It began with an article in the St. Petersburg Times: "An openly edgy Christian church in Ybor City, Florida is launching what they're calling a "30 Day Sex Challenge" to help members improve their relationships."

"When you talk about sex, everybody expects the church to say God hates sex," said Pastor Paul Wirth. "That's just not true. I really believe that God wants us to have great sex."

Married couples are to engage in sexual activity for 30 days and unmarried folks who are active, even if they are in a committed relationship, are to abstain.

Pastor Paul Wirth of Relevant Church says, "We thought if we could challenge our married couples to really engage in intimacy for 30 days and really focus on each others needs for 30 days it would revolutionize their relationships and if we could get single people to remove sex from the equation for 30 days and focus on what really makes their relationships really work it could revolutionize their relationships the current ones that they're in and maybe their future relationships with their future spouses."

30 Day Sex Challenge

Already, it's gaining attention. You can't get away from the 30 Day Sex Challenge. But, I grew up granddaughter and great granddaughter of church Deacons. And I know that organized religion is a big business. Wirth had tried to tie his church into sex in 2006. It's a marketing ploy that failed then, but is suceeding now. Is the congregation of the Relevant Church (gotta love that name) going to get anything positive out of the challenge? That's the real question.

Pastor Wirth, 39, delivered the challenge to the married couples, citing the statistics that half of all marriages end in divorce.

"And that's no different for people who attend church," he said. "Sometimes life gets in the way. Our jobs get in the way."

"At the end, the teacher isn't going to grade the homework," Wirth said. "But if you can get a couple to be intimate three days a week, their relationship is going to change. Of course, all the guys say it's genius," said Pastor Paul Wirth. "The married women think we're out of our minds."

Wirth chose 30 days so people would build sex into their daily routines. They wanted to create habits that would spill into all areas of their lives.

My husband of 17 years says, "it tells you alot about where we've gone as a society." This of course is after he had a fit, when I first mentioned the article and he thought I wanted to apply it to our marriage.

Once I explained that I just wanted his response to the challenge so I could get a man's point of view, he said," it's a nice, non-judgemental way for people to get back in touch with each other."

He's a cutie, and there's a reason we've married so long.

Although It's geared toward helping couples whose sex lives have become lacking, the 30 Day Sex Challenge might be problematic for older couples.

Partners of older women who are menopausal or peri-menopausal may have insufficient hormone levels. Sex may be painful if precautions are not taken.

For older men, how many days in a row can you take Viagra?