Helpful Article

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[Linda]

Here is a link to a helpful article that challenges the "pat" answers people sometimes give when someone leaves a church.

God bless you all.
 
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/what-not-say-someone-who-has-been-hurt-church

[Janet Easson Martin]

Linda, thank you very much for posting that link on how not to respond to a brother who has been spiritually abused. It had several great statements that seem imperative to helping those afflicted. I really liked the ones below:

"The good experiences don't cancel out the bad ones."

"The same way domestic abuse involves a whole family, spiritual abuse involves a whole church family."

"As Christians, we get so preoccupied with how outsiders view the church that we put appearances before truth. When we try to control the narrative, we substitute the reality of the church for our own ideal of the church."

"One of the most effective ways to silence a victim is to fill them with a false sense of guilt."

"Certainly exposing spiritual abuse can divide a congregation, but that's not a consequence of the victim talking. IT'S A CONSEQUENCE OF THE ABUSE PERPETRATED IN THE FIRST PLACE."


Thank you, Again.

Janet