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The United Methodist Church (UMC) has approved use of the Our Whole Lives (OWL) comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, according to a May 21 announcement released jointly with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the United Church of Christ (UCC).
UMC—which has about 10 million members in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States, according to its website—expects to begin training facilitators for the program in October.
“OWL equips congregations to faithfully engage the topics of sexuality, relationships, and faith with sensitivity, grounded in both faith and best practice. We are excited about this partnership opportunity,” says Chris Wilterdink, Executive Director of Congregational Vitality and Intentional Discipleship at Discipleship Ministries.
For more than twenty-five years, UUA and UCC have offered the OWL curriculum that they developed. OWL, which at the UUA is part of Lifespan Faith Engagement in Ministries and Faith Development, provides accurate, developmentally appropriate information about a range of topics, including relationships, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, sexual health, and cultural influences on sexuality.
OWL contains no religious references or doctrine, and it is used not only in faith communities but in a wide variety of other places, including public, charter, and private schools; after-school programs; youth groups; homeschooling groups; colleges; and correctional facilities.
Senior Editor Elaine McArdle contributed to this story.