African American Pastors' Perceptions of the Role of the Church in Adolescent Sexuality Education

Background: Teen birth rates remain high in African American communities. This qualitative study examined African American pastors’ beliefs about their church’s role in preventing teen pregnancy.

Methodology: Semi-structured interviews (n=31) were conducted with pastors of African American churches in a southwestern US city. Questions included knowledge/beliefs about sexuality education, acceptable topics, role of the church in promoting healthy teen relationships and preventing teen pregnancy, church response to a teen pregnancy, and obstacles to implementation. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes.

Results: Three overarching themes emerged. 1) There was a clash between pastor’s desire to promote sexuality education and the role and limitations of the Black Church. Many pastors report teen pregnancy is a problem in their church and they want to provide more education for young adolescents, but adolescents experience many health-related problems, not only teen pregnancy. 2) There was a difference between what pastors deemed necessary for sexuality programs and what parents and the congregation find acceptable. 3) Pastors prefer to develop their own content. Pastors’ preferences on content of sexuality education diverged. Nearly half of pastors believed that abstinence should be the primary emphasis along with Biblical reasons to wait; the church does not want to appear to condone premarital sex. The other half believed that providing factual information on both abstinence and contraceptive methods shows transparency and love.

Conclusions: African American pastors are receptive to implementing sexuality education programs in the church but public health must be responsive to internal church challenges to be effective.