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Church's provocative campaign tackles sex issues

Signs, postcards and a Web site seek to change the discourse about sex and center it on biblical teachings.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published February 11, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Scott Keeler] Susana Creft, an administrative assistant at Pinellas Community Church, in her St. Pete yard with one of the church's signs. She says she wasn't prepared for the reaction to the sign. "I stayed in my house and hid," she says.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Commercials do it. Television programs do it. Now even churches are using sex to grab the attention of the masses.

In recent days, Pinellas Community Church mailed postcards with the words "Pure Sex" to 23,000 households, while members of the congregation planted yard signs advertising the Web site www.puresex.tv.

The ad blitz was promoting a church series that starts today and focuses on - yes, you guessed it -sex.

It created such a furor that one member received a visit from two St. Petersburg police officers after an alarmed neighbor reported his yard sign.

The church also fielded about a dozen e-mails and telephone calls from people upset about the white postcards with the words "Pure Sex" in big, bold letters.

"The people that have called us are not bad people. They are good people. They are people that are concerned about this issue," said Mark Canfield, pastor of Pinellas Community Church.

Why be so provocative? Religious leaders say it's time to change the discourse about sex, bring it into the church and center it on biblical teachings.

"I think this is quite a courageous and bold effort to evoke conversation that no one in the church appears anxious to have," said Robert Franklin, distinguished professor of social ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Living Word Assembly of God Church in Ontario, N.Y., drew national attention recently with its Porn and Pancakes breakfast billboards.

"The coverage has been unreal," Pastor Barden Gerace said. He said Saturday's event was for men only, designed to teach about the sinful nature of pornography, and was hosted by an online ministry, the XXXChurch.

It's too soon to tell whether Pinellas Community's blitz will work. However, the special Web site the church set up received more than 2,000 hits.

Susana Creft, an administrative assistant at the church, wasn't prepared for the reaction to her yard sign. Drivers slowed to read it. Dog walkers stared. Bikers gawked.

"People must think I have a brothel," she thought the first day she put it up in her Pinellas Point neighborhood. "I stayed in my house and hid."

Eric Willingham, who lives near 34th Street N, returned home one day to learn that two police officers had turned up at his house. "After they came by and saw it, they determined that it was not a threat to anybody," he said.

Canfield said he finds it ironic that the words "pure sex" have a negative connotation.

"We believe that this topic has been dominated by our culture and by our media and, unfortunately, it seems as if people have kind of ... kicked God out of the bedroom," Canfield said. "It's time for the church to get into the conversation."

Other area ministers agree. America's "sexualized" society has led to "a lot brokenness, frustration and emptiness as people jump from relationship to relationship," said the Rev. David Miller of Faith Presbyterian Church in Seminole.

"Our culture, by its own testimony, uses sex to sell toothpaste," said Pastor Mike Thomas of Praise Cathedral Renewal Center in Pinellas Park. "The church needs to teach and speak abstinence, which is not a politically correct term."

Thomas lauded the efforts of churches like Pinellas Community, but advised caution when marketing such programs.

"I think we have to be careful," he said. "Sometimes, the church is not trained in media relations, and it's easy to go over the top."

IF YOU GO

Pinellas Community Church's sex series

Sessions are given during regular services at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and noon at the church, 5501 31st St. S, St. Petersburg.

Today: "The Best Sex Ever ... God's View of Sex," a lesson on what God says about sex that will help maximize its enjoyment.

Feb. 18: "Wired for Sex ... Straight Talk for Men and Women," a lesson on how men and women view sex differently.

Feb. 25: "Sex in the City ... Sex & the Single Life," a lesson on issues for single people.

March 4: "Sex, Lies, & Video Tape ... Media's Portrayal of Sex," a lesson on how the media can affect how you relate to the opposite sex.

For more information, call the church at 866-1184.

[Last modified February 11, 2007, 10:01:45]