With Heart and Mind: event 9
Saturday 9 November 2002 from 10 am to 4 pm
Sexual Theology for a Loving Church
A workshop with Adrian Thatcher
Saturday 9 November 2002
10 am — 4 pm
Bring a packed lunch
£10 waged . £5 low-waged . £2 unwaged
A part of the 'With heart and mind' series
'With heart and mind' is a series of workshops and lectures at All Hallows Church during 2002 which seeks to explore a radical contemporary reading of the Christian tradition, bringing it into dialogue with depth psychology, science, politics and other faith traditions. The aim is to feed both heart and mind, encouraging the use of both reason and intuition in our shared quest for hope and meaning.
Sexual Theology for a Loving Church
The purpose of the day is to work towards a Christian sexual theology that celebrates the gospel of love and re-presents some of the traditional teachings about sex in the light of the experience of contemporary people, whether Christian, married, straight, celibate, or not.
Session 1: Re-thinking living together before marriage
About 70% of people who marry live together first. But more than half of cohabiting couples split up. This session distinguishes between two types of cohabitation, and suggests, via the biblical concept of betrothal, that people who live together before they marry have begun their marriages already, and should be treated as such by the churches.
Session 2: Re-thinking the basis of marriage
The assumption that people should only have sex if they are married confuses a norm with a rule. Some 'models' of marriage are explored in the light of the contemporary experience of being gendered, i.e. socially (as well as biologically) a man or a woman. 'Covenant', 'sacrament' and 'communal partnership' are examined, and some sexual relationships are seen to possess 'marital values' even though they are not marriages.
Session 3: Re-thinking theology for a gay-friendly church
The treatment of lesbian and gay people at Lambeth in 1998 has brought shame on the Anglican communion. This session outlines strategies for overcoming homophobia in the churches, at both the theological and the practical level.
Adrian will be delivering three addresses during the day, with plenty of time in between for questions and exploration together in groups. He will also be our preacher at All Hallows on the following day.
Adrian Thatcher is Professor of Applied Theology at the College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth. His published books include Living Together and Christian Ethics, Marriage After Modernity: Christian Marriage in Postmodern Times and Liberating Sex.
For further details contact Ray Gaston on 0113-242 2205
or e-mail
contact@allhallowsleeds.org.uk
To make sure of your place, please send in your booking form with payment as soon as possible.
Click here to download a PDF version of this leaflet, including the booking form, which you can print out and send in.