GBFSV SPIRITUAL ABUSE VICTIMS' RECOVERY
For The Victims Of Spiritual Abuse And Authoritarianism At Grace Bible Fellowship Of Silicon Valley And Victims Of Other Churches ©MtnShepherdess 2016, 2017, 2018
A letter asked for help with Scriptures that teach “children obey your parents,” not just when a young child is being told to sin, but also when an adult child is being controlled. To answer the question, I look at the Greek words, the context, and other admonitions in the Scriptures.
‘Rick [Holland] leaves the room several times to go talk to [[pastor] John MacArthur [Grace Community Church in Southern California]. He comes back with John’s ruling on the matter. Rick tells me that I need to be disciplined for doing drugs, drinking alcohol and almost dancing. He said the consequence for breaking the rules is that I will be kicked out of the college. He is angry at me for going to the police and the doctor. I should have let the church handle this without outside interference. He tells me not to tell anyone else, not my fellow classmates, not my teachers, not anyone at church.
“You are ruining that young man’s life!” He says.’
Source: http://www.marcipreheim.com/2017/09/18/do-you-see-me/
I was 32 years old before I heard the word egalitarian. My universe was very small growing up. I, sort of, realized there was a Christian culture outside of my soft patriarchal, quiverfull one. But that’s how it was always understood. Being out there, on the fringe, barely Christian, if they were Christian at all.…
via From Complementarian to Egalitarian: My Story — The Junia Project
There is a public health epidemic in the United States of alcoholism and drug addiction, including in the Christian church among clergy and the people in the pews. There has been a significant increase in women alcoholics, including among older Christian women in Christian churches. Many of our churches and Christians still lack the knowledge to discuss this epidemic and to offer proper support.
“According to the U.S. Surgeon General, Nearly 21 million Americans – more than the number of people who have all cancers combined – suffer from substance use disorders.
‘Alcohol and drug addiction take an enormous toll on individuals, families, and communities,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. ‘Most Americans know someone who has been touched by an alcohol or a drug use disorder. Yet 90 percent of people with a substance use disorder are not getting treatment. That has to change.’
U.S. Surgeon General’s first-ever report on addiction in the United States: https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/
Former pastor Matt Bays, a recovering alcoholic, has powerful words about this secret that is rarely talked about in our churches. Help is needed for those addicted and their families.
Matt has a great blog http://mattbayswriter.com/ Matt Bays also has a great book called Finding God in the Ruins about his journey.
Another important article about handling the epidemic of alcohol (and drug) addiction in the Christian church. We are facing a public health epidemic. And we must do more to help problem drinkers get medical care (if they are willing) and other help, help for their spouses, and help for their children.
In the United States, the U.S. Surgeon General declared alcohol and drug addiction as a public health epidemic. https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/ According to the U.S. Surgeon General only 10% of addicted people get help and 90% do not get any care for their addictions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kuibZtt5ww
Addictions are complex, with genetic underpinnings that predispose people to become addicted, combined with other factors like childhood trauma/abuse that sets people on a course to drink and take drugs to numb pain and shame.
There are other factors that cause people to become addicted including: untreated mental illness (bipolar, depression, and anxiety disorders), adult trauma, loss, grief and other stressors. In the beginning, the substances do work to calm the addict and give them relief. And then they don’t work and become more and more destructive in a person’s life.
Bishop Heather Cook, an American Bishop, has recently been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for a hit and run death of a 41-year-old cyclist. The incident has led to much discussion about alcoholism in the church and especially among the clergy. This is an important issue which the church needs to face more realistically than it is at present. Fr Chris offers some thoughts on this important issue:
You may know the jokes about seeing pink elephants, and the popular views about the delirium tremens and hallucination which occur during alcohol withdrawal. In my case, during detox, I didn’t see pink elephants but mice flying around the room and attacking me. It’s a weird phenomenon – you know it isn’t real, but it feels and seems real.
We also often refer to the “elephant in the room” as the thing that we all know is there, but no one will dare…
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With the public health epidemic of alcoholism and drug addiction in the United States according to the U.S. Surgeon General https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/, an epidemic that is also showing up among the clergy and the people in the pews (and that includes growing numbers of women and older women), articles such as this one are needed to address how we deal with substance abuse in the church.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General only 10% of people who have addictions get help and 90% never get any help. This must change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kuibZtt5ww
Many people with addictions are genetically predisposed to addiction and research has shown that childhood trauma (such as child sexual abuse) is one of the factors that causes people to numb pain and shame with alcohol and drugs.
There are other issues behind addictions as well: untreated mental illness (bi-polar, depression, and anxiety disorders to name some), adult trauma, grief and loss, and stress.
Other people are prescribed powerful drugs to help with cope with injuries and later find themselves addicted to drugs.
Many churches are uneducated about how to offer help and resources to those with addictions of all ages and their families. – by Velour
This weekend, NewSpring Church in South Carolina announced in their services that Perry Noble has been removed from his position as pastor due to alcohol issues. More information, including full statements excerpted below, can be found at their website here. According to the church’s statement, Perry’s posture towards his marriage, increased reliable on alcohol and other behaviors, were of continual concern. Due to this, the Executive Pastors confronted Perry and went through the steps of dealing with sin in the church as outlined in Matthew 18.
The rest of the statement explains that, in accordance with their bylaws, their process ultimately ended in his removal from leadership. In Noble’s own statement, he expresses his love for the church, asks for forgiveness, and shares that he is under the care of an excellent psychiatrist as he works through his present issues. He writes,
In my opinion, the bible does…
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[This post appeared three years ago and generated heart-wrenching comments from people who have similar experiences to that of the young woman mentioned in the opening paragraph. I thought it worth…
Would anything get done without the persistence of determined women – even women who are willing to “break the rules” in the face of injustice? Would women have the right to vote if our great-grandmothers had not rebelled against men who were determined to keep vaginas out of the voting booth? Oh, does that offend you,…
My name is David Pittman – For 30 years I’ve been keeping a secret that almost killed me. From the time I was 12 until I was 15, I was sexually abused by my youth minister at Rehoboth Baptist Churc…
Source: Pedophiles are like Serial Killers – My Story by David Pittman
GBFSV SPIRITUAL ABUSE VICTIMS' RECOVERY 