XXX Church Turns Heads In Hendersonville
Novel Program Hopes To Help Porn Addicts
POSTED: 7:04 pm CDT October 7,
2007
UPDATED: 8:34 am CDT October 8,
2007
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. -- Sunday mornings at church are typically reserved for prayer, but porn took a center stage at churches across the country, including one in middle Tennessee.
Video: XXX Church Looks To Reform Porn AddictsChurch officials said the founder of an online ministry known as XXX Church was behind the porn-themed Sunday with intention to tackle the porn epidemic.The founder of the online church said that the approach was a novel way to get a message across."It is porn Sunday -- it's kind of neat to say porn in church every once in a while," said Andrew Statezny, a Life Church pastor.He said that the service held at a Hendersonville church was one of 200 churches that cooperated with Life Church and he used the day to talk about porn addiction.XXX Church founder Craig Gross said the goal is to accept instead of judge."Rather than just pound them over the head and say you're going to hell, say God loves you," said Gross.Church officials said that if nothing else, the idea turned some heads."It does get quite a reaction," said Dr. Frank Lewis, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church. "I think it reflects a missional approach that church has to be available to people who are hurting."He said, however, that he wonders where the ministry will go if they're already outside of the box."There's the escalation effect, what do you have to do next time -- a bigger shock or a bigger bang to get this crowd you are attracting?" said Lewis.According to XXX Church Web site, the porn industry takes in more revenue than all American professional sports combined.The organization hopes to take a chunk out of that by reforming porn addicts.
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