S-E-X and the Church

Stacy Spencer is the pastor of New Direction Christian Church in Memphis. He and his wife, Rhonda, are featured in a TIME magazine article this week by David Van Biema: “And God Said, ‘Just Do It’“. The Spencers are part of a small-but-growing number of churches taking on the topic in hopes of encouraging married couples to have more and better sex (and presumably, a stronger, more intimate relationship) based on biblical texts like Genesis and Song of Songs.

The article talks about helping men and women understand the importance of what happens outside the bedroom. From TIME: “For instance, a husband can expect smoother sailing at night if he helps his wife clear her “to do” list that evening, Spencer said in a conference call with his wife, who added, “Otherwise he’s just another thing on that list.”

One of the best quotes in the article comes from someone who questions the new wave of church-sponsored sex programs: “Lauren Sandler, feminist and author of Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement, suspects they are ‘another way of becoming the best Christian wife–to have tons of orgasms so their husbands can go to church the next day and tell people how they really made Jesus proud in the sack.’”

Sorry, that’s just plain funny. Hopefully not true, but funny.

Female DOC pastor in Haitian church featured in article

The Stamford (CT) Advocate ran a click-worthy article today as part of its “Two Communities, One Faith” series. This particular article, “Women leading the flock,” profiles the few female ministers leading the city’s Hispanic and Haitian congregations. One of the three women profiled is Holny Jean-Louis, pastor of Church of God of the New Jerusalem, a Haitian Disciples of Christ congregation.

The article goes into the issues and obstacles these women face as they try to follow God’s call even though some say they don’t belong in ministry because they are not male.

It also mentions another Disciples congregation in Stamford, First Stamford Spanish Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) whose former pastor, Rev. Candida Gonzalez, was one of only two Hispanic female pastors in the area (Gonzalez retired).

Two out of four…not bad!