It's never too late to join in & it seems that at any genuine naturist place people will be friendly. I think Conway Morfa was my first naturist experience but I don't really count it as I was only about 6 at the time

Good for you 🙂

Well done, keep up the effort of going naked, it's great.

Well done and patient times! As a church person too I have wrestled with the dilemma of clothes or not for many years and in my greying years have found there is a time and moment and place when among like minded ones.

Hi
Just wondering about why the church would be any issue ?
I was recently chatting to a vicar at Spielplatz to be honest it did not occur to me to ask if being a naturist was an issue .....
he did tell a great story which I wish I could repeat lol

Cheers
Simon

It appears that your wife is very close to being "on board".
Maybe a visit to a large naturist beach abroad would be less intimidating for her for a first time nude experience than a local naturist club.

Simon, you ask "why Church should be an issue"
When you were speaking with the Vicar you did not ask if there was an issue-perhaps he/she has had issues if the congregation knows of his activity?
Are you a church member?, I know of many kind, loving people in our church who would not find naturism a problem- they may think it a little strange but view it has a thing between me and my god. There are however others who would find it a terrible thing, seeing only evil in the activity. The unfortunate fact of life is that those with the narrowest minds seems to have the widest mouths and would want to be rushing me to the nearest prayer meeting to seek forgiveness. They believe in the teachings of ancient church fathers and a misinterpretation of the gospel, rather than the teachings of Christ. They are at heart good, kind people but misguided.
I feel O.K. with Nudity and teaching in the bible but would not want to create disagreements in the church when there are more important concerns to deal with at the moment.

I don't see any need for other church members or indeed anybody else you know to know about your naturism, or any other activity you do in your spare time if you don't wish to tell them and it is completely unrelated to them. What I do in my spare time and in my own space is my own business.

Hi Brigitte, What you say is perfectly sensible but does not always work that way. When You joined The "Naturist Corner" there was a statement about sharing a bit about yourself -every "community" wants to know about the people it has in its midst and what drives them. This community wants to know it has genuine Naturists, church communities want to know they have "genuine Christians" and that its members following the collective beliefs. Now I guess some "Naturists" may have "beliefs" which do not conform to the accepted norm. In that case the community would reject their membership.
For general church congregation it is true what you say that they need not know what I do in my own leisure time But I also belong to a "House group". In house group we share much more of ourselves, in a supportive , loving way. Some of my friends in the house group would be interested in my views- possibly not fully understand but be tolerant. I think there are possibly two members of my group who would find it concerning and would worry about it in a way which would not be good for them, as they are not as able as they once were with dealing with their own conflicting views.
It is the recurring problem of being open with your friends without giving them stressful thoughts they find difficult to deal with and know how to respond. Most successful relationships are built on trust and acceptance where there are no secrets, it is the difference between just not telling them and deciding to withhold information. What do you think?

I think every one has their own special circumstances. Some will want to "out" their naturism, others not. Many perceive problems for themselves if they do "come out". It's not for us to judge them. Livelihoods have been blighted for some who have openly declared their love of being naked. Unless you are one of a very few, naturism doesn't put bread on the table.

I can understand the dilemma for Peter. Yes some may be accepting, other less so. No-one wants unpleasantness in their own social groups and in a church I guess we're thinking about quite deep subjects.

There's absolutely no obligation to tell others every aspect of your private life. Enjoy naturism, your church and house groups. Out of interest there are Christian Naturist Groups within naturism. BN has the Christian Naturist Group, but of course that is for BN members. However if you google Christian Naturist Groups quite a few sites come up.

Davie  8)

Peter, naturism like any other 'community' or groupng of people is an umbrella. Under that umbrella is a number of differing views and beliefs. Some naturists push for a much greater acceptance in more public places generally, others are happy to just remain behind the high walls of a club. Naturists do not all think the same and have a collective belief, far from it. There are those who push it to the level of a religion, I don't mean to be facetious, and are naked as much as they can be every day, and if they live somewhere that allows it, that is great. Others like me, are more restricted to something like three weeks of the year including a holiday and are not 'too' bothered if whether we are naked or not the rest of the time. I have about 5678 calls on my time and my life generally. Naturism is quite a long way down the list. Perhaps in years to come it can be pushed higher. But when I do have the opportunity to be naked, it doesn't define me as a person in any different way to when I am dressed. It's a convenient and nice way to enjoy the sun, a swim or a beach. That's it as far as I am concerned. For me it is not a 'lifestyle.' We don't have a collective belief any more than all of your church, as:

