The Connected Life #136: Stepping Back in the Church

This is a personal conversation with three young adults about deep church wounding, raw deconstruction and their necessary journey of distancing. It is a messy story of both outer and inner detoxification. What they notice is that the narrative of victim and villain becomes inadequate to hold their experiences.

In my own adventure through church pain I (James) resonate with this move past codependence and independence to good boundaries and a growing ability to see myself and others with increasing compassion. This shift beyond blame and shame allows us to take tentative small steps back into a healthier and richer faith community we may still crave. Such a process involves the help of a Deity more tender and patient than any earthly parent holding our hand and nudging us out of stuck places.