Touch Podcast: Conversations of Spirit and Body

Volume Up! Nate and Ryan get real about Men, Masculinity, and Purity @Wildgoose Festival. While purity culture has had a disproportionately negative impact on women, men have also been harmed. Join us as we explore how transactional faith led to transactional intimacy and we need to do to fix it.

Trans Talk with Guests Tristan Chipman And Ryan Patrick by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero

During Touch 4.8 Charna Cassell: Men, Trauma and Dysregulated Intimacy, Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero interview LMFT, and a Trauma-Trained Psychotherapist and Sexuality Coach, Charna Cassell who helps people heal and find pleasure in their bodies. For over two decades, first, as a sex educator and sex toy clerk at Good Vibrations located in San Francisco. Then, as a Master Somatic Coach and bodyworker, and now, a licensed psychotherapist. We talk about trauma and intimacy, especially how it impacts our ability to be in the moment. Please support our podcast on Patreon and don't forget to share this episode with your friends!

Touch 4.7 Our Pain Made Flesh is a compelling conversation with a psychotherapist and ordained minister, Eric Minton, about his book "It's Not You, It's Everything: What our Pain Reveals about the Anxious Pursuit of the Good Life." We discuss how children and youth are expressing their anxieties about living in our frenetic and social media saturated culture. Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero discuss strategies for parenting and coping in a world that is literally killing us.

Reflecting on 4.6 with Dr. Monique Moultrie, Ryan interviews Nathan on what it was like to grow up brown in a white town. From skipping dances to becoming a filmmaker, Nathan talks about being treated as white - most of the time.

This mini-audio documentary is produced by Nathan Novero and is an interview with co-host Ryan Clark and Dr. Monique Moultrie who is the Associate Professor of Africana Studies, Religious Studies at Georgia State University. She is also the author of "Passionate and Pious: Religious Media and Black Women's Sexuality". We are deeply grateful for her time to work on our documentary project. Please enjoy this important and fascinating sample where Dr. Moultrie helps listeners distinguish between the "Black" and "White" church purity experience.

Touch 4.4 When We Get Angery by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero

Ryan and Nathan talk about confronting your own body and learning to accept it. They discuss Paul and original sin and the deep need to be accepted.

Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero speak with Dr. Tina Shermer-Sellers about sex education with kids and adults. Her new book Shameless Parenting helps parents deal with their own shame to pave the way for great family conversations on intimacy. A shoutout to Max Searle and Fed Savage for Season 1, Episode 3 of The Wonder Years (2021).

Nathan Novero and Ryan Clark are back with Season 4 of Touch Podcast. They talk about Purity, faith, men's groups, movie making, and life during the pandemic.

Season 3, Episode 2. Is Season 3 alive? Yes, it is. Here we are in February - in the middle of pitching at television show based on season 1 of this podcast. We got behind. We'll stay behind for a while. But we love you. Thank you for listening. More to come. Video interviews and audio.

Touch Podcast Season 3 Episode 1 starts at the Wild Goose Festival live before an outdoor audience with Ryan Clark, Nathan Novero, and Jennnifer Knapp. These three banter over marriage, sexual exploration, and Touch's upcoming Documentary on Purity. Support Touch Podcast now and get secret fall content when you subscribe. Support Touch Podcast now @ www.patreon.com/touchpodcast!

Touch Podcast Season 2 Episode 24 Inside And Outside The Boundaries Of Your Sexual Playground with Ryan Clark, Nathan Novero, and Shannon Ethridge. Jumping back in from last week, your co-hosts talk about what it means to test the boundaries of your commitment to your partner and possibilities for acting out in holy ways on your fantasies.

Touch Podcast Season 2, Episode 23 Grab Bag of Goodies Juicy Listener Mail (part 1 of 2) goes some crazy places with Christian Polyamory, Swinging and Nude clubs (oh my!) Ryan Clark, Nate Novero, and Shannon Ethridge go into the edgier depths of listener mail and have a super fun time dancing around the edges of our own comfort zones.

On Touch Podcast Season 2 Episode 22 Ryan, Nate, and Shannon talk about Fantasy! Our secret thoughts that turn us on are important pieces of information. Sex in public? Kidnapped by an Amazon woman? What do your fantasies mean? Some of us look to fantasy as hope for sexual fulfillment. Others look at how fantasy informs our understanding of our past.

