Inside Santa Fe’s Faith Communities: Youth Program Explores Faith and Sexuality in ‘Our Whole Lives’
The Youth Confirmands of the United Church of Santa Fe will begin an intensive study of sexuality and faith, with a curriculum developed by the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Church called “Our Whole Lives.”
At the same time, the adults of the congregation are invited to engage in the same study during the Sunday Morning Educational Forums at
9:45 a.m. Along with the “Our Whole Lives” curriculum, the Sunday Adult Forums will include additional sessions focused on sexuality and faith understandings in Hebrew Scripture, the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.
A team of leaders will offer the Sunday morning forums, including youth leaders the Rev. Gary Reyes and Alissa Marquis (both of whom have taken the OWL training), the Rev. Talitha Arnold, senior minister, and others.
The Sunday Forum series will go from January through mid-March.
As Arnold notes, it’s a pretty long look at sex, but doing a comprehensive faith-based sexuality education — for youth or adults — is a new venture for the United Church congregation.
The Adult Education Ministry Team had encouraged the church to invest the time needed both to support the Youth Confirmation program and also provide comprehensive sexuality education and faith perspectives for the adult congregation.
The Adult Education series begins this Sunday with a look at “Why Study Sexuality in the Church in the First Place?” Subsequent Sundays include “Examining Our Values,”"The Bible and Sex: The Hebrew Scriptures,”"Relationships,”"Jesus’ Views on Sexuality” and “Responsible Sexual Behavior.”
The Youth Confirmands also begin their exploration this Sunday during the 9:45 a.m. education hour at the church.
Evensong for older teens and Sacred Arts for Kids for elementary- age children, along with child care for infants and toddlers, are all offered during the Adult Forum time so that parents can participate.
Along with the Adult Forum series on “Sexuality and Faith,” a second series is offered at the same time, focused on “Questions of Faith” a video series that features Protestant, Jewish and Roman Catholic spiritual leaders — from priests to evangelists, rabbis to psychotherapists, Old Testament scholars to sociologists.
Different people, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu or Rabbi Harold Kushner, writer Mary Gordon or activist the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, are all asked the same “question of faith.”
Their thoughtful and diverse answers can help deepen our own exploration of faith and meaning. Virginia Broersma will facilitate these 20-minute videos, followed by discussion each week.
The series begins this Sunday with “Who Needs Organized Religion?”
The Sunday Forums, like all United Church programs, are open to the community.
The United Church of Santa Fe is part of the progressive United Church of Christ. The church is at 1804 Arroyo Chamiso. Call 988- 3295.
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