How do we help other women who are in emotionally abusive marriages? And how can the church help these women as well?
In today’s episode, I’ll be answering a listener question about this very topic, and then I’m going to read you a letter I wrote to the church leadership at the church I was ultimately excommunicated from.
This letter highlights sixteen ways that the church can reach out and support the emotionally abused woman instead of re-abusing her, which is all too common.
Is abuse more widespread than ever before or are we more aware of it? Are churches listening to the cries of abused women? Is anything getting better?
I’m joined by advocates Sarah McDugal, Ngina Otiende, and Gretchen Baskerville, and my former podcast sidekick Rachel Harden as we celebrate the 200th Flying Free podcast episode and discuss the incredible support and awareness that’s growing in the Christian survivor community.
We believe the tide is changing, and every single survivor is part of a growing wave of truth tellers, critical thinkers, and courageous voices.
It’s hammer time.
I’ve broken down the problems churches face when abuse victims come forward (along with how churches usually react). Then, I smash through the fallacies their hurtful behavior is constructed on. Finally, I provide the building blocks of how to respond to abuse like Jesus did, so the church can be a tool of healing instead of just…tools.
Cause there’s no point in demoing a building if you don’t intend to build something better.
Here’s how the real church should respond to women begging for help from abusive partners.
It took 11 words to change the world. 11 words misinterpreted. 11 words misunderstood. 11 words manipulated.
A single sentence from the mouth of God to the first woman…Eve. A pronouncement. A prediction. A curse. Or was it?
Do you know these words?
Prepare yourself. Because you’re about to learn their TRUE meaning.
It might blow. your. mind. And it will change the world…again.
Have you ever talked to people who weren’t there? Imagined conversations in your head? Perfected your argument while showering or lying in bed?
I did that…and made it into a podcast.
But this conversation isn’t with just one person. It’s with tens of thousands of people. Pastors.
Because the survivor community knows the price of patriarchy in the church. We know the cost of being controlled. We know the damage of being devalued. And pastors NEED to KNOW this too.
In other words, love lets evil do whatever it wants, pretends nothing’s happened, and calls a prison a palace. Right?
This is the kind of “biblical” message Christian counselors often tout. And it’s killing women and children, whether all at once or piece by precious piece. If you’ve been hurt by “love,” especially when you were desperate for help and safety, you’ve got an advocate in Cindy Burrell.
What we believe about gender roles affects every area of our lives and every corner of the Earth. Meghan Tschanz believes faith and feminism are the answer and she’s living proof.
Reconciliation is not a requirement. It’s the desired outcome, but it can only truly take place when four things have happened.
How do we keep our kids from further harm and teach them to protect themselves when home, the very place they are supposed to be safest, is damaging to their bodies, minds, and souls? Dr. Debra Wingfield how to help children thrive, despite the challenges of an abusive home.
