These Are Our Bodies, Foundation Book: Talking Faith & Sexuality at Church & Home
By Leslie Choplin and Jenny Beaumont
()
About this ebook
Easily accessible, theologically progressive, mainline Christian Education resource on human sexuality.
Our inherent value and worth comes from God's love for us, but our modern world is filled with sexual expression that too often leads us away from the life of Christ. As Christians seeking to live a life worthy of our calling and desiring to pass along these values to our children and youth, this book explores how we (as parents and adults) can explore issues of sexuality in the context of our faith.
A sexuality education resource from a mainline/progressive denominational prospective aids the adult reader/teacher/parent in learning and using skills that enable them to embrace and affirm the wholeness of sexuality and to talk openly and honestly about the connection of sexuality and faith. This book, grounded from a theological perspective, focuses on foundational issues for addressing how we (and why we) are called to have these conversations in a faithful community to support families. The importance of looking at one's sexuality throughout the lifespan through the lenses of decision making, faith and daily life, respect, growth and change, behavior, responsibility, values, prayer, and intentionality is be explored, offering a grounding as well as stand-alone resource for individuals and churches to build upon.
Leslie Choplin
Leslie Choplin is a PhD program assistant at VCU School of Social Work and received a DEdMin from Columbia Theological Seminary, with a focus on sexuality education. Previously she served as a Director of Christian Education in numerous Episcopal congregations across the United States as well as a health educator for the Virginia Department of Health. She lives in Richmond, Virginia.
Related to These Are Our Bodies, Foundation Book
Related ebooks
These Are Our Bodies: Intermediate Parent Book: Talking Faith & Sexuality at Church & Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeople of the Book: Inviting Communities into Biblical Interpretation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Christian Wallet: Spending, Giving, and Living with a Conscience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReading John for Dear Life: A Spiritual Walk with the Fourth Gospel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Triumphant Soul: A Memoir of Military Service during the Civil Rights Movement Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBiblical Interpretation: Theory, Process, and Criteria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor the Love of All Creatures: The Story of Grace in Genesis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ringmaster: A Clergy Guide to Funerals/Memorials/Wakes in the African American Tradition: Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMessiah in Weakness: A Portrait of Jesus from the Perspective of the Dispossessed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGetting to God: Preaching Good News in a Troubled World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCollateral Damage: Changing the Conversation about Firearms and Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking With the Women of the New Testament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fig Tree Revolution: Unleashing Local Churches into the Mission of Justice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God the Creator: The Old Testament and the World God Is Making Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLamentations and Song of Songs: A Theological Commentary on the Bible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRedeeming the Broken Body: Church and State after Disaster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristian Ethics, Second Edition: A Historical Introduction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeing at Home in the World: A New Christian Apologetic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNationhood, Providence, and Witness: Israel in Protestant Theology and Social Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding Your Feet After Fundamentalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Living God: A Guide for Study and Devotion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Christian Doctrine and the Grammar of Difference: A Contribution to Feminist Systematic Theology Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Divine Violence and the Christus Victor Atonement Model: God’s Reluctant Use of Violence for Soteriological Ends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLet’s Talk: Bridging Divisive Lines through Inclusive and Respectful Conversations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrisis and Care: Meditations on Faith and Philanthropy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Riff of Love: Notes on Community and Belonging Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsContemplations from the Heart: Spiritual Reflections on Family, Community, and the Divine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Holy Bible (World English Bible, Easy Navigation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for These Are Our Bodies, Foundation Book
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
These Are Our Bodies, Foundation Book - Leslie Choplin
Copyright © 2016 by Leslie Choplin and Jenny Beaumont
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Common English Bible®, CEB® Copyright © 2010, 2011 by Common English Bible.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The CEB
and Common English Bible
trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Common English Bible. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Common English Bible.
Genderbread Person © Copyright 2005, 2015 Christina Gonzalez, Vanessa Prell, Jack Rivias, Jarrod Schwartz for Just Communities Central Coast. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
Gender Unicorn © TSER (Trans Student Education Services). Design by Landyn and Anna Moore. Used with permission.
