A new programme to help churches tackle issues of porn use and addiction within their congregations has been unveiled, against the background of rising consumption.
According to research carried out by the charity launching the programme, the Naked Truth Project, 13% of UK adults admitted to being addicted to watching pornography. The ‘Church Membership’ programme was launched at a House of Commons event, hosted by Tim Farron MP (photo) and attended by six other MPs and peers.
Ian Henderson, founder and CEO of the Naked Truth Project, said: ‘Churches should be equipped to talk honestly about pornography use and its impact on communities.’ Churches can get exclusive access to resources, training and support to enable leaders tackle the damaging social and relational impact of porn addiction within communities.
He added: ‘There are people in our churches and wider communities walking with addiction, betrayal trauma, relational crisis, breakdown, depression; all deeply impacted by pornography. We need to have a culture of real and honest dialogue about pornography in our churches, and be equipped and resourced to break people out of the fear and shame they are trapped in.
‘We know it takes courage to talk about porn, but our hope is that Church Membership will aid churches, leaders and pastoral teams from all denominations in being resourced to bring both a pastoral and missional response to all those struggling with porn use.’
Gavin Calver, CEO at Evangelical Alliance said: ‘Naked Truth is tackling one of the greatest challenges facing this generation of young people. They do this with creativity, compassion and credibility, and we fully support their efforts.’
