LANCASTER, Pa. – Craig Gross may have the only Christian Web site that gets flagged by Internet pornography filters.

Maybe it’s because the site, XXXChurch.com, bills itself as “The No. 1 Christian Porn Site.”

“Our site is dedicated to porn and how it is affecting people,” XXXChurch explains. “It’s a porn site because that’s what we are talking about. … And by the way, we are number one because we are the only one!”

If that catches your eye — if it offends you — well, that’s the idea.

Gross, a 30-year-old pastor based in Grand Rapids, Mich., is trying to raise societal and church awareness about the prevalence of pornography, particularly online, and how that’s affecting the culture.

He’s not just crusading against pornography. Gross’ church ministers to porn stars too, handing out Bibles with covers that read “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” at industry conventions.

Gross will be in Lancaster on Feb. 11 to talk about XXXChurch and porn at Victory Church, which meets at Lancaster Mennonite School.

The “dirty little secret” of pornography, in Gross’ words, is that porn has infiltrated the church as well as society; 47 percent of Christians admit to struggling with porn.

Partly that’s because porn no longer necessitates a trip to the adult bookstore. Now it’s a mouse click away.

XXXChurch cites 2001 statistics showing there are at least 280,000 pornographic Web sites generating $10 to $20 billion in revenue. Some studies link porn to rising rates of sex crimes.

But most churches don’t like to talk about pornography. Victory Church, a nontraditional congregation with younger demographics, is one of the few local churches tackling the issue.

“I have found it challenging and sometimes frustrating to get the churches involved in speaking out against pornography,” said Peggie Lauber Miller, the Lancaster Township woman who has been battling pornography for more than 20 years.

“People are probably very thankful,” said Curt Seaburg, pastor of Victory Church, “that someone is finally speaking up.”

‘It’s everywhere’

When the topic of Victory’s Feb. 11 service is mentioned, the reaction, Seaburg said, tends to be “Oooooh!”

Not censorious, but surprised.

Who goes to church to hear the pastor talk about pornography?

That’s exactly what Gross will be addressing, though.

“About five years ago, we just saw the need,” he said of himself and XXXChurch co-founder Mike Foster.

“No one was talking about the issue of pornography. People were thinking we were crazy.”

That changed as Internet porn exploded into society’s mainstream. A 2001 Wall Street Journal article said the number of porn sites had risen from 28,000 to 280,000 from 1998 to 2001 — and that was six years ago. A more recent figure estimates 4.2 million sites.

Revenue numbers for the porn industry are all over the map, from $1 billion to $20 billion, but most agree it’s a billion-dollar business.

“It’s everywhere,” Gross said. “It’s not just ‘that guy’ now — it’s the families, it’s couples, it’s men, it’s women.”

It’s kids. “Some parents have no clue what their kids do online,” Gross said.

It’s Christians. A widely cited Christianity Today story in 2001 suggested that 47 percent of Christians admitted a problem with porn.

It’s pastors. A 2001 Leadership magazine survey found that four in 10 pastors with Internet access had visited a pornographic Web site.

Pornography, Gross said, is highly addictive and so readily available that it’s hard to break away.

“It’s very progressive,” he said. “People think, ‘Oh, I can handle that.’ Sooner or later it spins out of control.

“We hear it all the time: ‘Porn has gotten me to do things that I never thought I would do.’ ”

It has the potential to destroy relationships. Pam Seaburg, Curt’s wife and Victory’s communications assistant, said the staff has counseled two church couples struggling with the husbands’ porn addiction.

Some studies indicate a link between sex crimes and pornography. A Canadian researcher, for instance, found that 87 percent of child molesters regularly used pornography.

Deon Roth, director of Lancaster County’s adult probation and parole office, said his department’s caseload of sex offenders under supervision has grown from 80 in 1992 to 270 this year.

“There is no other specific-offense population of supervised offenders that has seen this level of increase,” he wrote in an e-mail.

“In terms of the onset of widespread Internet accessibility and corresponding availability of pornography, it would be a stretch to assume that these caseload increases are nothing more than coincidence. There is an undeniable correlation between Internet porn and the offense patterns of sexual offenders.

“Based on the unit’s experience, most individuals who re-offend acknowledge that Internet porn contributed to their progression towards violation.”

Gross doesn’t condemn those caught up in porn. Nor does he shun those who produce porn. XXXChurch first came to public attention by doing outreach at an industry convention in Las Vegas.

“We’ve been invited back to their events,” he said. “We don’t look at them as the enemy. We’re not trying to shut down the industry. We show them respect, and they show it back to us.”

Seaburg added that Victory Church doesn’t want to judge those who struggle with porn, either; the church wants them to know help is available.

XXXChurch, for instance, offers an Internet filter and “X3 Watch,” software that allows men to hold each other accountable for their Internet use by sending monthly logs of all the sites they have visited to a selected set of accountability partners.

Gross has written a book, “The Dirty Little Secret,” about porn; the audiobook is available on iTunes. There’s a documentary, “Missionary Positions.” XXXChurch organizes National Porn Sunday (Oct. 7 this year) to draw attention to the topic.

Although Victory Church has a congregation more open to hearing about porn, Seaburg still had to prepare carefully for Gross’ appearance. He let people know that he would be doing a sermon series called “My Secret.”

Then a letter was sent to members, alerting them to the content of the Feb. 11 service and offering alternative programs for children — although the Seaburgs suggest that parents of junior high and high school students should consider allowing the kids to sit with them through Gross’ message.

So far, Seaburg said, the reaction has been positive.

Not all churches react the same way.

Peggie Miller has headed White Ribbons Against Pornography Week, which starts the last Sunday in October, since 1984, when Good News Together We Stand was organized to push for enforcement of obscenity laws. Then, 120 churches supported the drive.

“Now, when the problem has increased due to porn on the computers, and you would think more churches would be supportive and speak out, the church support has dropped to about 50,” she said.

Porn, whether hard-core or soft-core, has permeated culture, Seaburg said, from MTV shows to “Girls Gone Wild” videos.

“I think it’s time for the church to stand up and counter the culture,” he said. “A woman’s body is not meant to be degraded. For heaven’s sake, neither is a man’s.

“Maybe some other pastors will say, ‘You know what? We do need to bring some focus on this issue.’ ”

“It’s not a secret anymore,” Pam Seaburg said, “and we have to stop treating it like it’s a secret.”