Pastor And Wife Teach Sex According To The Bible
 

Pastor And Wife Teach Sex According To The Bible
Pair set to hold seminars in Ontario

One topic: How Your Wife Is Wired

DEVON, Alta.— It's all about showing that God cares about your sex life.

A pastor and his wife have taken their sermons out of the church and into the bedroom, so to speak, to help couples "understand and meet each other's sexual needs."

"This is an area the Bible talks about and we must address it," says Simon Clarence, 42.

"We talk about everything from anal sex to oral sex to masturbation."

Clarence, an evangelical pastor in the town of Devon near Edmonton for the last 17 years, decided six years ago to branch out into a Bible-based form of sex education.

His wife, Ruth, 45, who has since written two books and held seminars across Canada on the subject, wasn't exactly keen on the idea at first.

"She said to me, `They already know everything about us; do you want us to open up our bedroom to them?' And I said we could tastefully tell them what we've done through the years."

Together, the couple created Two-gether Ministries, with the aim of "enhancing and enriching" the sexual aspect of Christian marriages.

Over the next few months they will hold couples seminars and ladies-only seminars in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and B.C.

They have also just returned from a teaching tour of South Korea, Thailand, Australia and Singapore.

The seminars include sessions titled How God Views Sex, How Your Wife Is Wired and How To Improve Your Sexual Intimacy — Keep It Sizzling!

"It's three-quarters scripture, one-quarter our experience," says Clarence.

He says specific sex techniques are not discussed, but no topic is taboo.

"When we started the ladies' seminars ... men were e-mailing us by the hundreds and saying, `They, our wives, have come home changed — we climb into bed with a different woman.'

"Biblically, there are some wonderful guidelines that the word of God teaches us."

Apparently, that includes clear advice on modern-day dilemmas about sex toys, wife-swapping and masturbation.

"If you have full access to your wife and you enjoy a healthy sexual relationship, there should be no need for masturbation," says Clarence.

"But what if you are called up to the Armed Forces and you are away from your wife for six months?

"We don't use the word masturbation.

"We call it self-pleasuring for the purpose of keeping your focus on your spouse when they can't meet your needs."

Although experimenting with your partner can be a healthy part of your sex life, you have to know where to draw the line, he says.

"When it comes to the whole area of experimentation, we say what is wrong with some honey, or what is wrong with some fresh cream and cherries and pineapple rings or chocolate body paint?" he says.

"If you are talking about vibrators and things like that, you are looking at ... things that could become a danger."

Clarence says the seminars are not about a woman fulfilling her `moral duty' to her husband.

"It's not the man saying, `Come here and service me.'

"It's the man and the woman saying, `How can I meet your sexual needs?'"