wfn.org | UCC - Seminaries struggle to prepare clergy in addressing sexuality

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Seminaries struggle to prepare clergy in addressing sexuality

> February - March 2009

Debra Haffner, director of the Religious Institute on Sexual 
Morality, Justice and Healing.

> Thirty-six religious schools surveyed

A study released by the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, 
Justice and Healing and Union Theological Seminary says United States 
seminaries and rabbinical schools are failing to prepare the next 
generation of clergy with the training they need to address sexuality 
issues in ministry.

The study, Sex and the Seminary: Preparing Ministers for Sexual 
Health and Justice, reports that sexuality courses are largely absent 
from most seminary curricula and degree requirements. At most 
institutions, students can graduate without studying sexual ethics or 
taking a single sexuality-based course.

"With so many congregations embroiled in controversy over sexual 
orientation issues, or struggling to address teenage sexuality, or 
concerned about sexual abuse, there is an urgent need for ordained 
clergy who understand the connections between religion and 
sexuality," said the Rev. Debra W. Haffner, director of the Religious 
Institute. "Seminaries must do more to prepare students to minister 
to their congregants and be effective advocates for sexual health and 
justice."

Sex and the Seminary is based on a survey of 36 leading seminaries 
and rabbinical schools of diverse size and geographic location, 
representing a range of Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist 
traditions.

Each institution was evaluated on criteria for a sexually healthy and 
responsible seminary. These criteria measure sexuality content in the 
curriculum; institutional commitment to sexuality and gender equity; 
including the existence of anti-discrimination, sexual harassment and 
full inclusion policies; and advocacy and support for sexuality-related issues.

The survey revealed that more than 90 percent of the seminaries 
surveyed do not require full-semester, sexuality-based courses for 
graduation. Two-thirds of the seminaries do not offer a course in 
sexuality issues for religious professionals. Three-quarters do not 
offer a course in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) 
studies. Additionally, seminaries offer three times as many courses 
in women's and feminist studies as they do in LGBT studies or other 
sexuality-related issues.

The study also noted a "stained glass ceiling" in seminaries and a 
lack of policies on full inclusion of women and gay, lesbian and 
transgender persons. Two-thirds of the seminaries surveyed have fewer 
than 40 percent women serving in faculty, senior administrative and 
trustee positions, in contrast to student populations that are 
frequently more than 50 percent women.

"In order to stop perpetuating the spirituality/sexuality divide, we 
need to take seriously this study by the Religious Institute," says 
Ann Hanson, UCC minister for sexuality education and justice. "When I 
work with adults who want to teach Our Whole Lives and other 
sexuality education resources to children and youth, they realize 
that, in order to do this, they must take a good look at their own 
sexual attitudes, values, feelings and experiences."

Sex and the Seminary recommends that seminaries and religious 
denominations develop and require competencies in sexuality for 
ordination to ministry. Most denominations currently do not require 
ministerial candidates to be competent in sexual health and education 
beyond sexual harassment prevention, the study noted.

The study also recommends that the Association of Theological 
Schools, the accrediting body for U.S. seminaries, integrate 
sexuality education into its standards for ministerial formation. It 
calls on seminaries to strengthen their curricular offerings and 
inclusion policies; invest in faculty development and continuing 
education; and pursue collaboration with other institutions and 
advocacy groups to expand educational opportunities for seminarians 
regarding sexuality issues.

"Sex and the Seminary lifts up information that indicates that 
seminaries need to do more to provide future religious leaders a 
place to not only study human sexuality, but to provide opportunities 
for safe and healthy self-assessment," says Hanson.

The Religious Institute is sending copies of the Sex and the Seminary 
report to every seminary and rabbinical school in the United States.

Read it online at www.religiousinstitute.org/SeminaryReport.html.