Church Publishing Incorporated
19 East 34th Street, New York, NY 10016
www.churchpublishing.org
Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2 Pug Design
Typeset by Progressive Publishing Services
ISBN-13: 978-1-60674-308-9 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60674-309-6 (ebook)
CONTENTS
Introduction
Part IThe Theological
Chapter 1The Mystery of Sexuality
Chapter 2Sexuality and Our Baptismal Covenant
Chapter 3The Body as Sacred
Chapter 4Conversations Grounded in a Faith Community
Chapter 5Sexuality Education Honors the Body
Part IIThe Ethical
Chapter 6A New Way of Understanding Our Sexuality
Chapter 7Care for the Body
Chapter 8Responsible Behavior and Decision-Making
Chapter 9Consent and Shame
Chapter 10Changes in Culture
Chapter 11Beyond Stereotypes
Chapter 12Sexuality Education for Adults
Part IIIThe Biological
Chapter 13Parenting and Healthy Development
Chapter 14Moral Identity
Chapter 15Faith Development
Chapter 16Infancy and Toddlerhood
Chapter 17Early Childhood
Chapter 18Middle Childhood
Chapter 19Adolescence
Part IVThe Practical
Chapter 20The Need for Conversation
Chapter 21Parents Are the Key
Chapter 22Teachable Moments
Chapter 23Getting Started
Chapter 24When to Begin the Conversation
Chapter 25A Framework to Answer Questions
Chapter 26The Question
ConclusionCalled to Be Truth-Tellers
Part VResources
The These Are Our Bodies Program
Glossary
Websites
Annotated Education and Program Resources
General Convention Resolutions
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
Notes
INTRODUCTION
In the past, society has viewed sex as a taboo subject. Parents leaned on stories about birds, bees, and storks to avoid discussing the subjects of sex and human sexuality with their children. Conversations about sex took place in whispered tones around the water cooler. Many churches avoided the conversation entirely, leading many congregations to question The Episcopal Church’s policies surrounding the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons. Times have changed. Today, sexuality is all around us: at home, on television and the Internet, at school, in the workplace, and thankfully, even in our churches.
We’re disturbed by the headlines. Middle-school students are under investigation for sexting
(pg. 70). Sexually transmitted infections are especially high in Florida, Arizona, and other locations popular with retirees due to the increased sexual activity of older adults. At a young age children are identifying themselves as transgender. Young people are bullied because of their gender identity. The gap between physical puberty and social puberty is widening. Adults are marrying later, if at all. Our vocabulary for human sexuality is rapidly expanding. These trends, and others, can lead to damaging behaviors. Because children and youth are changing the way they discuss and identify their own sexuality, the landscape of our ministry with children and youth must change as well.
Sexuality plays an important role in our lives and our society. As Christians, we recognize it as a gift from God—a gift that requires care and stewardship. It requires partnership, conversation, and support in our congregations––between children, youth, and adults of all ages. These Are Our Bodies: Talking Faith & Sex at Church & Home is a response to how we, as faithful communities and individuals, can address the connection between faith and our sexuality in a holistic and holy way.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
These Are Our Bodies is a theological and practical guide to conversation, grounded in the Episcopal tradition, about the complexities of sexuality in today’s world. The book covers the role of sexuality in our lives in all its dimensions as well as information to guide church educators, clergy, parents, youth leaders, or anyone who seeks to broaden their knowledge on this subject. Divided into five parts, it explores the complexity of sexuality from the different perspectives of human experience: theological, ethical, biological, and practical. An extensive annotated resource section and glossary round out the book to give readers the information they need for further exploration on topics of sexuality.
Part I: The Theological includes chapters that explore the dynamic of sexuality and its connection to our faith. Richard Rohr reminds us, the Christian religion was the only one that believed God became a human body, and yet we have had such deficient and frankly negative attitudes toward embodiment.
¹ Humans are embodied people seeking to live lives that are worthy of our deep calling. How, then, do we understand the mystery of sexuality in the content of a biblical framework? Through the lens of the Baptismal Covenant, we will look at the creative nature of sexuality, the goodness of desire, and the concept of honoring the body. This section concludes with a discussion of the role of the church in the area of sexuality.
Part II: The Ethical gives us a new vocabulary necessary to expand our view of sexuality. The binary concepts of sexuality as male or female, married or single, heterosexual or homosexual are expanding. Readers will come to understand sexuality in a new way, learning new language that seeks to honor and respect the dignity of all people. Our hope is to provide the catalyst for conversations that will challenge and expand thinking about the ethical demands that call us to love our neighbor as ourselves. In light of the evolving view of sexuality, we reflect on the role of responsible behavior and models of decision-making, including consent and shaming. We finish the section with chapters that focus on the changing culture of sexuality and our call to examine stereotypes and bullying, and the inherent pain they cause.
