New Day Church, a year-old congregation in Hendricks County, Ind., is finding that sex helps sell its message of faith. An edgy marketing campaign asking, “What happens when God gets between the sheets?” promotes a sermon series that started Sunday focusing on the link between sex and religion.
Members of the congregation will hear Pastor Denis Roy discuss God’s take on topics such as intimacy, pleasure, sexual preference, pornography, adultery and even sexual healing during the next four weekends.
Though churches are always evolving to meet the needs of parishioners, New Day’s efforts are part of a larger outreach trend nationwide, says Philip Goff, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
A growing number of mostly start-up churches are trying increasingly creative approaches to appeal to people who have either strayed from church or had no interest in organized religion, Goff says.
“One of the things many of these new churches are trying to do is imitate culture to bring in people, instead of sitting back and critiquing it,” he says. “This is a trend that is going to be with us for a long time, because preachers are realizing they may have to turn to non-traditional means to attract younger members.
“According to the Massachusetts-based Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion, U.S. churches need to do more to attract new followers.
It cited a recent Public Religion Research survey that found the number of “non-religious Americans” — those who report no formal religious affiliation — doubled from 1990 to 2008, reaching 17% of the population. About 40 years ago, that number was 5%.
The Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center’s Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted a poll of 35,000 Americans in 2007 that found 16% described themselves as “atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular.
“Bridging today’s ‘disconnect’ The sex sermons aren’t New Day’s first provocative attempt to reach out. An earlier series called “How to Live With Idiots and Morons” focused on the Bible’s advice on how to get along with others.
“We knew that when you bring up the conversation of sex, the knee-jerk reaction is shock and awkwardness,” Roy says about his sermon series titled “Sex … Not in Church.”
“Often there is a disconnect between people and church,” he says. “Sex is one of those issues that people are dealing with, and we believe God has the answers.
“Other churches have gone other ways. Some have services or events at non-traditional locations, such as tattoo parlors, music venues or even bars. They may host heavy-metal concerts, skateboard competitions, motorcycle shows or even body-piercing events to spread their message.
‘We are just regular people’ Churches have begun to emulate popular aspects of society, Goff says, as a way to attract and appeal to people whom they may eventually want to convert.
Bill Payne, a parishioner at New Day, says he and other members support the efforts to draw people in, although he hopes they don’t go too far to stay relevant and lose sight of the ultimate goal — spreading the word.
“It has become more necessary to show non-believers we are just regular people with the same problems they have,” Payne says. “We aren’t here to judge you or look down on you but to share the love of Christ.”Other churches have begun to draw younger crowds with rock music and a come-as-you-are message.
Gene Feasel, founder and pastor of Current Church in Franklin, Ind., says his congregation has evolved into a mostly 25-and-younger crowd since its inception five years ago, because the old downtown storefront building housing the church also doubles as a music venue.
Though services feature loud rock music and a preacher wearing a T-shirt and jeans, Feasel, who used to sing in Christian rock bands, doesn’t pull any punches with his message. He preaches straight from the Bible, a tradition he and most other ministers at alternative churches refuse to sacrifice.”The best way people can experience the love of Christ,” Feasel says, “is on their level where they feel comfortable, so our music venue is our greatest outreach.”
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