PHOENIX \u2014 Anyone with the nerve to create XXXChurch.com is going to get attention, especially if they keep calling it \u201cthe No. 1 Christian Porn Site.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re No. 1 because there really isn\u2019t a No. 2, which is a good business plan if you think about it,\u201d said Craig Gross, co-founder of the ministry in Corona, Calif.<\/p>\n\n
Two years ago, Gross and partner Mike Foster opened their first booth at the Adult Video News trade show in Las Vegas, handing out anti-porn brochures to hardcore consumers and sharing their faith with porn stars and producers. The youth pastors took their wives as chaperones and to take turns inside their church\u2019s full-body rabbit costume. The approach was goofy, but intrigued the Los Angeles Times, ABC, Playboy and others.<\/p>\n\n
This year XXXChurch.com teamed up with veteran pornographer James DiGiorgio \u2014 producer of videos such as \u201cThe Sopornos #3\u201d \u2014 to make a surreal public service announcement called \u201cPete the Porno Puppet\u201d warning parents not to expose kids to explicit images. As it turns out, \u201cJimmy D\u201d is also a parent who worries about porn.<\/p>\n\n
Now comes the hard part. Yes, the online ministry offers anonymous education, counseling and prayer support. It has free X3Watch software to help porn users form accountability groups. It has hip media products for skeptics.<\/p>\n\n
But a website is not enough, said Gross, speaking at the annual North American Christian Convention. Sooner or later, church people will have to talk about pornography.<\/p>\n\n
Sadly, it\u2019s easer to discuss God with porn stars than pornography with many pastors.<\/p>\n\n
Why? A poll by Leadership magazine found that four in 10 pastors with Internet access had visited a porn site and more than a third had done so in the previous year. Many skeptical pastors said those numbers were too low.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIf 37 percent of our pastors are looking at this,\u201d said Gross, \u201cthen this is not a subject they\u2019re going to feel comfortable with in the pulpit. \u2026 Think about it. What is going through a pastor\u2019s mind if he wants to look at online porn before he preaches on Sunday morning? What\u2019s that all about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Many believers prefer to ignore such questions. Faced with a minister who gets caught with porn, the typical church board will send the offender packing \u2014 quickly. Yet this kind of zero tolerance policy will drive other addicts deeper into fear and denial, said Gross.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhat the church keeps saying is, \u2018Get out! We have no sin here,\u2019 \u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
The goal is to take this secret sin seriously, while still offering hope to broken people in pews and pulpits, said the Rev. Gary Rowe, minister of pastoral care at the East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis. Nevertheless, churches that create ministries for those struggling with pornography and other sexual sins will face unique challenges.<\/p>\n\n
For example, it\u2019s hard to promote small-group sessions for porn abusers without listing the times and locations in the weekly church bulletin or on a web site, he noted, during another session at the convention in Phoenix. This sensitive issue must be openly discussed in the pulpit and in church education efforts, yet without violating the privacy of those involved.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s also important to learn that the most effective ministry may not begin with the men.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe had eight guys come forward when we started this work,\u201d said Rowe. \u201cBut we immediately had calls from 100 women, looking for help with a husband or a child who was involved with pornography. That really impressed us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Gross agreed that wives almost always cry out for help before husbands. It is also important for church leaders to ask questions about pornography in premarital counseling and in parenting classes. Youth pastors have to realize that the teen years are crucial, since that is when most boys first come into contact with sexually explicit media.<\/p>\n\n
The trick is to pull this subject out into the open with little or no warning.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t come right out and say, \u2018We\u2019re having a men\u2019s breakfast and we\u2019re going to talk about pornography,\u201d said Gross. \u201cGuess what? If you do that, nobody\u2019s going to be there. You are going to have lots of pancakes left over. \u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at the stage where you\u2019re going to have to ambush people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PHOENIX \u2014 Anyone with the nerve to create XXXChurch.com is going to get attention, especially if they keep calling it \u201cthe No. 1 Christian Porn Site.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re No. 1 because there really isn\u2019t a No. 2, which is a good business plan if you think about it,\u201d said Craig Gross, co-founder of the ministry in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[188,235,281,458,672,937],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christian-churches","tag-clergy","tag-cyberspace","tag-internet","tag-pornography","tag-www"],"yoast_head":"\n