Part III: The Biological expands on the role of parenting through childhood and adolescence, providing a review of developmental theories, moral development psychology, and faith development across a person’s lifespan. Research and theories from leading psychologists underpin our understanding of what children need to develop in a healthy way—both psychologically and morally. We conclude this section with a discussion of faith development and its implications in understanding the complexity of human sexuality.
Part IV: The Practical offers adults the necessary tools to understand the stages of child development that inform our ministry with children and teens. This section also gives parents the background information they need to be the primary sexuality educators for their children. The review of development (physical, emotional and social, spiritual, and moral) will benefit anyone working with, or raising, children and teens.
Part V: Resources are rich with valuable insights and materials. The annotated resource section and glossary are a collection from the authors’ reading and experience, as well as from others within The Episcopal Church community. Our hope is that readers will see this section as a jumping-off place for further learning.
USING THIS BOOK
Church leaders will be able to use this book as a general resource in linking faith and sexuality. The concepts around sexuality can inform the conversation in churches on implementing ministries that are inclusive of all persons. Youth leaders and Christian educators can use the book as a way to inform their personal ministry, as well as a guide when questions or concerns arise. Parents will find useful information in The Biological and The Practical sections, specifically.
We recognize that all families look different; we use parent
in the broadest sense throughout this book. Parent refers to all those primary caretakers who have children or youth in their custody––parents, single moms, single dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, foster parents, stepparents, LGBTQ+ parents, adoptive parents, divorced or widowed parents, and anyone else who has responsibility for raising children.
At the end of each chapter are discussion questions for starting conversations. Since each chapter has the ability to stand on its own, these questions can be used as adult-education material or with parenting groups, with participants reading a chapter prior to discussion.
We have tried our best to share current information on this subject that is evolving every day. One item you will notice is the use of pronouns when discussing gender within these pages. You may find this disconcerting as you read, but we believe it will highlight one of the limitations of the English language: Gender-specific pronouns can sometimes limit our ability to clearly speak about and with each other.
The core tenants of These Are Our Bodies benefit all ages, as it addresses the needs of children, youth, and adults as they navigate a world that would want them to forget who they are and whose they are. In addition to the book’s use as a resource for parents and leaders, it is also designed to be an integral part of These Are Our Bodies human sexuality program, which is described in Part V.
WHY THIS BOOK
As a people made in the image of God, our bodies and sexuality are sacred gifts that we seek to understand and use as faithful people. Our inherent value and worth comes from God’s love for us, yet our modern world is filled with sexual expression that too often leads us away from life in Christ. God loves each of God’s children perfectly and works to redeem what is broken. Our faith tells us that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus,
² and our trust in God’s loving redemption gives us hope in the fulfillment of God’s dream for each of us. The Church, as the family of God, can support and empower each other, including those who are parents, to engage our children (and ourselves) in deep conversations about who we are as followers of Christ—in mind, spirit, and yes, physical body.
Our responsibility as Christians to seek Christ in all persons, showing dignity and mercy to all, is rooted in our Baptismal Covenant. Our churches and communities can assist us to hear and follow our call. Families and church communities are ideal places to practice intentionally living into these promises we made at baptism, and to examine our human tendencies to ignore that call. Life reaches beyond each individual as we are shaped in communities. We form our faith within our communities: home, school, work, service, social, and church. The baptismal promises recognize that we do not grow up in life, or faith, in a vacuum; instead, we grow up influenced and shaped by those around us, while influencing and shaping them.
Christian virtues, such as respect for others, mutual sharing, patient listening, and trust in God’s desire to make us whole and holy are worthy to address along with our sexuality. By seeking Christ in all persons and loving our neighbor as ourselves, our relationship with God deepens. We wish to model this behavior in all aspects of our lives, including our sexuality.
Our hope is to provide church leaders and parents with proper information and current language to create a safe space for talking about human sexuality from a faith perspective and a progressive, inclusive point of view. The foundation in writing this book is rooted in the work of The Episcopal Church’s Task Force on Human Sexuality and Family Life Education (1982) that prepared a program titled Sexuality: A Divine Gift: A Sacramental Approach to Human Sexuality and Family Life. The following is taken from its Foreword, as we believe it continues to be relevant today and represents the intentions of These Are Our Bodies as well:
In the Baptismal Covenant we are asked, Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
Our response is, I will, with God’s help.
