Seems the purpose of marriage for the jolly old Church of England is no longer simply 'go forth and procreate'. In a post Valentine's, pre-Leap Year PR stunt the CofE released "Growing Together - the course", aimed at making church leaders better at preparing aspirant marrieds for the choppy waters ahead, including the loss of "spark" in the bedroom.
Clearly the church PR folk didn't big up the sex angle quite enough at the time as it's only just hit the news now, prompting the brave Bishop of Croydon to pipe up like someone's dad saying, "We're not trying to be trendy but [we're] showing we have the guts to address these big issues".
Fundamentally, the Church want to say what Salt 'n' Pepa did so much funkier back in the day. Cue the Bishop of Croydon: "What's this? It's got a good beat". Let's talk about sex. And other important things, dear.
While it's hardly hot stuff, the Church's version of good sex advice is holy sensible:
Sex, far from being naughty, is something thoroughly wonderful and something to be celebrated," the guide says. "Like any other skill, it has to be learned ... be each other's teacher.
Dammit. We liked it being naughty. Still, given that the course also features even more prosaic discussions about housework, finances, funerals and childcare, frankly, once we've leafed through all that, we'll not be feeling sexy at all.
