Central District Conference is sponsoring a training for anyone interested in learning about and teaching the Our Whole Lives curriculum. Our Whole Lives (OWL) is a sexuality education program that was created by the United Church of Christ. OWL helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their relationships, health and behavior in the context of their faith.
Who: Anyone interested in teaching the OWL curriculum. Focus on grades 7-9, 10-12.
When: Nov 15-17, 2024, Begins at 6p Friday and ends at 3p on Sunday
Where: Camp Friedenswald, 15406 Watercress Way, Cassopolis, MI 4903
Registration deadline: November 1
Cost: $200 per person
Contact us at (574) 534-1485 or office@mcusacdc.org
OWL equips participants with accurate, age appropriate information in six subject areas: human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, and society and culture. It provides not only facts about anatomy and human development, but helps participants to clarify their values, build interpersonal skills and understand the social, emotional and spiritual aspects of sexuality.
OWL requires facilitators to be trained in order to provide the programming in one’s church. CDC is seeking to provide this training for instructors who have interest in teaching about healthy human sexuality and faith. This could be a Pastor or Sunday School teacher.
Facilitators are Sue Ellen Braunlin and Kathleen Baldwin
Sue Ellen Braunlin (she/her) practiced medicine as an anesthesiologist for over 25 years. Having trained both in a state medical school and a Catholic hospital, she has long been interested in the intersection of religion and medicine. She was co-president of the Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and chaired the board of national RCRC. She has been an organizer for reproductive rights and advocacy for people criminalized for their own pregnancies in Indiana. Twenty years ago she helped launch the Our Whole Lives sexuality education for K-12 in her congregation and has continued to lead Our Whole Lives programs in other congregations and community settings in Indianapolis and to train facilitators in the Midwest.
Kathleen Baldwin, MSW is a sexuality educator, trainer, program developer and coach who works with diverse communities to promote sexual health and rights for over thirty-five years. She provides sex and relationship coaching through Tell Kathleen Anything, and for twenty years taught undergraduate courses in Human Sexuality and Teaching about Sexuality for Indiana University in Indianapolis, where she lives. She has written several curricula and manuals to promote healthy sexuality and sexual rights, including leading design of ten toolkits for ages 6-24 for Girls Inc of Greater Indianapolis, a Toolkit for Leadership and Advocacy for Girls Inc. National, which is used in the US and Canada; Kathleen has written sexuality curricula used nationally for Carrera/Children’s Aid Society program., and she is a national trainer for Our Whole Lives sexuality education since 1999. Baldwin is a Subject Matter Expert for mightyresource.com and is a first-generation college graduate.
