About
A New Resource from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality
Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor: Lutheran Youth Talk About Human Sexuality is a youth-centered adaptation of the adult congregational study Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: Lutherans Talk about Human Sexuality. (2006) That study was the third in a series offered by the Task Force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. Those three and this youth study have all been designed to help Lutheran Christians think and talk faithfully about sexuality. All these studies are part of the church’s response to directives from the 2001 Churchwide Assembly, including the authorization of a social statement on sexuality which will be proposed to the 2009 assembly. The task force was established by the ELCA Church Council for the mandated studies. Journey Together Faithfully: Part One (2002) helped participants consider “A Message on Sexuality: Some Common Convictions” (ELCA, 1996). Journey Together Faithfully: Part Two (2003) asked members of the ELCA to consider how this church should respond to the requests to bless same-sex unions and to ordain, consecrate, or commission people in committed same-sex unions.
The third study explores broad and deep principles for Christian thinking about sexuality and specific issues not considered in the first two studies. The task force hopes the approach integrated into that third study will encourage a fresh look, a means to reframe the conversation, and a nurturing way to listen to the Holy Spirit and to one another in a quest for Christian wisdom about human sexuality for this time.
The task force has provided supplementary materials of various kinds to these congregational studies, and Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor represents yet another example. This youth study was produced at the request of members of the task force, but the need for youth curriculum on faith and sexuality has been expressed repeatedly. As early as 1991 the ELCA social statement on abortion stated: “Our congregations and church schools ought to provide sex education in the context of the Christian faith.” (Section III. The Church as a Community Supportive of Life.) Through Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor we hope to engage senior high youth specifically to encourage them to give feedback to the task force while it writes the first draft and proposed social statement on human sexuality. As this document is based on Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor, we recommend that anyone leading this study also read that resource thoroughly. Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor is not meant to replace it, but to supplement it as a way for youth to respond to the concepts presented in the adult congregational study. The same assumptions that underlie Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor underlie Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor. [FICTSN, p. 1]
This is the accompanying Web site. Youth may respond online to the questions developed for each session and be part of a forum. Encourage the young people who do the study to visit the Web site after each session and be part of the ongoing discussion. Youth are asked to fill out the response form at the back of the booklet, which may also be found online, to submit to the task force. As Free in Christ to Care for the Neighbor represents a particular effort to hear from youth on matters relating to sexuality, the task force is hoping that many youth will participate in the study and fill out the response forms. The deadline for response forms will be December 15, 2007. The Web site has no deadline, and we will continue to encourage youth to consult it.
In Galatians, the apostle Paul declares, “in Christ Jesus…the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” (5:6) May this bold statement guide your preparation and leading, and the participants’ listening and speaking with one another.