Touch Podcast Season 2, Episode 21: Authentically Sexual with co-hosts Ryan Clark, Nate Novero and Shannon Ethridge. Dialog with people who have different views than you can be a challenge but it’s worth it! The team addresses listener critiques and they talk about creating safe places for dialog in relationships and couples. How do we trust so that we can be known and truly intimate with others and ourselves.

Season 2, Episode 20: Sex Search Engine Results with Ryan, Nate, and Shannon. Does your porn search engine terms mean something? Yes! Shanon gives an important interpretation of our porn consumption. Nate discovers how his use of porn mirrored the dysfunction in his marriage relationship (part 2 of 2). Touch Podcast is produced by Ryan Clark and is available anywhere podcasts are found.

On Touch Podcast Season 2, Episode 19, Ryan, Nate and Shannon dive into the difficult topic of Christianity and Pornography. Join these three distinct perspectives on the cons and pros of erotic content and what it means for our faith and relationships. (part 1 of 2).

Touch Podcast Season 2, episode 18 is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. This trio continues their riveting conversation about toxic masculinity and some of our religious traditions that have held us back from offering and receiving love. What can learn about God’s gifts when we strip away some of the institutional baggage?

Touch Podcast Season 2, episode 16 is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. How can we recover masculinity? Co-host Nate Novero speaks with mediator and facilitator, Thomas Jaggers who is the co-founder of True Masculine (truemasculine.org). He is a practitioner of spiritualized martial arts, MogaDao Gongfu, Yoga, and meditation where he helps men live more embodied, connected, playful and focused lives.

Season 2 Episode 16 Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. On Season 2, Episode 15, Ryan speaks with his father and sister about how his parents met, their sex life and Ryan’s dad evolving beliefs about sex and dating. Shannon and Nate join the conversation and we discuss the uneven expectations and unintended consequences of our sex lives.

Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. Today’s episode continues the conversation around children and sexuality. From honest conversations with our children about where babies come from to masturbation, this conversation puts a whole lot on the table.

Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. What do you do when you sense your child is being manipulated by a boyfriend or girlfriend? How do we help our kids through breakups? Ryan speaks with LeAnn Gardner about the Harvard Study, “Making Caring Common and how a parent can create an environment where their child can come to them or another trusted adult when they don’t know what to do? LeAnn talks about how to start talking to your kids even if they’re already a teen.

Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. The ABC’s of Love, Intimacy, Relationships and Dating with special guest Dr. Charlie Myers In this episode you will hear over 100 activity ideas for you and your mate. Shannon has a very special announcement and Nathan invents some new words. Be sure to support our podcast @ www.patreon.com/touchpodcast

Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. How do we talk about our kids about intimacy, breaking up, gaslighting, controlling, consent, mutuality, and bystander intervention? We usually talk to kids about genitals and intercourse. LeAnn Gardner advocates for wrap around sex education that goes far beyond the “sex talk.” What do you say to a kindergartener about sex? Responsibility? Joy? Pleasure? Nothing? Then you’re already behind. But don’t worry, you can catch up! LeAnn Gardner is on the faculty at the Garland School of Social work and is a therapist in Charleston, SC. Support Touch Podcast now and get secret fall content when you subscribe. Support Touch Podcast now @ www.patreon.com/touchpodcast!

Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark, Nate Novero and Shannon Ethridge. Sex Advice: On this episode, did we rob a generation of their ability to trust themselves sexually? Will the California movement of women coming together to meditate on their genitals catch on in other places in the U.S.? We’ll talk about Giving sexually and contextually appropriate pastoral counsel around sex: We don’t tell 15-year-olds the same thing as 51-year-olds.

Methodist pastor Rev. Angie McCarty speaks with longtime friend Shannon Ethridge about their shared history in teaching “Biblical” marriage and abstinence-only sex education to teens. Instead, what about a biblical view of covenant? What will happen when United Methodists vote next month on same-sex marriage? In this episode, we also challenge the “crushed” flower metaphor and begin a look at what makes folks sexually frigid. Rev. Angie McCarty pastors at the UNited Methodist Church of the Resurrection and directs their Crossroads Program.

