Today’s teens live in a culture of sexual confusion that does not direct them toward healthy relationship choices. Many of them seek love in uncommitted sexual relationships that put them at risk for life altering events such as unmarried pregnancy, disease, emotional devastation and financial insecurity.

How do we as Christians help our children acquire skills to develop healthy relationships, build strong marriages and form stable families?

The Pregnancy Care Center and Massachusetts Family Institute are co-sponsoring a 3 day training & certification for churches, Christian schools/organizations, and individuals who are interested in sexual integrity education.

When: April 3-5, 2014, 8:30 am – 4pm

Where: Trinity Evangelical Church, 105 Haverhill St., North Reading, MA

Cost: $250 for 3 days of training, which includes certification, curriculum, and educational manual and DVDs (a $470 value). Scholarships are available for qualified applicants. Please contact Deb Pryor at debbpryor (at) pccnortheast.org for an application.

RSVP: Click here to register, or click here to download the registration form and return it by March 3rd to Deb Pryor at debbpryor (at) pccnortheast.org.

Teens at the Crossroads is a relationship and marriage preparation curriculum developed by The Center for Relationship Education. This curriculum is designed to:

• Arm teens with knowledge so they can make the right choices with strong character
• Edify parents to be the 1st line of defense
• Connect parents and kids through mutual experiences

As a multi-generational training program with fun interactive activities throughout, teens and parents (optional) in separate groups will learn:

• About their identity in Christ
• Friendship, dating and love
• Communication: Creative problem solving, decision making, negotiation, and conflict resolution
• Cultural Influences: media, drugs, alcohol, internet and texting safety
• Differences between men and women
• Consequences of teen sex
• Partner selection strategies and marriage preparation

For more information click here.

 

Teens at the Crossroads Sexual Integrity Education Program Feedback

The River Church- Haverhill, MA

“It’s been an eye opening experience. This program exposed me to some of the things young folks have to deal with and provides tools to help them overcome the culture of our world that is infiltrating them.” -Host Church Pastor

“This program provides a good foundation for learning how to build better relationships.” -Youth Leader

“I learned that it’s important for me to work on developing my own character so I can know what I want in a partner.” -Teen

“This program gave me some great tools for dating and protecting myself in my relationships.” -Teen

“I learned about responsible dating.  Not seeing dating as a game you play for a month or two but really thinking about who you want to date and not rushing into it.” -Teen

St. James Catholic Church- Haverhill, MA

“This program has empowered our teens to not only make better choices in the area of sexual integrity, but to be more confident in who they are which has led to them taking on more positions of leadership within the church.” -Youth Leader

“I learned many reasons why it’s important to wait until marriage to have sex. And now I know many ways to say “no” to sex. Our youth group is friendly but this program made us so much closer.  I learned that I need to be more respectful towards women and plan to be.” -Teen

Spanish Assemblies of God Church- Lawrence, MA

“The program was very helpful for the parents and their teens to start conversations in their home.  It gave them the knowledge and tools they needed to communicate with each other.   Also, it really gave them a good perspective on the importance of staying pure.” -Host Church Pastor

“I learned a lot about myself and about communicating with my children that I need to improve upon.  One of the most interesting things for me was learning how to identify barriers that may make communication difficult and why it’s important to maintain an open and trusting relationship with your children.  I also, understand now how important it is to empower my daughter by helping her identify her strengths, not judging, and how to set up boundaries for her.” -Parent

“Once the evenings class was over, we (mother and daughter) would discuss what we each learned in our groups (parent group/teen group) on the way home.  I am also seeking God for guidance to help her.” -Parent

“I know this program will help my son a lot in his future.  I plan to talk more with my son to help him deal with the problems he faces as a teenager.  Also, with God’s help explain to my son the risks and/or benefits of the good decisions that he has to take.” -Parent

“This program helped me to understand the qualities a good, Godly wife should have and about the qualities I should look for in my partner.  I was also interested in all the different consequences: financial, spiritual, emotional and others that can happen if someone had sex before marriage.” -Teen

“I liked that the parents were learning the same things.  I plan to be careful with my choices because everything has an effect and a cause.  But, my hope is that I will be married to a person, who loves me, but loves God first.” -Teen