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By Ken Walker
State Correspondent
Hopkinsville—Although Wendy Westerfield teaches abstinence in four Western Kentucky counties, last month marked the first time she led a True Love Waits class at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Hopkinsville.
"Every table was full," she said of the 100 students in grades 6 through 12 who showed up for the first session. "We talk about pornography, ‘sex-ting,’ and boundaries. Our first lesson was on sex and what God created it to be."
True Love Waits is a program created by LifeWay Christian Resources in 1993 to encourage teens to abstain from sexual relations until marriage.
Hillcrest’s final class in "The Power of Sex" will be held Feb. 24. A concluding ceremony where participants make a public pledge to maintain their purity is scheduled for Feb. 28.
Cause for involvement
Though Westerfield said churches often shy away from explicit discussions, there is evidence that Kentucky Baptists need to get involved in providing more faith-based teaching about sex.
Not only is federal funding being reduced for abstinence education in public schools, this comes at a time when Kentucky’s teen birth rate remains 10 percent higher than the rest of the nation.
According to the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the commonwealth’s birth rate declined 0.9 percent from 2006 to 2007. However, the birth rate of 53.1 per 1,000 (or 7,443 births) is compared to a national rate of 43 per 1,000.
"Unfortunately, in Kentucky we lead in some categories we don’t want to," said Andy Elliott, a member of First Baptist Church of Prestonsburg.
A deacon at First Baptist, he and his wife, Myra, are leading the church’s youth group until a new youth pastor arrives.
A dentist who takes continuing education courses in HIV and AIDS, Elliott said some things that go on in schools would shock many parents.
Last year, a health department representative leading a course recalled a sixth grader in Kentucky asking if he could get AIDS from having oral sex with his girlfriend.
Such stories illustrate why parents need to get involved in teaching purity to middle schoolers and not wait until high school, Elliott said.
"This is one of those areas where you’d hope the church and parents are stepping up to the plate," noted Elliott, who has a 21-year-old daughter. "We tend to give up some of our responsibilities as parents teaching our children."
First Baptist, Prestonsburg’s instruction includes reviewing "Flood," a DVD-based series that addresses various issues, including teen pregnancy.
Elliott recently began teaching a class for boys on character development, while his wife leads a session for girls on understanding relationships.
First Baptist Church of Lawrenceburg got parents involved in sex education this winter through a video-and-workbook series called "Next."
After meeting with parents in January, youth pastor Rich Smith encouraged them to review materials and discuss them with their children. The youth pastor held a second meeting with parents earlier this month.
He said he hopes frank conversations between parents and children continue long after the study.
"This needs to be coming from home," Smith explained. "One-day rallies don’t build a worldview of purity. If it’s taught at home, they’re able to get a lot more out of it. I try to get parents to influence students."
First Baptist Church of Mayfield started its latest True Love Waits class Feb. 10. Youth pastor Jeff Keith started the annual emphasis after he came to the church three years ago.
Keith recently received a message from a freshman at Murray State University, relating how she was following principles learned in the youth group to guide a relationship with another student.
"Parents appreciate the process," Keith said. "I tell them we want to partner with them to raise children in a sex-depraved world."
Although Westside Baptist Church in Murray isn’t doing True Love Waits this year, youth pastor Scott Douglas plans to review biblical views of modesty and purity before students leave for spring break trips.
Last fall, he led boys through a 10-week study of "Every Young Man’s Battle" while his wife reviewed the book, "Lies Young Women Believe," with girls.
Open door for churches
Reduced government support for abstinence teaching presents churches with an opportunity to emphasize positive values, Douglas said.
"I don’t believe the government has a place to teach morality," Douglas said. "I believe this is reserved for families first, in partnership with the teaching ministry of the church. It’s an opportunity to provide a Christian voice."
Still, Westerfield expressed concern about the funding reductions, which may affect courses she teaches as abstinence coordinator for the Alpha Alternatives crisis pregnancy center.
A grant administered through the county health department has enabled them to provide free textbooks each year to 2,000 seventh and ninth graders. The pupils take a six-session class in "Choosing the Best," curriculum produced by a publishing firm based in Atlanta.
