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ENGLAND: Enjoy good sex on a Sunday, Church course recommends
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
THE TIMES
October 15, 2005
SUNDAY should be more than just a day of rest, according to the Church of England. It should also be a day of sex.
As part of Life Balance, a course due to be published next week, the established Church also urges worshippers to meditate on the day of rest.
The book's five-session course for Lent on work, rest and play is an attempt to re-examine the Bible's teaching on the Sabbath. Although keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments, its place as a day of rest has been eroded.
The course, by the Reverend Robert Warren, former rector of St Thomas', Sheffield, and Sue Mayfield, a children's author, will attempt to restore some of the traditional Sabbath observances to the Christian community that are practised in Judaism.
The course refers to the quality family time emphasised in Judaism, and rabbinic guidelines that "even include the injunction to married people to enjoy good sex on the Sabbath". Worshippers are invited to gather together and listen to music or play board games to relax.
The book says: "Sabbath is more than the cessation of work, it is about restoration, creativity and play - things that busy adults all too easily neglect." It recommends that Christians practise taking "sabbath moments" to meditate while doing routine tasks.
The course includes prayers to be said "when we are smug and self-important", when "rushing and harassed" and "when we think that we ourselves are God". Worshippers are advised to ask their church's children's workers to instruct them on "messy ideas" such as clay modelling and finger painting.
The Church of England said: "The authors show how sabbath principles of resting, thanksgiving, justice and generosity can be taken into the whole of life and applied through the week. "In today's frantic culture, it is more important than ever for people to find time for life's spiritual dimension."
The Bishop of Reading, the Right Rev Stephen Cottrell, recommended that all Christians follow the course. He said: "Keeping the Sabbath holy isn't just another commandment conveniently forgotten in the society that loves being busy. It is a gift of God in creation, a way of restoring balance to life."
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