A busload of virgins is on its way to A Birmingham - to try to make chastity fashionable in the Midlands. Thirty teenagers from Americas Silver Ring Thing will bring their moral message to Brum next month. The group, which campaigns for chastity in children and teenagers, already has more than 22,000 young members across the United States. Its leaders aim to stop kids having sex before marriage - and frown on school sex education classes for failing a whole generation. Youngsters aged from 11 to 18 pledge to stay pure and wear a silver ring inscribed with verses from the Bible to remind them of their promise. The groups celebrity backers include pop star Jessica Simpson, who famously made it to her marriage night without bedding celebrity hubby Nick Lachey. And next month the Silver Ring Thing comes to the Midlands for the first time. Up to 800 teenagers will attend the event at Birminghams Christian Conference Centre in the city centre on June 26. There they will hear the move-ments leader, Denny Pattyn, talk about the benefits of staying chaste and the dangers posed by sexually transmitted diseases. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mercury, the American revealed how he hopes chastity will take the Midlands by storm. We believe that sex is a God-given gift, Mr Pattyn said from his office in Pennsylvania. We began in 1995 when things were so bad in America that the federal government was offering money to anyone who could solve the teen pregnancy crisis. I was interested in the issue and although we didnt initially get a grant we started a group anyway. At first we had only 27 people. Members who join take a pledge of chastity and wear a ring to symbolise that promise. When they marry they can hand over the ring to their partner and say I have waited for you. Mr Pattyn, whose parents were both atheists, nearly became a professional baseball player before turning to religion, having trials with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. But instead he became the head of a huge youth group which now receives more than £500,000 a year from the Bush government in funding. We did not originally intend to come to the UK, Mr Pattyn, 52, added. But a group of mothers heard about us and made such an effort to invite us over that we could not refuse. Now were doing seven dates in the UK and Im flying over with two of my daughters - Logan, 15, and Jessica, 14 - who have both taken the pledge. There will be 30 young people, all of whom are virgins, flying over to take part in our show. Weve already had 50 people sign up to the Birmingham part of the tour and we hope many more will be there to hear our message. The Birmingham show will last for three hours and involve videos, light shows and sketches. Its very hi-tech but it also involves a serious talk about the damage sex can do to a young persons body and heart, Mr Pattyn said. There are 30 sexually transmitted diseases around and most have no symptoms. And you only have to look at the story of the 14 year-old English girl having an abortion recently to see how much the UK needs a different way of dealing with the problem. If you want to know more about the Silver Ring Thing or want to attend the Birmingham show visit website www.silverringthing.com or phone 0121 236 2997 for tickets. | 