Touch Podcast Season 2 Episode 9: Shameless Sex (part 2 of 2) with Bromleigh McCleneghan Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. In this episode, we continue our interview with Bromleigh McCleneghan about her book Good Christian Sex. In part 2, we discuss what makes sex sacred and ethically sourced pornography comes up again. We also pick back up with Bromleigh at the Just Sex conference where she talks about being the sex expert on church staff. Why is it important for women to be sexually shameless? Shannon, Nate, and Ryan speak to reducing shame in relationships and question whether virginity is a valid concept.

Touch Season 2 Episode 8: Good Christian Sex with Bromleigh McCleneghan Touch Podcast is co-hosted and produced by Ryan Clark along with Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge. Is Chastity the only option? How difficult is it for a woman to publish a book on sex when she’s not ashamed of the actual sex? In this episode, we speak with Bromleigh McCleneghan about her Book Good Christian Sex at the Just Sex Conference Sponsored by the Alliance of Baptists, at the Baptist Beer Garden which was sponsored by Eden Theological Seminary and The Carpenter Program at Vanderbilt Divinity School. This is part one of two - In part two, We hear more fascinating and fun conversation about shame and intimacy and the pitfalls of hook-up sex.

Touch Podcast Season 2 Episode 7: Holy Eroticism with Marvin Ellison Are you planning on having sex in 2019? Then you must join co-hosts Ryan Clark, Nathan Novero and Shannon Ethridge in another conversation at the Just Sex Conference. This time with Dr. Marvin Ellison. What does it mean to live a principled life? Dr. Marvin Ellison speaks to the failures of the institutionally impotent stance of “Celibacy in singleness and sex only in marriage” because it says too little and because too much happens in [heterosexual] marriage that is unethical. Also, Is our preoccupation with sexuality driving us crazy? Support Touch Podcast now and get secret content when you subscribe.  Support Touch Podcast now @  www.patreon.com/touchpodcast! Follow us on Social media @touch_cast Subscribe to Touch on iTunes

Touch Conversations Season 2 Episode 6: The Vulnerable Masculine (part 2 Of 2) Touch Podcast is produced and co-hosted by Ryan Clark along with co-hosts Nate Novero and Shannon Ethridge. In continuing our conversation about homosexuality and the church, Co-host Nate Novero models beautiful vulnerability when he tells the whole story of his sexual experience with another man. Shannon gives a wonderful word of coaching about homoerotic fantasies and Ryan talks about King James’ boyfriends and institutional destruction. Support Touch Podcast now and get secret content when you subscribe.  Support Touch Podcast now @  www.patreon.com/touchpodcast! Follow us on Social media @touch_cast

Touch Conversations of Spirit and Body S2 E5: Monumental Shifts (1 of 2). How do you start a conversation about Desire, Gay Sex, and God?  Ryan Clark, Nate Novero and Shannon Ethridge give it a shot as they reflect on the Ethics of Sex with David Gushee episode (4). Nathan and Shannon have a heart to heart about God and homosexuality.  Shannon expresses her evolving views and Nathan comes clean about his same-sex sexual experience.  Nathan realizes how much he allowed his fears of God’s judgment to direct his path and tells of his discovery that he can still love himself.  And, kissing someone with a beard can be nice.  Also, Ryan might be a complete narcissist. Support Touch Podcast now and get secret fall content when you subscribe.  Support Touch Podcast now @  www.patreon.com/touchpodcast!

Touch Conversations of Spirit and Body S2 E4: Ethics of Sex with David Gushee Touch Podcast Season 2 is hosted by Ryan Clark, Nate Novero, and Shannon Ethridge. This episode is a reboot from season 1 where Ryan speaks with Dr. David Gushee about the Ethics of Sex. They also venture into gay and lesbian marriage and how to ethically reconsider beliefs from our fundamentalistic church teachings. We love our listeners! Did you know you can become a monthly supporter of Touch Podcast: Conversations of Spirit and Body? Check out our new page at www.patreon.com/touchpodcast. Dr. David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. Widely regarded as one of the leading moral voices in American Christianity, he is the author or editor of 21 books and hundreds of articles. We observe how easy it is for many people to come to a point where the moralistic sexual ethic from church youth group isn’t sufficient and respond by abandoning all our sexual boundaries. So, how do we build a sexual ethic that has a Scriptural basis and is consistent with our religious values? The response doesn’t have to be chaos, it can be human flourishing.

