I was asked recently by a reader whether I thought there was a connection between spiritual abuse victims and the repression of spiritual gifts, which made me think about a connection that has been ruminating in my heart and mind for quite awhile. From the number of people I have heard from who have experienced and […]
The Future of the Church and Spiritual Abuse Read More »
Yesterday, the alternate reading for the lectionary was Psalm 5:1-8: Psalm 5:1-8 5:1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing. 5:2 Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 5:3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the
A Mass Shooting and Spiritual Abuse Read More »
I haven’t always talked about the things that are difficult to talk about, the things no one wants to talk about. I used to avoid conflict and difficult conversations like mosquitos in the summer SC heat. The reason I didn’t push or probe or question was because often when I did, I would get the
I’m Sorry You Felt That, But…” Read More »
She had been a member of the youth ministry for six weeks. She had just moved to the area and although her family had always been to church, it hadn’t been this kind of church. She was immediately picked out by her Sunday School teacher who told her she was a “bright young woman.” He
A Story of Spiritual Abuse Read More »
This Sunday was the first Sunday since January that I haven’t preached or been a part of a morning worship service. I wasn’t preaching because I was in Asheville celebrating an almost 6-year old’s birthday and trying to wrestle an almost 7-month-old through a dance recital. Before the dance recital, we gathered at the girls’
Making Grits and Celebrating Eucharist Read More »
As the conversation about gender and sexuality is more prevalent in American culture, the question, “Do we have to welcome and affirm all?” is circulating in churches. Some churches are responding to these conversations and this question by expressing their rights as religious institutions to express condemnation and judgement. Some churches are responding to these
Do We Have to Welcome and Affirm All? Read More »
As I have shared some of my pastor search experiences as a female pastor, I have often gotten the response from colleagues, “But you wouldn’t want to work in that church, would you?” “That” church is meant to describe churches that “aren’t ready” for a female senior pastor. At first when I was asked this question,
You Wouldn’t Want to Work in That Church, Would You? Read More »
Recently, I received yet another rejection from a pastor search committee. While I have become accustomed to these responses or no responses from submitting my resume to pastor search committees claiming to be supportive of women in ministry in my three years of ministry, there was something different about this one. In the short response,
Spiritual Abuse Keeps Women Out of Senior Pastorates Read More »
I’m sitting at the local coffeeshop in my hometown, running into family and friends, and in general looking out the window in awe at the way the city has changed. There was a group of people who came together with a vision for making Spartanburg into a place where there was food, books, and coffee
When We Come Together Read More »
Although we might like to think the church models that are currently in place exhibit the gathering of people trying to interpret and understand the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the 1st Century, they don’t. Our American churches much more closely resemble corporate America with hierarchies, hiring policies, and operating systems implemented directly
When We Carry Each Other’s Burdens Read More »