You mention all of two people in your church group who would have a problem with it. I bet that if you did tell them, and you made up the most lurid and prurient stories about Telford, they would not only believe them, but be eager to hear more. If you offered to take them on a visit to see for themselves what it is like or to a swim, would they, or would they just be set in their own beliefs without taking the trouble to find out for themselves? It is only their opinion at the end of the day. Your opinion of things is just as valid, more so because one, it is your life, and two, you have actually done it and seen for yourself! What does your church leader think? He/she represents your church and what you believe. It is also worth adding, that there are are many many different churches, all with differences of views and opinions. There is nothing in the Bible against nakedness, reading it, it is rather the reverse. And John Paul II had nice things to say about nudity in itself not being sinful.

And about telling other people? I don't really have a problem telling people per se. It doesn't come up usually because, there isn't really a reason to tell them, and I don't want to bore people. It is no different to any other hobby or past-time you have. I don't bore who I am with about my university studies. I have Facebook study groups for that, and we bore each other. Likewise I wouldn't want to be bored by people going on about their koi carp collection, their stamps or their trainspotting for more than a couple of minutes. You wouldn't want me to bore you about my Titanic book collection.

I suppose what I am trying to say in the end, is not to make naturism more important than it is or more important than anything else you do in your life, whether you strip daily, weekly, monthly or once a year. Taking your clothes off is not important. You are not going to go naked in the church or in front of your group I assume. Therefore.....it's not important and it is not a 'secret.' I assume that you do not tell them all your financial or family matters? I hope you find a balance between all that matters to you and that you can enjoy it all.

Brigitte, I like most of what you say, and perhaps I am not as concerned as it may seem. If I were a stamp collector or Koi Carp keeper my church friends would not mind. If I were naked in one of our groups they would be beside themselves, yet I stood naked in a naturist club last weekend beside two clothed ladies talking about the scoring in a boules match and they were not in any way phased.
I think what really irritates me is that in a group of Christians there can still be such a narrowness of mind, which harms both them and the church as a whole. This narrowness of mind does not of course only extend to naturism but encompasses a whole range of human activity, which diminishes the impact of the church on society.
Thanks for your comments,-I do not think I will be going to my next house group naked but will probably find it difficult not to laugh inwardly while I am there.

Hi all
Peter sorry for my slow response - just back from holidays with limited access to the web
I am not a Christian, not baptised as my parents believed I could choose when older - my mother was a regular at church my farther had a business so mostly worked. I don't follow any religion at all I guess I just try to live an honest life and treat my fellow humans well and at least as well as I would like to be treated.
I think it is hard to keep secrets .... We have friends who none of their non naturist friends know they are constantly economical with the truth when asked about days out etc they never go to events close to home just in case they bum into anyone - seems a lot of hassle and not very relaxing to me if it comes up in conversation we tell family and friends - why not I just cannot see that we are doing anything wrong - I now have a small naturist section on my personal web site ..... http://www.theywalkamongstus.co.uk/Naturist/Naturist%20front.html

I did not ask the vicar if his flock knew as to be honest it really did not occur to me to ask, possibly I have a simplistic view I think most on the site knew so I doubt it was much of a secret in any case.

I feel the more people know the more naturism becomes a normal part of life that some normal average people enjoy not something to be ashamed of a secret etc that we don't speak of if motorcycles come up in conversation I am happy to talk about that if I am asked where we ar for Christmas I will say Dilly Dallies, if asked what that is I will explain ...

I understand we all have a different view on the world, this is how I see it

Cheers Simon

We had a practicing vicar as a member of our club for many years, he and his wife were the nicest couple that you could meet.
He did not push his religious beliefs on other members and I doubt if he told all of his congregation about the club.

We are all allowed to have a private life and interests.

One of the lady pensioners who is a member of one of the groups that I take walking each week was telling me about a horrific experience, She was in a sauna while on holiday and this German man came in and sat there totally naked, she ran out and could not stop shaking for an hour.

I said nothing but still keep pulling her leg about it.