Touch Conversations of Spirit And Body Season 2 Episode 3 with Dr. Bill Stayton At Just Sex Ignorance Is Not Bliss Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark, Nathan Novero and is joined in season 2 by Shannon Ethridge. In this episode, Nate and Shannon interview Dr. Bill Stayton at the Just Sex Conference sponsored by the Alliance of Baptists. Listeners know every conversation with Dr. Stayton is a trek into the sexual unknown and this show is no exception. From spontaneous erections to the difference between the cervix and clitoris, Nate and Shannon will take you on a fun ride toward honestly and authenticity. Ryan learns he’s been pronouncing the word clitoris wrong his whole life. This interview was made possible by Alliance of Baptists, The Carpenter Program of Vanderbilt Divinity School and Eden Theological Seminary. Support Touch Podcast now and get secret fall content when you subscribe.  Check out our support page at www.patreon.com/touchpodcast. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/touch-podcast-conversations-of-spirit-and-body/id1347187102?mt=2

Touch Conversations of Spirit and Body Season 2 Episode 2 With LINDA KAY KLEIN Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark, Nathan Novero and is joined in season 2 by Shannon Ethridge. In this episode, Ryan speaks with author Linda KayKlein about her book PURE: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free. Ryan and Linda explore the evangelical purity movement, the impact on relationships and what hope the church might be able to offer. Ryan, Nate and Shannon discuss ways couples and individuals can move forward after purity. PURE follows Linda Kay Klein’s journey to heal from sexual and gender-based shame after having grown up in the American Evangelical Christian Church. Throughout her youth, she was taught to be submissive, repress her sexuality, and avoid becoming a “stumbling block” for men—that is, tempting them in any sexual way. The church emphasized a girl’s sexuality as the most important mark of her spiritual standing with God.

Touch Conversations of Spirit and Body: Season 2 Episode 1 - Desire Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark, Nathan Novero and is joined in season 2 by Shannon Ethridge. This episode looks at our major theme, "Desire" this season and all the topics we plan to cover including Relationships, sex toys, fantasy, arousal, lust, sexual addiction, porn, aging, sex talk with kids and more!

The Ethics of Sex with A Little Gay Marriage and Some Christian Fundamentalism with Dr. David Gushee Touch Podcast Season 1 is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero. In this episode Ryan speaks with Dr. David Gushee about the Ethics of Sex. They also venture into gay and lesbian marriage and how to ethically reconsider beliefs from our fundamentalistic church teachings. Dr. David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. Widely regarded as one of the leading moral voices in American Christianity, he is the author or editor of 21 books and hundreds of articles. We observe how easy it is for many people to come to a point where the moralistic sexual ethic from church youth group isn’t sufficient and respond by abandoning all our sexual boundaries. So, how do we build a sexual ethic that has a Scriptural basis and is consistent with our religious values? The response doesn’t have to be chaos, it can be human flourishing.

Touch is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero and on this episode, Ryan interviews Nate and Dr. Kristina Kincaid about how Tantra can be a tool for healing from sexual trauma. What happens when we allow pleasure into our lives? Nate speaks to how he discovered Tantra and how he met Dr. Kincaid and the role Tantra as a practice has played in helping him reconnect his faith. Become a supporter of Touch Podcast and get secret summer content when you subscribe.  Check out our support page at www.patreon.com/touchpodcast. We are pleasure creatures, but we’ve been trained to channel all our pleasure energy through our sexuality. What we’ve done, according to Kincaid, is find pseudo erotic solutions to pleasure. When our heart and sexuality are connected through our body, she contends, we have a deep understanding of what is sacred and holy…We become more ethical. Dr. Kincaid is the co-author if Return to Eros and the Director of Integral of Evolutionary Tantra Institute in New York City. IET teaches coaches and mentors individual to take the next step in self-transformation. IET was created to develop cutting-edge Leaders, Projects, and Initiative of conscious collaboration in the world.

Did your church commercialize virginity? This episode is a reboot of Touch Episode 1: Selling Purity where hosts Ryan Clark and Nate Novero speak with former Christian pop-star Jennifer Knapp about a previously untold experience where she was approached to be to poster-girl for True Love Waits, a popular Southern Baptist Teen Abstinence program.

