may be realistic.

Click here to read more

Source: The Baptist Standard | Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service