XXXChurch to Host 'Porn and Pancakes' Event to Discuss Sex Industry Dangers Among Young, Christian Men
An online ministry dedicated to helping those struggling with pornography addiction plans to host a discussion about the sex industry over pancakes on Saturday morning, hoping to teach young men the dangers of internet porn before they become addicted.
Dubbed as the "greatest men's breakfast on the planet" by XXXChurch.com, "Porn and Pancakes" will take place at Catalyst Christian Church in San Marcos, Calif. featuring XXXChurch founder Craig Gross who will focus on speaking to boys as young as 11-years-old.
According to XXXChurch, porn is a $57 billion worldwide industry. In the United States, 90 percent of kids ages 8 to 16 have viewed porn, while one in seven receive daily sexual solicitations online. Gross believes the problem is expected to become worse as technology advances.
"The cyber generation doesn't need the sex talk, it needs the porn talk," said Gross, reports UT San Diego. "We have to respond to this devastating problem. We are sick of watching people lose everything to porn."
Pastor Russ Cantu says they are targeting men of all ages but encourage younger boys to attend because most begin to view porn as young as 8-years-old.
"We want to give parents and kids tools so their relationships don't fail later in life. Our brains can become absolutely addicted to it, so we need to retrain them," said Cantu.
While Porn and Pancakes is hosted in different states throughout the year, attendees can expect Saturday's event to be different. According to XXXChurch.com, personal accountability and masturbation will be some topics of discussion. In addition, "a clown, a hypnotist, a comedian, the horn guy, a mariachi band, an accordion player, or an ex-porn producer" might show up to create a light-hearted environment.
Gross began the event in 2007, during a time that was difficult to gain the support of local churches. However, pastors have become open to facilitating the seminars for their communities as porn has become a concerning issue among Christian men in recent years.
"We had been calling them 'struggling with porn,' but people didn't really want to come to that," said Gross. "When I was leaving one morning [for an event], my buddy said 'have fun at porn and pancakes.' I knew then that we needed to make it a lighter issue and have fun with it."
XXXchurch.com began in Las Vegas in January 2002 at a porn convention and is currently the largest online ministry helping men and women recovery from the sex industry.
In addition to his work with ex-porn addicts, Gross is also author of Open: What Happens When You Get Real, Get Honest and Get Accountable, a book that focuses on how accountability can help people to experience the freedom of living secret-free lives.
For more information, visit Catalyst.