Spiritual Abuse Series: Introduction

Many churches are doing wonderful things for their communities, offering hope in troubled seasons, giving resources to those who are in need, and centering their work on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, some churches and church leaders get it very wrong. So wrong, in fact, that they become spiritually abusive.

For many of us, this is not a shock. Several pastors in the last few years have made national headlines for their misuse of power and mistreatment of people in their ministries. Mark Driscoll, Bill Hybels, and James MacDonald are names that come to mind. Whether it is sexual assault or harassment, financial extortion, or manipulation and coercion, there seems to be something particularly troubling about church leaders who abuse their positions and hurt people. That troubling thing is what many call spiritual or religious abuse. We could also call it toxic religion or toxic Christianity.

In this 10-part series, I will offer a definition of religious abuse, focusing on the dynamics of manipulation, authority, elitism, and life-style often at work in toxic churches and their leaders. I will also offer resources for recovery and healing and give some helpful guidelines for how to deal with an abusive spiritual leader.

This series is for Christians, for people interested in spirituality, for church leaders, and for those in their own healing process from negative experiences in church or with church people.

The series roadmap looks like this:

1) Introduction

2) The Nature of Spiritual Abuse

3) Power & Authority

4) Manipulation & Control

5) Elitism & Persecution

6) Lifestyles & Experiences

7) Dissent & Discipline

8) Exit & Adjustment (forthcoming)

9) What Now? Healing from Spiritual Abuse (forthcoming)

10) How to Deal with a Spiritual Abuser (forthcoming)

I write from a place of personal experience with leaders I would label "spiritually abusive," as well as lots of research, including interviewing leaders of spiritual abuse recovery groups and reading multiple books on the topic. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, have taken Master's level courses in Counseling, and am an M.Div. candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary.

I hope you will journey with me over the next few weeks as we explore the dynamics of spiritual abuse together in the hopes that we can have spiritually healthy churches, leadership, and lives.