A school district in Colorado has come out in support of a Christian event that uses Bible lessons to encourage girls as young as 11 to stay "pure" while looking for a husband.
The Mesa Valley School District 51 made its views known after receiving complaints from some parents who reported that they received fliers for an event called "Wake Up Sleeping Beauty: Worship At His Feet" from June Fellhauer's Wake Up Ministries, Raw Story reported.
The flier includes the silhouette of a girl's face with a Bible verse from Luke 7:38.
"As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them," the flier reads.
The complaining parents said they were disturbed by the imagery from the flier.
"The idea of a woman or girl crying at a man's feet, then using her hair to wash his feet, then kissing his feet, seems pretty demeaning to me," one parent said. "Apparently the irony of this imagery used to promote an event which purports to strengthen or support girls/women is lost on all involved."
However, the school district quickly dismissed the complaint.
"We do not find that the flyer promotes a religious organisation or demeans a person or group on the basis of gender," District 51 Communications Specialist Jeannie Smith told the parent in an email.
A video posted to the Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Facebook page encourages fathers to "protect the purity" of their daughters as it shows a father watching over his daughter as she puts on makeup.
In promotional videos on the Wake Up Ministries website, Fellhauer warns girls about the "gag reflex" caused by kissing with your tongue.
"I think 'Wake Up Sleeping Beauty' is an amazing programme," one girl declares in the video. "Especially going through the time that I was, being cheated on. That was really hard for me but it also made me realise a lot that I needed to forgive him and he didn't have the qualities I was looking for in a husband."
Over the past 26 years, Fellhauer has been counselling women seeking abortions. She founded Wake Up, Ministries in 2004 when her daughter, Jerrilyn, requested her to teach her friends who were in unhealthy relationships.
That prompted Fellhauer to embark on a ministry to teach young women about the love of God. She later produced Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty "Finding True Love's Kiss" a seven-session, interactive DVD series, that "awakens and empowers girls to make healthy choices when it comes to dating, sex, and relationships."
Her courses have empowered hundreds of women to gain and maintain their dignity and personal strength.