Westerfield said the health department doesn’t know whether the grant will be renewed for the 2010-11 school year.
Although that could force Alpha to stop handing out books or cut other elements of the program, she said the situation means churches need to do more to instill Christian-based values among teens.
"The church should step up," said Westerfield, who is leading True Love Waits because Hillcrest currently is without a youth pastor. "We’re not just teaching abstinence, we’re teaching character building and responsibility."
Western Recorder issue date: February 23, 2010
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Purity movement afoot in Kentucky Baptist churches
DADDY-DAUGHTER TIME Chuck Smith and his daughter, Briauna, pose for a photo at last years Purity Ball in Hopkinsville, sponsored by Alpha Alternatives, a local crisis pregnacy center.
By Ken Walker
State Correspondent
Hopkinsville—Briauna Smith will be decked out in an ivory dress with a coral-colored sash at this weekend’s "Purity Ball" at Hopkinsville’s War Memorial building. Her father, Chuck, will wear an ivory-colored shirt and a boutonniere that will match the colors in his daughter’s corsage.
A member of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Hopkinsville, Smith said he plans to make this year’s ball even more special by joining several other fathers to rent a limousine and take their daughters to dinner beforehand.
"She asks once a week when it is," said her mother, Kelley. "She loved the one-on-one time with him last year and loved dancing. It was a special time for them."
Sponsored by Alpha Alternatives, a crisis pregnancy center, there actually are two dances. Friday night is for fathers and daughters who are in kindergarten through fifth grade. Saturday night’s dance is for those in grades 6-12.
Last year’s inaugural events attracted about 350 girls, fathers and male mentors, including many from Kentucky Baptist churches.
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Some mothers have asked if Alpha would sponsor a mother-son dance, said Wendy Westerfield, the center’s abstinence coordinator.
She said the ball spotlights the important role fathers play in their daughters’ lives.
"One reason girls choose sexual activity is because they haven’t had that father role in their life," said Westerfield, True Love Waits leader at Hillcrest. "A lot of times they look for it in somebody else.
"So for fathers to take a step, get out of their comfort zone and come dance with their daughters brings that love that they want from a man. Their daddy is able to give them that, encourage them and tell them they look beautiful."
Fathers definitely profit from the evening, Smith maintained.
"My daughter is 100 percent a momma’s girl, but that night is with Dad and that’s an awesome feeling," Smith said. "It’s one night of the year that I get her to myself.
"One thing I got out of last year’s (dance) is realizing how quickly my daughter is growing up. If I don’t do things with her, time is going to get away from me."
Part of a team that stages "Experiencing God" weekends around the state, Smith often works with youth at those events.
What he said he sees happening with young people concerns him. Teens have to deal with widespread immorality and much worse temptations than when he attended high school in the first half of the 1990s, Smith pointed out.
"The Bible warns about that," he said. "The more dads we get on board the better it will be. It depends on what kind of legacy we want to leave for our children."
Hopkinsville’s dance is just one of numerous events focusing on purity as churches and parachurch organizations put a spotlight on sexual abstinence during February and March.
First Baptist Church of Lawrenceburg chose Valentine’s Day for a purity ring ceremony that concluded its winter emphasis on abstinence.
The Feb. 14 ceremony included several dozen parents and children. Students pledged to remain pure until marriage, while their parents committed to pray for their children and their future spouses.
First Baptist, Lawrenceburg’s abstinence initiative parallels a church-wide effort to teach parents how to fulfill their roles, starting when their children are infants.
"If I can help our parents be what God wants parents to be, our students will be better off," said youth pastor Rich Smith. First Baptist Church of Mayfield is concluding its Truth Love Waits emphasis with a purity ceremony during the March 21 morning service.
Although acknowledging it is easy to feel overwhelmed by society’s immorality, youth pastor Jeff Keith said he believes abstinence teaching and these special events remind people of the power that lives within them.
"Through God’s Word He shows us that through the power of the church we can overcome," Keith said. "We can exercise the Christ within us. It’s an exciting thing."
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