Resources for Congregations New program teaches biblical sexuality to youth By Paula R. Kincaid The Presbyterian Layman Friday, May 21, 1999 “As a young single adult, I need the support my church could give me. I believe our church ought to be a place where the biblical standard of sexual behavior is taught and affirmed,” said Jonathan Tony, a 20-year-old college junior from Chicago. Speaking to a 1998 General Assembly committee, Tony said that pressure from peers is so great that those who chose to refrain from sex in obedience to Christ are often made to feel abnormal. Pure Hearts! Pure Lives!, a new resource from Presbyterians Pro-Life, helps churches commit to instructing and supporting their youth in God’s design for sexuality. Pure Hearts! Pure Lives! is based on the Reformed belief that the church has a responsibility to lead its youth into Christian discipleship in every aspect of their lives, including their sexuality. Positive comments Churches who have used the Pure Hearts! Pure Lives! program have commended it. A recent letter from the United Church of Cohoes, Cohoes, N.Y., said “Thank you once again for helping us reach young people as well as adults.” The church held its second-annual Pure Hearts! Pure Lives! program on March 14, 1999. “We are so thrilled that God has birthed this program,” wrote Kate Smith. “We had 25 commitments and 10 recommitments to remain pure. Isn’t God awesome? I just love to watch the love the Father has unfold in such programs as Pure Hearts! Pure Lives!” When asked by a youth if the church would be doing this every year, Smith replied, “But of course!” Youth want encouragement The program is built on the premise that Christian youth want to live lives pleasing to God and that they want and need encouragement from Christian families and the community to be faithful disciples. It emphasizes the family’s primary role in this area and offers help to parents as they seek to fulfill their responsibilities. The Pure Hearts! Pure Lives! packet includes: a pledge for the congregation to adopt, which serves as a reminder for pastors, session and youth workers of the commitment to provide a program of instruction, a community of support, and regular opportunities for youth to make promises of faithfulness in this area of their lives; a list of instructional resources, categorized by age groups, which include curricula, videos, books, and other resources to assist churches in providing godly instruction in marriage and sexuality; a list of Scriptures related to marriage and sexuality to supplement the instructional program; testimonies to the importance of sexual purity; a format for implementation that suggests a way to offer the program that leads up to the youths’ decisions, and offers opportunities to reaffirm the decisions; a poster to announce the church’s commitment to the program and encourage the inquiry of parents and youth; and a promise card for youth to make a promise of sexual purity. The promise card gives each young person the opportunity to make his or her promise a tangible act. Youth make this promise to God and one other person, an “accountability person,” to whom the youth can go to for counsel and help in times of temptation. In cases where youth have fallen into sexual sin, the program encourages opportunities for repentance, restoration and a new promise of purity. For more information about Pure Hearts! Pure Lives!, contact Presbyterians Pro-Life, P.O. Box 11130, Burke, VA 22009, telephone 703-569-9474, website: http://www.ppl.org; e-mail: PresProLife@compuserve.com.

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