A Pastor’s Disappointment: When Grace Is Hard to Find in Youth Ministry
My oldest son has had a tough year. In the spring, his go-kart was stolen. He had to face a couple of other things as well. But the biggest hurt did not come from those things, school, or someone stealing his go-kart—though he loved that thing—it came from a church. For years, I reflected on church hurt and surviving the ugly side of it. I wrote a book about it and have had several speaking engagements to encourage people who have been hurt by the church. From about 2003 to 2013, it was my mission in life to expose spiritual abuse and the hurt the church can inflict. I even started a Facebook group called "That's Not My God" that at one point grew to thousands of people. I have since laid that to rest and found the drive to move past it all. Given the opportunity to help people, whether in a church setting or at a music festival as a teacher, I am always happy to teach on surviving church politics and spiritual abuse because I still believe the local church can be a b...







