WATCH : Preach about sex in churches: Bishop

Danisa Masuku

SEX in most churches, particularly traditional churches is rarely discussed and that leaves youths and teenagers at the mercy of misleading information from internet platforms.

What further deepens the crisis is that families are now fragmented. Bishop, Dr Rocky Moyo, the president of the Council of Churches in Africa is a concerned man and worried that most of the church institutions rarely discuss sex issues. His concern is stoked by the newspaper articles about teenage pregnancies and teenagers who have joined the sex work industry.

“I’m an avid newspaper reader, so I keep up to date with current affairs. One issue that has hit me hard is the issue of teenagers falling pregnant, after that they stop coming to church and some adopt delinquent behaviours and join the sex work industry,” he said.

Bishop Moyo said he has received numerous reports of teenagers and youths who have fallen pregnant.

“In some cases, after the teen falls pregnant, she drops out of school. There are some youths who desert their families while some stop attending church services as they would be depressed and ashamed of being labelled all sorts of names. Some of the church members are the reason behind the depression as they are quick to accuse the girl of being promiscuous, but they do not blame the boy who would have impregnated the girl,” he said.

He says most churches do not have the literature on sex.

“Churches should have literature on sex that is specifically tailored for teenagers. This will help in empowering them so that they make informed decisions than to let them rely on internet information, which quite often misleads them,” he said.

A Brethren in Christ Church (BICC) reverend who chose not to be named as he was not cleared to talk to the media said: “At our church, the issue of sex is rarely discussed and is discussed at Youth camps only and that is once or twice a year. Sadly, some of the youths do not attend camps and they are left at the mercy of wrong information.”  

Dr Moyo, noted that some churches find it difficult to discuss the issue as parents and their children would be housed under one roof.

“There are some services where church leadership would have invited a guest to speak on sex but either parents or children would be uncomfortable to openly discuss the issue,” he said.