Episode 17 of Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero and they speak with sexologist and psychologist Dr. Bill Stayton about eroticism, masturbation, and the barriers to desire. Did Jesus have a sex life? How do we combat our own secretiveness? We speak with Dr. Stayton about how our own sexual shame keeps us from communicating and leads to issues with pleasure and problems with consent. Dr. Stayton contents that in addition to physical sexual trauma, are we sexually traumatized by moral absolutism of our faith culture? What happens when the switch doesn’t work? We love our listeners! Did you know you can become a monthly supporter of Touch Podcast: Conversations of Spirit and Body? Check out our new page at www.patreon.com/touchpodcast. William Stayton, M.Div., Th.D., Ph.D. is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches of the U.S.A.  He is also a licensed psychologist and AASECT certified sexuality educator and therapist. Formerly, Bill was the Executive Director of the Center for Sexuality and Religion, an organization dedicated to facilitating dialogue between the field of sexology and various medical and religious systems. For 28 years, Bill was affiliated with the human sexuality program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1998, the program moved from the University of Pennsylvania to Widener University in Chester, PA where he was Professor and Director of the graduate programs in Human Sexuality. During his ten years as Director, the program grew from a masters’ to a doctoral program in human sexuality. He is a retired Professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. He remains Professor Emeritus in the Center for Human Sexuality Studies at Widener University.

Touch Podcast Episode 16: Dear God, Make Me a Real Boy with Lianne Simon and Dr. Megan DeFranza Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero and on this episode, they speak to their guests Lianne Simon and Dr. Megan DeFranza genitals and the Bible. Does size matter? It depends on what meaning we’ve ascribed to them. We love our listeners! Did you know you can become a monthly supporter of Touch Podcast: Conversations of Spirit and Body? Check out our new page at www.patreon.com/touchpodcast. Lianne Simon tells the first part of her story of being raised as a boy, not going through puberty, and not finding out just how different her body was until living in a boys dorm her freshman year of college. Lianne is the author of a number of young adult novels including Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite, A Proper Young Lady, and Outsider. She is a tireless advocate for intersex and faith has a passion for helping Christians think and believe beyond the binary.

Touch Conversations of Spirit and Body is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nate Novero. Today we speak with Dr. Megan DeFranza on the topic of Intersex and the Bible. How do we think theologically about Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:12, “For there are eunuchs who were born that way?” Dr. Megan DeFranza will unpack a reality few Christians are willing to acknowledge: There are as many people who are intersex as there are red-heads in the world. As you will hear, Megan grew up conservative Evangelical and leading into her doctoral research began considering a biological reality that didn’t match-up with a traditional view that God had created (only) male and female. Megan DeFranza is a Christian theologian, author, speaker, and facilitator of challenging conversations, especially around Christianity, sex, gender, and sexuality. She is Producing a documentary "Stories of Intersex and Faith" with Lianne Simon and Paul Van Ness and serves as a Research Associate at the Center for Mind and Culture in Boston and as a Visiting Researcher, Boston University School of Theology. She is best known for her book: "Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God," (Eerdmans, 2015) Music contributors to this episode include Christian singer/songwriter and worship leader Scott Willis of Nashville, TN.

Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero. Episode 14 continues the conversation with best-selling author Josh Harris and documentary film-maker Jessica Van Der Wyngaard. Ultimately, Josh wanted to understand how the ideas of his book had affected people and this starts with Josh listening and the leadership of strong single women Jessica. In this show, we’ll hear about how Josh dropped out of the project and what brought him back. We’ll hear about how a 19/20-year-old gets a book published and a bit of the evangelical machine that swarmed to his message and the role the homeschool movement in launching book and career. The best story includes jeopardy and Aussie filmmaker Jessica Van Der Wyngaard finds that working with Josh Harris, author of a number of books including “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” For Josh, this film isn’t theoretical or academic. In this episode, Josh speaks to the painful and difficult task of coming to terms with the fact that what he started teaching 20 years ago and has built a career on, is regrettably flawed. Special contributors to this podcast include Ellen Goebel of Worldwide Groove Corporation and their very sexy song, "Kiss Me Slow" that features Kareem Bennett

Touch Podcast Episode 13 is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero. We’ll be “Kissing Something Goodbye” with Joshua Harris And Jesica Van Der WynGaard in this two-part series where we talk about the upcoming documentary titled, “I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye” that chronicles the journey of best-selling Christian author Josh Harris and his breakout book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye,” where at age 20, he invited young people to stop dating, stop physical contact and court their future mate, even saving the first kiss for the wedding day. Aussie documentary filmmaker Jesica Van Der WynGaard talks about how she directs and produces a film where Josh reconsiders some of the things he wrote 20 years ago. Jesica talks about what its like to be a single 30-something Christian in light of the book’s expectations. Josh talks about going to seminary and being confronted about his book’s teachings by his new peers. The beautiful music on episode 13 was written, composed and produced by Carter Harrell, a Nashville artist. His track “Broken Love” can be heard in its entirety at the end of this episode.

