An open letter to church leaders ...
"I want to help
people who are struggling
with sexual issues,
but if I try to schedule
a class or event, nobody will come!"
This is the dilemma of church leaders everwhere: many people in our culture - and our churches - are struggling in their sexual lives, but it's hard to offer programs or events to help them. Because of the shame and secrecy surrounding sexual struggles, many people are unwilling to go to groups, classes, or events that address this topic.
Believe me, I know. I have been a pastor for 15 years, and for the past four years I've been working full time offering teaching, coaching, and counseling to people about this topic. I speak to church groups around the country, and wherever I go, I can always predict that before I get up to speak, the host of the event will approach me apolgetically and say, "I don't know what happened. We promoted this event like crazy, but there are not nearly as many people here as we were hoping!"
If you do an event about sex in your church, people will stay away in droves! There's just too much fear and shame attached to the subject.
That's
why I
have created a new way of helping people come to grips with this
problem: Instead of holding an event at your church, where people who
show up run the risk of social stigma for having sexual problems
... let's bring teaching to them in their homes, where they can access
the information in a private, confidential way. The teaching in this
seminar will help them honestly face what is happening in their lives,
and if needed, will encourage them to seek further help.
But I need your help. I would like to partner with you to make this seminar available to people in your church. To partner, you would agree to promote this seminar to the people in your church (we'll provide the resources to help you do that), and we will offer them a significant discount on the price they pay for it. More on this later.
What is the Reclaiming Sexual Sanity Seminar?
At it's heart, Reclaiming Sexual Sanity is a teleseminar - where people call into a telephone conference line, and are able to hear the presenter teaching. We will also be using a special website that participants can have open during the teleseminar, which will display the corresponding powerpoint presentation onscreen. There is no high tech knowledge or special downloads required for this -- the people just call a number, and go to a web site where they'll get the powerpoint visuals.
And they will be able to get this while at home ... without fear of what others might be thinking or saying about them.
Each of the sessions will be recorded, and participants will get the audio recording as part of this seminar. So they won't have to worry if they have to miss a session, and they'll have something they can listen to again in the future whenever and wherever they want.
When will the Reclaiming Sexual Sanity Seminar be held?
The seminar will be held in four sessions, starting May 4. The four sessions will be held on Tuesday nights, at 7:30pm (central time), and will last about 75 minutes, depending on how long the Q and A sessions last. In essence, these four sessions, along with the Q and A, and additional materials that will be given to participants, is the equivalent of a full day seminar ... but it will be held in four sessions held during the month of May.
To help people get a taste of this seminar, I've scheduled a free "preview call," for Tuesday, April 13. This will be the first thing I'll be asking you to promote in your church. It will give an overview of the teaching content of the Seminar, and will help people get a feel for whether or not it's something they want to participate in.
Click here for a schedule list.
Who should participate in the Reclaiming Sexual Sanity Seminar? Who is it for?
This seminar is for four groups of people:
(1) People who are struggling themselves with some kind of sexual temptation
(2) People who are concerned that their spouse might be struggling with some kind of sexual temptation
(3) Parents who are concerned that their kids might be struggling.
(4) Church leaders - both paid and volunteer staff - who want help to better understand and better serve the needs of people they are ministering to.
This seminar is for men and women, young and old. My experience has been that often it is the spouses of sexual strugglers who are the most open to getting information and help.
How much will the Reclaiming Sexual Sanity Seminar cost? Is there a fee for churches who want to partner with you in it?
Experience has demonstrated that people get the most out of programs like these if they make a personal investment in them. This material is cutting edge, and comes from the front lines of this battle (working with hundreds of people each year in overcoming sexual struggles). We are guaranteeing that people will be satisfied that it was a good investment for them, or we will refund their money.
The program costs $125 for the four sessions, printed materials, and recordings. But for members of partnering churches we're offering the program at a discount. You can offer this program to people in your church for $75. Think of this as a group discount. If you partner with us and encourage people from your church to participate, they will get a significant cost reduction. We're happy to offer that cost reduction in exchange for your help in getting the word out to people in your church.
What are you asking partner churches to do?
To be a partner church, we're asking that you do several things:
1. Promote this event in your church's newsletter and website (if you have them). We will supply content that you can use for these promotions.
2. Promote this event with pulpit and bulletin announcements in April. We will supply content for these, and are working on creating one or more short video announcements you can use.
3. Use whatever other communication channels you have (announcements in Sunday Schools, men's / women's groups, recovery ministries, youth groups).
4. Encourage individuals you may know of who need help in this area to participate
If you know already that you want to be a partner church, click here and sign the form.
How can I find out more?
I've scheduled a special information call for pastors. This is a free teleseminar, where I'll present some information about this topic, and answer any questions you have. This church leader info call will be held on Thursday, March 25, at 2:30pm.
Participating in this call will give you a taste of the teaching that will be given in the Reclaiming Sexual Sanity Seminar. I'll give an overview of the content of the teaching, describe the process for this seminar, and answer questions.
This church leader info call is free, and if you sign up, I'll also send you a recording of it. If you want to participate in this call, sign up using the form below: