Seminar Series - Jesus, Sex, Relationships, Gender & Identity

Our Culture is obsessed with sex and relationships…and rightly so!

The sexual revolution over the last 60 years has brought about remarkable changes in attitudes, opinions and practices, and many of those changes are to be welcomed and championed. But has the revolution gone far enough? Has our culture been left ‘satisfied’ in terms of sex and relationships? I am not sure. Statistics and personal stories seem to say not. I think it can be well-argued that the legacy of the sexual revolution is not the freedom and fulfilment it promised, but isolated individuals and broken communities.

For Christians there is a whole host of questions to consider

So how should the church reflect upon, engage with and love the LGBTQ+ community?
What does it mean for us to hold to the historical biblical vision that God gives for human sexuality, friendships, relationships and flourishing?
Given the digital, commitment-phobic and transient age we live in, how should we think about dating, engagement and marriage?

The temptation as a Resident Aliens is to either (a) assimilate with the culture or (b) retreat from our culture but God instead calls us to (c) serve the culture, to seek it’s flourishing and to be salt & light within it by the lives that point to Jesus (Jeremiah 29:7, Matthew 5:13-16 & 1 Peter 2:11-12).

To help us navigate these big questions and consider what it means to be a resident alien we’re going to put on a 3-part seminar series within CCC for anyone who is interested

Sunday 3rd March – The Church & LGBTQ+
Sunday 10th March – Friendship, Relationships, Dating & Engagement
Sunday 24th March – Identity

The big idea of the seminar is to create a space for discussion based on 3 things:

What does the bible say?
What does the culture say?
How do we personally & corporately respond to those two things

The 90 minute seminars will take place after both CCC South (Oatlands Primary School, Stillorgan) at 12-1.30pm & CCC Central services (Synge Street Secondary School, Portabello) at 6-7.30pm. It will be interactive with plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Hopefully see you there.

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(note – in 2023 we ran seminar 1 ‘The Church & LGBTQ+’ and afterwards posted the resources below)

Resources & Further Conversation(s)

We appreciate this is such a vast topic, with so many personal, intellectual, social and spiritual dimensions. After such well attended and engaging seminars at CCC South & Central here are a list of resources for you to continue to explore, and for the conversation to continue

Here is the recording of the seminar and the recording summarising the resources. Here are the powerpoint slides and the handout

Courses, Conferences & Coffees

Coffee – If you have specific questions or are looking for specific resources, or a 1-2-1 coffee do get in contact with Steve, Maffy or Vanessa or any of the staff, leadership or congregation teams.
Marriage – Marriage Preparation/Enrichment – with Steve & Leanne Vaughan, or Maffy & Emma Baskin
Singleness – Singleness Course (starting Tues 4th April) – with Tim Gaston

Talks & Podcasts

CCC 2018 talk series – Sex & Relationships
CCC 2021 talks on Ruth & Boaz – Marriage & Singleness part 1 and part 2
Tim Keller – Culture & Identity
The last 10 years of our engagement with the church and the LGBTQ conversation (Sam Allberry)
Confronting Christianity (Rebecca McLaughlin)
The Genesis of Gender (Abigail Favale, on Mere Fidelity)
We are all messy (Rosaria Butterfield) – on loving our gay and lesbian friends
Glenn Scrivener youtube response to Sandi Toksvig’s Secular Sermon to the Archbishop of Cantebury
EAI XX/XY files by Nick Park from the Evangelical Alliance Ireland

Articles & Book Summaries

Tim Keller book reviews – historic position (Allberry & Hill), affirming position (Vines)
‘Same sex relationships: should we just agree to disagree?’ by Sam Allberry
JD Greear – Downplaying homosexual sin won’t win the next generation
Ian Paul – dozens of great articles, written in Church of England context, good ones are here, here and here
Andrew Wilson – 6 stories or sexuality & silence
Andrew Blunt recommendations – his book and others
St Helen’s Bishopsgate response and resources to CoE house of bishops discussion

Short accessible Books – to get started and orientated

‘Is God Anti-Gay (Sam Allberry) – and other questions about homosexuality, the bible & same-sex attraction?.
Transgender (Vaughan Roberts) – Christian compassion, convictions and wisdom for today’s big issues
Same-sex-relationships (John Stott)
True Friendship (Vaughan Roberts)
How to reach the west again (Tim Keller) – on counter-catechesis and subversive fulfilment (see also Keller’s summary article or Watch Dan Strange’s talk (30mins) – Making Faith Magnetic: Five Hidden Themes Our Culture Can’t Stop Talking About or this introduction to subversive fulfilment)

Autobiographical Books

Space at the table (Brad & Drew Harper) – Conversations Between an Evangelical Theologian and His Gay Son
A change of Affection (Beckett Cook) – a gay man’s incredible story of redemption
Born again this way (Rachel Gilson) – coming out, coming to faith, and what comes next
Gay Girl, Good God (Jackie Hill Perry) – The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been

Broader philosophical & historical books to understand our cultural moment

A better story (Glynn Harrison) – God, sex & human flourishing
The rise and triumph of the modern self (academic and long) or a strange new world (summary and short) (Carl Trueman)
Destroyer of gods (Larry Hurtado) – how the Christian faith was so distinct in the Roman World, including how the Christian sex ethic was so counter-cultural and revolutionary
Dominion (Tom Holland) – how Christian transformed western culture, including in regards to sexuality, gender, equality, justice and mercy

Seminar Series – Jesus, Sex, Relationships, Gender & Identity