Touch Podcast is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero. Episode 12 is sponsored by Next Good Consulting and features writer, podcaster and co-creator of She is Called, Carla Ewert. In this episode, Ryan speaks Carla Ewert about growing up a preacher’s kid and what that meant for purity, patriarchy, complementarianism and how purity culture interacts with survivors of abuse. Ryan and Carla also discuss her recent article in Relevant Magazine where she offers a challenge to best selling purity author Joshua Harris’s Ted X talk as an example of a recurring problem of centering a male’s voice on an issue that disproportionately negatively impacted women.

Touch Episode 11 is hosted by Ryan Clark and Nathan Novero. On this show Ryan speaks with Dr. Angela Yarber of the Holy Women Icons Project about art, feminist theology, queering the Bible and the mis-sexualization of Salome and a possible lesbian encounter in Song of Songs. Dr Yarber lives in Hawaii and is is a preacher, an activist, author, dancer, painter, as well as running her own nonprofit. Integrating art and theology most of her life, Ryan hears from Dr. Yarber about the need for religious iconography that’s less brooding and much less male and why it’s vital that we understand systems of oppression and work toward a more just religious community.

Episode 10: Lighting Fires Of Holy Horniness features co-hosts Ryan Clark and Nate Novero and is part-two of episode 9 with guest Shannon Ethridge an evangelical women’s sexuality leader. This episode explores the impact of divorce on Christians and the way some find release from sexual shame and anxiety created when sexuality is conflated as a salvation issue. Can Christian women be sexually confident and how should men respond?

On Touch Podcast Episode 9, hosts Ryan Clark and Nate Novero speak with bestselling author and women's sexuality expert Shannon Ethridge. This first of two episodes jumps in with Shannon's story: a 20 year-old mortician who then ends up leading teen purity Bible studies becomes an author of 22 books 25 years later. From embalming to masturbation, non-missionary sex positions and divorce, Shannon shares how her teachings in her early days as an abstinence only educator have evolved and grown along with her following among married Christian women in America.

Sponsored by Next Good Consulting, Episode 8 explores the topic visual erotica (porn) and virginity. Before we finish up our conversation with Dr. Tin Shermer-Sellers from episode 7, we listen to one of the stories we recorded back in the fall in Nashville. Lauren, a divinity school student at Vanderbilt, talks about how she viewed sex and virginity growing up as a preacher’s kid. Nate is overcome with emotion when he is surprised by Dr. Seller’s response to Ryan’s question about people of faith making and consuming erotica. Dr. Sellers gives some guidelines about explicit sexual content and offers a touching word of encouragement to Nate.

Joins hosts Ryan Clark and Nate Novero as they did into the sources of our sexual shame with Dr. Tina Schermer-Sellers, Therapist, sexologist, author, and professor in the School of Psychology, Family and Community graduate program at Seattle Pacific University. Shame thrives in silence. What is the difference between guilt and shame? We have to deal with our own shame before we can do it differently with our own kids. Dr. Schermer-Sellers speaks with Nate and Ryan about how to sort out what is “normal” and start figuring out how to have amazing sex.

Joins hosts Ryan Clark and Nate Novero as they discuss the book Sex, Shame and the Conservative Church. Therapist, sexologist, and author, Dr. Tina Schermer-Sellers, didn’t set out to take on the church’s teaching on sex, but when she continued to encounter students who were traumatized by deep sexual shame without having been physically sexually abused, Dr. Tina Schermer-Sellers had to get down to the bottom of it. Was there a time when our faith tradition taught and practice a sex positive ethic? The answer is yes. Hear Dr. Schermer-Sellers discuss with Nate and Ryan about this answer as well as the impact of the merging of church and state in the 1980’s where religious fear fed the political narrative and planted the seeds of the purity movement.