2008 Woodie Awards
Honey, God wants us to have more sex
Church pastor holds Sunday services to promote sex among married couples
By: MCT
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Campus
MIAMI - It's Sunday morning in the heart of Ybor City, Tampa, Fla.'s entertainment district.The streets are quiet, the nightclubs shuttered. In one ornate building, though, a crowd is gathering in a dark ballroom.
They're 20- and 30-somethings, single, married, wearing skinny jeans, short-sleeved T's over long-sleeved T's and Vans tennis shoes, sporting spiky hair and sipping Starbucks. They file past a peaceful-looking man watching the doors, and they bob their heads to the music of The Embassy, a rock band jamming on stage. Screened silhouettes bookending the bandstand show men and women in flirty poses. And one ultra-hip-looking guy tells the crowd that having a lot of sex is good.
This could easily be the scene Jimmy Buffett imagined when he sang "there's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning."
But this is a worship service at Relevant Church Tampa and Day 21 of Relevant's 30-day sex challenge, aimed at helping married couples rekindle that sensual spark and helping single people strengthen their romances through nonsexual contact.
Beneath pastor Paul Wirth's provocative message are traditional themes.
"Sex is a good thing within the confines of marriage. And it's meant to be enjoyed," Wirth says. "There is a 50 percent-plus divorce rate in the United States. And some experts say it's because of money. But I really believe a large part of it has to do with a lack of intimacy in marriages."
At the start of the challenge, most men at Relevant were thrilled and the women horrified, Wirth says with a laugh. Then both sexes caught on that the campaign was as much about emotional intimacy as intercourse.
They're 20- and 30-somethings, single, married, wearing skinny jeans, short-sleeved T's over long-sleeved T's and Vans tennis shoes, sporting spiky hair and sipping Starbucks. They file past a peaceful-looking man watching the doors, and they bob their heads to the music of The Embassy, a rock band jamming on stage. Screened silhouettes bookending the bandstand show men and women in flirty poses. And one ultra-hip-looking guy tells the crowd that having a lot of sex is good.
This could easily be the scene Jimmy Buffett imagined when he sang "there's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning."
But this is a worship service at Relevant Church Tampa and Day 21 of Relevant's 30-day sex challenge, aimed at helping married couples rekindle that sensual spark and helping single people strengthen their romances through nonsexual contact.
Beneath pastor Paul Wirth's provocative message are traditional themes.
"Sex is a good thing within the confines of marriage. And it's meant to be enjoyed," Wirth says. "There is a 50 percent-plus divorce rate in the United States. And some experts say it's because of money. But I really believe a large part of it has to do with a lack of intimacy in marriages."
At the start of the challenge, most men at Relevant were thrilled and the women horrified, Wirth says with a laugh. Then both sexes caught on that the campaign was as much about emotional intimacy as intercourse.
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