The experience of gay Christian men attending collaborative workshops facilitated by a sexual health professional and the Church

Introduction: Some gay Christian men struggle with accepting their sexuality, which was identified in the psychosexual caseload of a sexual health professional. To help these men, a collaboration in the form of workshops started between the sexual health professional and a priest. Although such workshops have been anecdotally popular among gay Christian men, their experience has not been studied. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the experience of gay Christian men who attended six workshops.

Methods: Six collaborative workshops were organised between a sexual health clinic and a Church in central London in January and September 2018. Eleven gay Christian men who attended these workshops were recruited for this qualitative study using the purposive method. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, images (photos or drawings brought by the participants) and the novel approach of Haiku poetry to reflect on their experience during and after attending the workshops, which were analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings: The analysis showed that the influence of the collaborative workshops on gay Christian men was on two levels: their self-perception and their relationships. The factors associated with such influence were either environmental or personal.

Conclusions: The experience of gay Christian men attending collaborative workshops facilitated by a sexual health professional and a priest varied. The participants who identified with more conservative denominations made less progress towards integrating sexuality and religion. This study showed the importance of understanding identity in the community and learning from the collaborative environment. It is the first study to suggest a new model for integrating religion and sexuality as an adapted version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where freedom of shame is an added need, and it proceeds belongingness, connection, and love.