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

Abstract

This is a qualitative, ethnographic study on the experience of gay Christian men who attended collaborative workshops facilitated by a sexual health professional and the Church. The idea of this study and subsequent collaboration commenced from the clinical caseload of the researcher within the role of Lead Psychosexual Therapist in a sexual health and HIV clinic in London. The collaboration of the sexual health professional and the Church was based on the realisation that many gay religious patients (especially Christians) were struggling with the two identities. This research focused on the experience of attending those collaborative workshops for the purpose of integrating the two identities (gay and Christian) for the participants. Six workshops were co-delivered in a Church in central London by a lead psychosexual therapist and a Reverend in the Church of England. After each workshop, the 11 participants were asked to give feedback on their experience in the form of haiku poetry. The participants brought images that best described their experience of attending the collaborative workshops to their scheduled one to one interviews. This study accumulated a large volume of data (56 poems, 11 images and transcript analysis). The data were analysed initially individually, and then the overarching themes between the three sets were identified. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that the environment of the collaborative workshops contributed to their experience of attending the sessions, in its physicality and the human dynamics. Attending collaborative workshops facilitated by a sexual health professional and the Church helped gay Christian men integrate the two identities, even amongst the most conservative denominations. A collaboration between sexual health professionals and the Church can facilitate significant integration in the identity of gay Christian men. None