What is this website?
Welcome. We hope, if you choose to meander about within the pages of this website, that you find enough tantalizing information to corral your curiosity, and yet enough disruptive details to enliven your passion to help pursue redemption to all the brokenness.
This website is a compendium of stories of and about people forced into exhile by the leadership of religious institutions; not to be confused with the appropriate discipline of some for unapologetic abuses. There is a difference, and it is often difficult to determine. This is a place to discuss, expose, address and seek redemption for the silent sickness of forced terminations and forced excommunications being inappropriately instituted as a result of the unacknowledged relational failure and abuse of religious leadership. It is a place to read stories and tell stories; to be angry and to weep; to question and search for understanding; to repent and seek restoration; to do whatever is necessary to help usher some hope and healing into the lives of so many affected by an epidemic that seems to be as elusive as the people perpetuating it.
Why it’s important
We have a problem (refer to the report page for more information). It’s a big one. Even worse, it’s a secret; and it seems no one is supposed to talk about it. Unfortunately, abuse is often woven into the fabric of this problem, which is one of the primary reasons why so few will risk even entering the conversation. But instead of talking about “it”, we perpetuate “it”, and thus the epidemic grows. We hope to shed some light on the darkness of an issue affecting literally millions of people every year. It’s important to talk about the uncomfortable, the risky, the shameful; and then the hope, help and healing that is available for all who will attempt to seek it.
Please, take a look around by viewing our most recent blog posts (CLICK HERE). Join the conversation. Have a story? Leave a story. Need a story? Take a story. There’s a lot of quality food on the table of this issue. We can think of very little as valuable as the ongoing conversations of those willing to sit around and feast on the savory taste of redemption in the making. Help us keep the decay of this issue from taking away the joy of eating together. The table is big enough for anyone who wants to make a better meal.
It’s been 2 years now. The hurt is not less- it’s deeper. The church family we had bonded with is no longer, and wanted no longer.
The minister used his pervasive methods to convince others that those in doubt or concerned were part of a witch hunt, further causing harm by the mere act of denial. After all, who would doubt a “man of the cloth”? This minister appeared to learn nothing from the anguish of the congregation, but has instilled in so many a hurt so deep they avoid participating in any faith community. How this leader continues in his position, without sanction, consequence, conscience or correction is only God’s mystery.
By: EC on July 28, 2011
at 6:09 pm
EC,
Thank you so much for posting. For so many, saying anything about their experience with this epidemic is often like tugging at the stitches of a wound that refuses to heal completely. And yet to not speak seems to somehow leave the wound more susceptible to infection. Thanks for choosing the sting of speaking over the slow inevitable decay of denial. Today I find myself angry on your behalf, and deeply saddened by your loss, as well as so many other’s from your community. If there is anything I/we can do to try and encourage you or others you know on this journey, please get in touch. I can be reached at botolff@gmail.com.
By: Botolff on July 28, 2011
at 7:10 pm
Thanks for fostering conversation and communication for those who’ve been burned by the church.
By: Travis Klassen on December 7, 2011
at 7:13 pm