The Our Whole Lives Program
Our Whole Lives (OWL) is a comprehensive, lifespan, sexuality education program, widely used in religious
congregations and in secular settings. Versions are available for children in grades K-1, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12,
for young adults, and for adults of any age. This project focuses on implementing the curriculum for adolescents
in grades 7-9 and 10-12 in congregational youth groups. OWL provides information about sexual development, but
also helps participants clarify their values, build interpersonal skills, and understand the spiritual, emotional,
and social aspects of sexuality. Our Whole Lives can be a resource to parents, educators, religious communities,
and community organizations as they share the responsibility of creating an environment that supports the
development of healthy sexuality.
Through its work with congregations all across the country, Christian Community has found that young people
are hungry for sexuality education, support, and resources from their faith community. Congregations are in a
unique position to positively affect the lives of teens because parents and families already rely on them for
assistance in helping young people understand how and why values are important. Our Whole Lives can help
congregations teach abstinence to youth, but also give them the factual information they need to understand
their own sexuality and make healthy decisions.
A Promising Program!
Our Whole Lives enjoys wide popularity. Over 40,000 children, youth, young adults and adults have received
the life-affirming and life-saving information provided by Our Whole Lives. Here’s what a few have said:
When I first went to OWL, I didn’t know what to expect. Now I know it has changed my
life. Everything I learned will help me in my life. — Middle school student
What a gift! Most faith communities shy away from conversations about sexuality, but
ours has embraced it and made it a central part of the transition our children make into adulthood. — Parent
Don’t ever stop offering OWL at church. I took it when I was in high school and I
think it saved my life. Every kid should see themselves the way OWL sees them. — College student
OWL is quickly becoming the best youth ministry in our church. Our youth group has
tripled in size and some of their parents are now joining the church. — Pastor
As use of OWL grows, its developers (the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Church) and proponents
recognize their responsibility to gather solid objective information on the program’s effectiveness. This
information can add to our understanding of what works for encouraging teens to make healthy decisions in
their lives. It can also show areas in which the program can be improved. Although the program has won the
faith of the many who have used it, objective evidence on its benefits is also important.
With the help of congregations around the country, Christian Community plans to evaluate the effectiveness
of OWL with middle school and high school age youth in congregationally-based youth groups. Christian
Community wanted to involve top-notch researchers. The part of the study focusing on middle-school age youth
will be carried out by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Section of Adolescent
Medicine, and the part focusing on high-school age youth will be conducted by researchers from Mathematica
Policy Research, Inc.
The Evaluation and Promotion Project
We call this the "Our Whole Lives Evaluation and Promotion Project" because it will have two major benefits:
- Understanding What Helps Teens Make Good Decisions.
The project includes a scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of OWL for youth in grades 7–9 and
grades 10–12, to provide clear evidence about the difference the program makes in their sexual behavior,
values, communication, relationships with parents and peers, and ability to relate their faith to their
sexual decision-making.
- Promoting New Initiatives to Serve Teens. This
project will promote new initiatives for helping teenagers be prepared for healthy sexual decision-making.
Some congregations will adopt Our Whole Lives and participate in this evaluation. Others may not be ready
for Our Whole Lives, or not be selected for the evaluation, but wish to take other positive steps. Even
if you don’t participate in the evaluation, Christian Community can provide practical information on
building support for sexuality education in your congregation. Some of you may be interested in
implementing Our Whole Lives in a non-religious setting such as a school or a community center. This
project will support use of OWL not only in congregational settings, but also in some community settings
Practical Program Details
OWL can be delivered in a congregation’s regular youth group or class settings or a special class for this
purpose, on a schedule the congregation sets. OWL sessions are designed to be two hours long. In this project,
two versions of OWL for middle school youth (grades 7-9) will be used, one with 27 sessions and one with 13
sessions. For high school-age youth (grades 10-12), the OWL program includes 12 sessions. We assume that the
OWL sessions will be scheduled for consecutive meetings of the youth group or class, beginning in fall 2010,
but the congregation may schedule other youth group activities before or after the series of OWL sessions.
The typical group size is 12-15 youth, but programs have run successfully with slightly fewer youth. In a
congregation that has over 20 active youth, it’s best to split into two or more groups for this study. It is
possible for two or three congregations to combine youth groups and volunteer as a unit for the Our Whole Lives
project.
Congregations that participate in the evaluation will be playing a key role in improving understanding of
a program that strives to improve quality of life for participants by providing information about self worth,
health and wholeness, and the connections among faith, spirituality, and decision making. They will thus be
helping to address a concern of many congregations, and a concern of national scope. All participating
congregations, in stages over time, will receive high quality training, free of charge, from educators
trained, certified, and endorsed for the Our Whole Lives curriculum. They’ll also receive curriculum free
of charge and have access to coaching all along the way.
Youth in your congregation will also benefit directly. In most participating congregations, youth who take
part in the evaluation will get the benefit of a professionally developed curriculum already used with great
satisfaction by congregations around the country. In other participating congregations, the youth who take
part in the evaluation will serve as a comparison group studying a different curriculum that will be provided
without cost, but later groups in those same congregations will get the opportunity to participate in the OWL
program once the evaluation is completed. Both adults and youth in all the congregations will be making a
tremendous contribution to our common understanding of how to guide youth towards healthy relationships, now
and in the future.
If you aren’t ready for a program as comprehensive as Our Whole Lives, there are other steps you can take
to help your teenagers be better prepared for sexual decision-making, and Christian Community can help you
develop strategies on developing support for sexuality education in your congregation.