A CHURCH minister is campaigning to make Christianity “more exciting” – by holding a talk on how to have good sex.
Senior minister Glenn Rogers is set to present a service next weekend which focuses on how to improve life between the sheets.
Along with his wife Terri-Ann, he plans to help people make an “informed choice” and to “break down barriers” surrounding a subject that remains taboo in many spheres of life.
But he insists he will not be discussing the Karma Sutra – and instead will focus on the facts about lovemaking.
The talk, titled “How to have great sex”, will take place at Hope Church in Musselburgh on Sunday, 3 July and anyone is welcome to attend the service.
The church is part of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain – which claims to have 52 million members worldwide.
Their website states they are “committed to being relevant and contemporary” and “have a great record working with children and youth”.
Glenn, originally from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, said: “Jesus was all about having a successful life. And sex is a big part of people’s lives and if we don’t talk about it, we are not helping them.
“The church should be talking about this because it is a big deal.”
The talk will be fact-based, examining the statistics, biology and psychology behind sex within a committed relationship.
Glenn said: “I’m not going to be showing the Karma Sutra on slides. It will be based on the facts and the figures rather than a biblical presentation.
“But people might feel a bit uncomfortable if I didn’t mention the Bible in there somewhere.”
He added: “Most people are using sex to sell something but we don’t get a lot of balanced facts about it that are actually going to help people.
“Or sex is used to titillate people with something salacious for ‘entertainment’, but we want to help people get a balanced view.”
News of the talk has sparked mixed reactions from his 100-strong congregation.
But sexual health charity FPA has welcomed greater openness about an activity that can still be the focus of so much anxiety and misunderstanding.
Chief executive Natika Halil said: “It’s still really important that they have accurate, evidence-based information so they can make decisions that are best for them.
“It is encouraging to hear a church’s plans to talk about sex in a frank way. After all, it is completely natural and nothing to be ashamed of.
“Most of the time, sex isn’t for reproduction but for reasons of pleasure, intimacy and desire – and we know that a happy, healthy sex life can play a key role in our overall health and wellbeing.
“Alongside talking about sex in a positive way, it’s great to have another community setting in which people can hopefully hear evidence-based information about contraception and preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections through enjoying safer sex.”
