Virginia- The two seem an unusual pair.
But the words of a former adult-movie star were the focal point of a worship service yesterday morning at Glen Allen Community Church, 11801 Nuckols Rd.
Shelley Lubben – who during the 1990s starred in adult films as “Roxy” – spoke about her past and the ills of the pornography industry as part of a five-week series on the negative effects of lust. The church’s title for the series: Leaving Lust Vegas.
“The porn industry is not glamorous at all. It’s a horrible lifestyle,” she said. “There is a lot of manipulation, coercion and threatening that goes on.
“A lot of the girls come from broken homes or were sexually abused. And they re-enact that for the camera.”
Lubben said sexual abuse she suffered as a child led her to rebel during her high school years. Her parents then forced to her leave home. She said she turned to prostitution for money, then made the transition to adult films.
Like many of her fellow performers, Lubben said, she self-medicated with alcohol and drugs to numb herself to the pain of her profession.
Lubben said her slow road to recovery began in 1995, when she and her future husband – her drug dealer at the time – began to read the Bible after getting high on drugs.
Today, she lives in Bakersfield, Calif., and counsels other porn stars who are trying to escape the clutches of the industry and drug addiction.
“I know how hard it is to get past this,” Lubben said. “God has restored me and my family. Now I’m on a major mission to educate America and heal America.”
Glen Allen Community Church’s senior pastor, Rick McDaniel, said Hollywood produces 400 mainstream films annually, while the adult industry makes 11,000 films each year.
Lubben argued that the porn industry targets teenagers. Porn is easily available on the Internet, and McDaniel advised members of his congregation to have one centrally located computer per household so they can monitor Internet use in their homes.
“This is everyone’s challenge,” he said. “No one’s above it. Lust ends up ruining marriages and can cost people their jobs.”
McDaniel said his church is “always looking to do things that will capture people’s attention and help them with the challenges they face.”
The church incorporates videos and computer graphics on a projection screen into its services. A live band, rather than a traditional choir, handles the music. Congregants are more likely to dress in jeans and sneakers than a dress or suit.
“You don’t have to dress up,” said the church’s associate pastor, Wes Haddaway. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re something else. Just come as you are.”