Welcome to the Sanctuary, I’m Morgan Strehlow, host of the Sanctuary Woman podcast, and you’re listening to the Summer of Sex Ed series, featuring sex educators, sexuality professionals and a few friends of the podcast to come talk with us about women’s sexuality for those of us who never received a proper sex education while growing up in purity culture.
Here’s the deal. Sexuality is a complex, nuanced and oftentimes polarizing topic – especially for those of us among the Christian faith. I recognize that listeners of Sanctuary Woman are diverse and range from conservative Christians to progressive Christians, to everything in between. We even have a few listeners who are still trying to figure out if there is a place for them in the Christian faith. Well there IS a place for you in this sanctuary. My desire is to be as hospitable and compassionate as I can be to every listener, no matter where you are on your journey. With that said, I also desire to introduce each one of you to the permission, the information and the freedom you need to be a confident, sexual woman within your own sexual ethic, and to be free from sexual shame.
The diverse guests I’ve invited on for this series are perhaps more representative of you, my listeners, than they are necessarily representative of me. You may hear something you disagree with, and that’s okay. You may hear something that doesn’t quite fit with your own sexual values, and that’s okay. We each have our own sexual agency. And, as Christians, we each have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to discern what is good. Take what is helpful for you, and let the rest be helpful for someone else. Sound good?
Great. Let’s go.
Today’s educator is my friend and a friend of the podcast, Jenna DeWitt. Jenna joins us to talk with me about asexuality, and what it has been like for her to navigate life in a world and in a church that assumes that everyone wants to be in a sexual, romantic relationship. Jenna is passionate about creating sanctuary for queer Christians and for letting others who are asexual know that they are aren’t broken and they are not alone.
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Jenna DeWitt (she/her) is an aromantic asexual Methodist. She lives in sunny Southern California and spends her time advocating for queer belonging in the church. You can find her on Twitter @Jenna_DeWitt and at her blog, Invisible Cake Society.
Resources & Links:
You can send your sex and sexuality questions to sanctuarywomanpod@gmail.com to be answered in a future Sacred Cliturgy episode or in our e-mail newsletter.
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