BCP, p. 305
Underlying the materials presented is a point of view intended to be thought provoking, not intimidating, sensitive but not bland. Our goal is to be open to, but not enslaved by an examination of the fast paced changes and bewildering alternatives of contemporary life. We intend to be disciplined by, but not blindly submissive to, the viewpoints of our Christian forebears.³
With that statement in mind, we reaffirm the core beliefs as stated in Sexuality: A Divine Gift as being the foundation for These Are Our Bodies:
You are holy.
Sexuality is good.
Sexuality is powerful.
You are not alone.
You must take responsibility.⁴
Just as there are seasons to our faith (such as birth, baptism, and reaffirmation), there are seasons to our sexuality (birth, awareness, growth, change, and transformation). May the following pages help you go beyond a basic sharing of information about sex to a lifelong journey of discovery. We hope it demonstrates that a faith community, working in partnership with parents and all its members, is a trustworthy place to grow, mature, and learn about the faith connection between ones developing sexuality and God.
img1The whole story of creation, incarnation, and our
incorporation into the fellowship of Christ’s
body tells us that God desires us, as if we were
God, as if we were that unconditional response
to God’s giving that God’s self makes in the life
of the Trinity. We are created so that we may
be caught up in this, so that we may grow into
the wholehearted love of God by learning that
God loves us as God loves God.
––Rowan D. Williams⁵
CHAPTER 1
THE MYSTERY OF SEXUALITY
As children of God we are born into the world beloved by God. We are filled with hope and promise of the future. We come into the world inherently worthy of love and awe—awe at the mystery of our holiness in who and what we are.
As we develop, our experience and our sense of self are shaped and molded by those around us. This includes our sexuality. It is inherently part of who we are; living as a sexual being is unavoidable and unavoidably complex. Sexuality is good—a gift from God since the beginning.
Then God said, Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth. God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.
⁶
We are made in the image of God, the Imago Dei, a reflection of the divine. As such, there is much we will never know about our complexity and the diversity that exists within all humankind. By considering our sexuality (in essence, our true selves), we can contemplate the mysteries of human existence. To better understand human sexuality, we need to remind ourselves that theologically we are dealing with matters at the very limits of our intellectual capacities; we are involved in profound puzzles, conundrums that we cannot solve and that we should not expect to solve.
⁷ It is within this context that we begin to explore human sexuality.
The overarching ethics of love, grace, and compassion serve as the foundation of our lives as faithful people, seen in the biblical theme of covenant. As a faith community, we re-tell the story of God’s grace in our lives and how that unearned love compels us to love others. In Genesis, we learn that God formed a covenant with Noah and set the rainbow in the sky as a reminder of that promise. Later, we hear the call for the people to be God’s people—a deep covenantal relationship through Abraham. Moses delivers the Ten Commandments to God’s people while seeking the Promised Land. The most familiar covenantal relationship is marriage, to which the Hebrew prophets and New Testament writers turned as a way to describe God’s desire and commitment to be in relationship with us (Isaiah 62:5, Ephesians 5:21–33).
⁸ The theme of covenant is laced throughout the Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage,⁹ the Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant,¹⁰ and the Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage.¹¹
In the New Covenant, Jesus Christ further reveals our sexuality as good, refocusing relationships to mutuality, respect, compassion, and hospitality. In the words of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, Baptism and Eucharist, as sacraments of God’s covenant of creating, redeeming, and sustaining love, shapes our lives as Christians in relation to God and to God’s creation; this calls us to live with love, compassion, justice, and peace toward all creatures, friend or foe, neighbor or stranger.
¹²
LOVE AND RELATIONSHIP
Life is communal. We live in, are shaped by, and are created for relationship. As an inseparable part of us, our sexuality is part of relationships. Sexuality is powerful and we can deploy our bodies in the world in both healthy and unhealthy ways. We experience sexuality as light and shadow, as complementary opposites. Healthy sexuality is about loving and being loved, desiring and being desired, and mutual recognition of another. For many, this concept that we are created to desire and to be desired is novel.
Jesus frequently taught the concept of agape, or brotherly love. Agape is an unselfish love without sexual implications; it is the love of Christians for other persons that corresponds to the love of God for humankind––love that serves the other, embraces the other, and cares for the other. Agape is about relationship. This is the kind of love we see demonstrated by the Samaritan in the story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37).
A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.
What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?¹³
Unlike the priest and the Levite, the Samaritan went to the man who encountered the thieves. The Samaritan cared for the man’s wounded body and gave unselfishly to show love and compassion, agape, for another person, someone he did not know. "Love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable and come alive