Hurt and Healed by the Church: Redemption and Reconstruction After Spiritual Abuse

Summary

What would you do if you learned—from a podcast—that your dad (a pastor) was a serial sexual abuser?

For Ryan George, this isn't a hypothetical question. He knew the faces behind the stories he heard. In fact, his mind flashed with memories of the abuse he'd endured from that same pastor as he listened to news that would change his life. In time, as he processed the destruction rampant in the cult of his youth, he found predatory behavior to be more of a feature than a bug of his former religion as both abuse and coverups were baked into its theology.

Rather than spiral into an understandable deconstruction of his faith, Ryan instead leaned into the intimate embrace of a winsome Jesus. Hurt and Healed by the Church details how he untangled Jesus from the harmful tenets of American fundamentalism. Ryan describes the mental shifts and the restorative relationships he experienced on his journey of healing from church trauma and spiritual manipulation. If you are someone looking to heal church hurt—by leaders or institutions—Ryan shows how rebuilding your faith doesn't have to look like abandonment. He offers hope and inspiration through his story of an unorthodox redemption.

If Ryan could find a thriving and contagious faith after experiencing deep church wounds, so can you.