Sexuality education and resource management in the church setting

Abstract

This study explores the link between resources and sexuality education within the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Six churches were involved in this study representing small, medium, and large congregations based on the full-time employed staff. Both church staff and volunteers were interviewed to learn the following: 1) What kind of sexuality education services does the church provide? 2) What are the sexuality education needs of the church membership? 3) What resources are necessary for providing sexuality education? 4) What are the barriers to providing sexuality education? The findings indicate that all churches were providing sexuality education; however, there were great variations. Each church also had unique resources and barriers for providing additional sexuality education for parishioners in various life stages. It was found that resources have a huge impact on the availability of sexuality education within a church setting. These resources were found to be tangible and intangible along with internal and external to the church.