Christian Nudists
We gather together for fellowship. To share about our relationship with God To tell of how we work out being a Christian and a nudist in daily living. We see nudism as a positive expression of our God given sexual nature.
- created by Bluespoet
I'm a youth pastor
Return to DiscussionsHey there,I'm a youth pastor for a church in Australia. Have loved being naked since I was young. Would love to chat with people, support young people with their faith.
Growing up in the church, it would've been great having guidance from someone with your perspective.
In my 20's I worked as a church youth leader in Sweden. This included a summer confirmation camp for 14 year olds lead by a minister. Raised in the US, I'm aware of how "nudist" and "youth leader" shouldn't be used in the same sentence or setting due to fear of child abuse, but things in Sweden were different.
As an ice breaker get-to-know-you game, the minister broke the 15-20 kids into two groups and said that the group that could make the longest line of clothes on the ground would win. Before you knew it, all the boys and girls were stripped down to their underwear. One girl looked like she came out of a Victoria's Secret catalog and was bragging how good it was she had worn jeans instead of shorts. Another boy, who was Swedish but living in Africa with his missionary parents, was very shy until the girls encouraged him to at least take off his shirt. Then one of the teams won and everyone put their clothes back on. As an American, I was a bit in shock about what happened: nothing. There was no shaming, no leering, no comments from parents afterwards. They might as well been taking off just their shoelaces. So it all goes back to their saying: there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. I never pursued nudism at church there, but likely could if the churches weren't so cold.
I think it's been a boon that my first foray into group mixed-sex nudism was with an Army chaplain that I was working with in Germany. Would go with him fairly often, and then occasionally with another chaplain from the same installation. So I've never had any dissonance between my identity as Christian clergy and being naked. And since then, have met quite a number of Christian clergy, of all stripes, at naked venues.
So, be careful; but I hope you're more able to be more honest, and not as closeted about your "naked-getting" proclivities as I've felt I had to be.
My wife and I were leading a youth Bible study until the end of last year. Im not particularly active with nudism, though Ive participated more frequently at different times in my life. I think if parents or church leadership knew, Id probably get different reactions, but the church we were attending didnt really practice church discipline in the biblical sense. Judging by the way they responded to many other issues, the church might not have had much to say, even if they did believe nudism was a sin. But weve always kept it quiet anyway rather than chance it.
I wonder, has it been similar for you? Or do you know other pastors or mature laypeople that would share your perspective?
I haven't talked about nudism with people at church. Just part of my life, doesn't need discussing with them. I don't ask them if they drink alcohol, I don't care if they have tattoo, so in the same way I see no need to talk necessarily about nudism.
Just out of curiosity, why would someone want to ask for spiritual advice form a random person they have never met? Just because someone says they are Christian doesnt mean they have a relationship with God and likewise being a pastor doesnt mean much either, it is only a title bestowed by man rather than a spiritual gift from God. I dont know the op of this thread and certainly am not here to accuse him, he might have a deep and wonderful relation with God for all I know. But do consider carefully where you place your faith when to speak to others or go to a forum like this, as a Christian you have the Holy Spirit within and he is the great counsellor. Be still and know God.