The I newspaper recently reported a very distressing case of a woman claiming that her pastor raped her in order to “cure” her of her Lesbianism. If true, then this is another horrendous example of abuse in the church. It may not be possible now to establish the truth concerning the allegations about he pastorContinue reading “Gay Conversion Therapy: You can’t use already criminalised behaviour to justify criminalising legitimate behaviour”
Tag Archives: #ChurchToo
Our responsibility when there are accusations of abuse and bullying
Today I’m attending an online conference organised by Church As Refuge. The organisers want to encourage pastors and church leaders to think about how we make churches safe and welcoming refuges for victims of abuse. However, the context is also that sadly we have seen too many cases of abuse within the church. We’ve seenContinue reading “Our responsibility when there are accusations of abuse and bullying”
Leader care
#TheDailyDose 1 Timothy 5:17-25
Trauma, grief and response to abuse
Over the past few years, I’ve written and spoken quite a bit about the problem of abusive cultures particularly in the context of church life. First of all, my concern is to see us doing better in letting what we believe affect how we live so that doctrines of grace lead to cultures of grace.Continue reading “Trauma, grief and response to abuse”
The (church) body keeps the score
I recently referred to the book “The body keeps the score” which talks about how mental health issues and in particular trauma related health is not just in the mind. The physical brain, nervous system and the body are affected by trauma, respond to it and keep score of the damage inflicted. So, I’ve begunContinue reading “The (church) body keeps the score”
Facing Depression – How can I help you?
Facing Depression – prominent causes
In this audio podcast, I talk about some of the prominent causes of depression including physical/medical causes, the direct consequences of others’ words and actions, and spiritual causes of depression Video versions of these talks are all available on YouTube
Church Discipline and Church abuse
There’s been some recent discussion on social media about the use of church discipline and whether or not it can be harmful and lead to examples of abuse. The discussion was prompted by this article by Steve Kneale which was then shared by John Stevens – you can read the thread below John’s tweet toContinue reading “Church Discipline and Church abuse”
How we respond to concerns about abusive and bullying culture matters for the culture
There have been a range of responses to the recent scandals and reviews concerning abuse in the church. On the one hand there are those who I think wish it would all just go away. We’ve identified a few rotten apples, they’ve been dealt with so let’s move on. There have been others however whoContinue reading “How we respond to concerns about abusive and bullying culture matters for the culture”
(Not Quite) The making of Biblical Womanhood
The most recent contribution to the conversation about the role of men and women in the church and in the home is The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr. Barr argues against complementarianism and claims that it is in fact a modern attempt to re-impose patriarchy. Furthermore she argues that complementarianism is aContinue reading “(Not Quite) The making of Biblical Womanhood”
