Churches Nationwide to Observe Porn Sunday
Dozens of churches across the nation will observe an unlikely 'holiday' on Sunday to address what pastors call a serious disease in the society, pews, and pulpit: pornography.
Dozens of churches across the nation will observe an unlikely “holiday” on Sunday to address what pastors call a serious disease in the society, pews, and pulpit: pornography.
National Porn Sunday is a campaign initiated by California pastors Mike Foster and Craig Gross, who also founded XXXChurch.com – the self-titled “no. 1 Christian porn site.” Their ministry and this red-letter day are all vehicles to get Christians talking about sexual addictions and this “dirty little secret” hidden within the church.
Foster, 34, and Gross, 29, began their ministry with the launch of xxxchurch.com at the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas in 2002. However, the idea for Porn Sunday began this year when a Michigan pastor invited them to show Missionary Positions – an R-rated documentary following the two pastors as they examine the porn industry – and his church.
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Since then, hundreds of churches signed up for their own “porn Sunday” and dozens joined the National Porn Sunday campaign. Participating churches paid $2,500 for the complete “Porn Sunday” kit, which provides a brief video on pornography and resources to help the church deal with the issue.
Porn Sunday can be held “any week,” according to XXXChurch.com. The National observance, however, will bring that day to over 65 churches that have signed up. These churches will watch the video on pornography and offer sermons, testimonials or prayer for those suffering from the sexual epidemic. Some of those churches will also provide a free showing of Missionary Positions in the evening.
Critics of porn Sunday have called it too edgy and secular. However, Gross and Foster said they are willing to ruffle some feathers to get the message out.
"We're living in outrageous times, and if you come out of the gate with a soft message, then no one is going to pay attention," Foster said to Dallas Morning News.
"Churches in the past have been accepting of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and these types of addictions ... but porn in the church is like ... the scarlet letter on you," he added. "We hope it allows people to discuss it in a graceful, non-threatening way."
According to a 2005 Christianity Today survey, 57 percent of pastors call the addition to pornography “the most sexually damaging issue” affecting their congregations. In a separate survey done in 2002, 51 percent of U.S. pastors called Internet porn their biggest temptation, and four out of 10 said they had visited porn websites.
For more information on National Porn Sunday, visit: xxxchurch.com.
