The Sexual Integrity Church Assessment (SICA) is a cutting-edge research tool designed to help pastors and church leaders identify opportunities and hindrances to fostering sexual integrity within the lifeblood of the congregation. According to Barna research, most pastors strongly agree that churches need to teach about healthy sexuality according to God’s design and help their congregants address the sexual brokenness that affects us all, but most churches are not currently organized in such a way as to facilitate this process.
Assessment goals
SICA helps churches establish a sexual integrity baseline that identifies:
- factors that could help or hinder efforts to foster sexual integrity in your local church;
- areas of strength and growth for your congregation and her leaders; and
- opportunities to develop unique short, medium, and long-range goals.
SICA also identifies other elements of a church’s culture that can aid or hinder its ability to engagement well on sexual issues, including:
- Openness/resistance to change
- Ability to handle conflict
- Abilities and comfort levels of leaders on sexual topics
- The health of congregational relationships, and more.
We need your help to get this tool into churches.
In the summer of 2024, the SILs board began preparing this tool for public use. We are currently in need of:
- Funding (total cost of this project is $50,000.
- Christian leaders to test the survey
- Churches interested in field-testing the process
Here is our timeline for the four phases of this project and how you might help:
Phase 1: Develop the survey and submit it for professional review. [Done]
Needs:
- Survey development team
- Professional researcher
Cost: $5,000
Phase 2: Beta-test the instrument to validate its questions and response options. [Current phase]
Needs:
- Thirty senior pastors to test the survey
- Thirty church staff or lay leaders
- Thirty congregation members
- Professional review
Cost: $15,000
Phase 3: Field-test the survey with active churches. [Goal: Later 2025]
Needs: Three churches ready to go through the full consultation process.
Cost: $15,000
Phase 4: Train members of the SILS community to become SICA consultants. [Goal: 2026]
Needs: Christian leaders ready to add a valuable tool to their existing programs or services.
Cost: $15,000