An Honest Conversation is a video-based youth ministry resource for teens and young adults to discuss questions regarding LGBTQ topics in a safe setting without being afraid to ask.

FORMAT

• Each of the five video sessions centers around group discussion with a panel of WELS college-age students who were asked to share their personal experiences of living their faith in a culture that is hyper-focused on sexuality. Hosted by Ben Dose and Pastor Bill Monday, each video includes multiple “pause points,” allowing young adults the chance to discuss what they heard and apply it to themselves.
• A facilitator’s guide gives important tips and helpful advice for youth leaders in their preparation.
• An Honest Conversation is meant to be used in a setting where there is an adult leader with a good doctrinal understanding.

APPROACH

• An Honest Conversation is a glimpse into a conversation that is not happening, but should be happening with our youth. It’s not meant to be the final word, nor the only word, but to prompt further dialogue on this matter.
• An Honest Conversation is just that—conversations. The “live” videos capture a moment in time so as to be natural and unscripted. Each of the panelists have their own way of talking and saying things. Keep that in mind when you hear something that makes you ask, “What do I think about that, and how would I have said it?” The goal is a candid—not canned—conversation. Maybe you would have said it differently. So talk about it! Conversations tend to be different, right? Don’t be afraid if the conversation gets “messy.”
• An Honest Conversation affirms Scriptural truth with an emphasis on speaking the truth in love. WELS has a statement on human sexuality based on scriptural truths. A summary of it is included as part of Honest Conversations resources.
• An Honest Conversation encourages conversations in an empathetic, evangelical, and engaging way so as not to lose the listener before truth’s full content has had a chance to be heard. The goal is to develop loving, listening ears that care for others around them. Listening is a means to an end with a goal to establish a relationship of love and trust.
• An Honest Conversation has the ultimate goal that we might rightly speak law and gospel when we understand our neighbor from the heart. Every questionable premise does not need immediate correction. Please be patient and look for the right opportunity to share law and gospel in an evangelical way.

HEARTFELT PRAYER

May this resource:

• Provide a safe space for young adults to unbottle some of their pent-up emotions and concerns in areas where often nothing is said.
• Create an opportunity for honest conversation in which young adults can begin to bring into the light their doubts, objections, judgments, fears, etc.
• Point young adults to see a Savior-Jesus who welcomes and rescues every one of us with grace and truth.