Debra Haffner - Sexually Healthy Faith Communities

Sexually Healthy Faith Communities

Haffner’s most recent work has focused on helping faith communities understand the relationship between sexuality and religion and creating sexually healthy faith communities. In 1999, she conceived of the project to develop a multifaith progressive statement on sexuality and religion and coordinated the development of the Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing. Written with the input of twenty leading theologians, the Religious Declaration first appeared in the New York Times on January 25, 2000 endorsed by more than 800 religious leaders. As of January 2013, more than 6400 religious leaders from more than 70 denominations have endorsed the Religious Declaration.

Haffner created the concept of sexually healthy faith communities in 2002 which has been extended to sexually healthy and responsible seminaries and denominations. As a result of her work at the Religious Institute, four denominations now require sexual health training for their clergy candidates and more than twenty seminaries have received the distinction as a sexually healthy and responsible seminary. Haffner is the co-creator of the nation’s first online course on sexuality for religion professionals.

"Sexuality education is a religious issue," Rev. Haffner has publicly stated. "We have a commitment to helping young people develop a moral conscience, including an ability to make healthy decisions. We have a religious commitment to truth telling, which means that people should have full and accurate information, not biased and censored."

In collaboration with the New England Adolescent Research Institute (NEARI), Haffner developed a course entitled Balancing Acts that is designed to train ministers and other religious professionals in how to keep children and youth safe from sexual abuse. Rev. Haffner works frequently with congregations who are struggling with including sex offenders in their congregations, and in this program, she addresses the concerns these faith communities face when discerning how to discern appropriate involvement for these individuals. It suggests the formation of a "limited access agreement" to determine what activities the individual may participate in and suggests rules and guidelines to prevent the occurrence of future abuse. "Every place of worship needs a safe-congregation policy," Haffner said.