{"id":21339,"date":"2013-08-10T16:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-08-10T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/the-long-journey-home\/"},"modified":"2013-08-10T16:00:42","modified_gmt":"2013-08-10T16:00:42","slug":"the-long-journey-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/the-long-journey-home\/","title":{"rendered":"The Long Journey Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Conversation with Andrew Schmutzer <\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>An interview with Andrew Schmutzer about The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused<\/a><\/i>, and part 1<\/a> of his chapter, “A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse: Creation, Evil, and the Relational Ecosystem” as appearing in Pneuma Review<\/em> Summer 2013.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 
\nA Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse\u2014Part 1<\/a> A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse\u2014Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n

 
\n 
\n <\/p>\n

Interview 2<\/a> Interview 3<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note from the Editors: Beginning a conversation about sexual abuse is uncomfortable, but we feel strongly that this topic is something the church needs to address. We believe the testimonies of authentic recovery can help us embrace the pain of the hurting and make openings for God to bring healing. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pneuma Review: <\/i>Are seminaries preparing church leaders to deal with sexual abuse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrew Schmutzer:<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Andrew
Andrew J. Schmutzer discussing The Long Journey Home<\/i> in 2011, by Lulu H\u00e9. Courtesy of Moody Bible Institute.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Historically, no; but some are now trying. Abuse trauma is not simple and trying to train for the complexity of abuse\u2014something that wasn\u2019t even discussed in churches 15 years ago\u2014begins to show the magnitude of this challenge. Seminaries need to start offering (requiring?) courses on a theology of sexuality and its legal and pastoral implications. Academic programs need far more team-teaching from different professionals. Just bringing in a survivor for the class to interact with would make a serious contribution toward pastoral preparation. Issues in sexuality are utterly exploding on so many fronts today: from gender-bending among youth and same-sex \u201crights\u201d to the ever-present plague of sexual abuse. There are many expectations on our seminaries, and pastors are pulled in so many directions already, I understand that. But sexual abuse is a bleeder that must be tied off immediately. To be ill-equipped and ignorant of sexual abuse today is like living in tornado alley with no alarm system. It\u2019s unacceptable. It\u2019s a disaster itself.<\/p>\n

More particularly, we\u2019re going to have to network more between organizations, and frankly, embrace a more holistic anthropology that moves beyond the protracted gender wars and fear of therapy. More aggressive study of relational patterns (e.g., Family Systems Theory) and how power is heard and felt by victims is a practical issue that will have to be woven into standard leadership training and core curriculum\u2014internships may need to become more apprentice-like. There is a complexity to the human-induced<\/i> trauma of sexual abuse we\u2019re only beginning to face. Unlike some addictions, one doesn\u2019t choose to be a victim of sexual abuse, but the way we process this has not caught up to the complexities we\u2019re now learning about how complex PTSD and mental health affect the entire<\/i> person. Pastors need to understand: (1) the multi-factorial backdrop of sexual abuse (e.g., beliefs about sex, toxic family traditions, superficial healing rituals, cultural modes of thinking, etc.), (2) and the complex reasons that victims often go on to abuse others (i.e., trans-generational sexual abuse). Specialized training might need to look like continuing education classes or periodic seminars. It should go without saying, but church leaders need to stop avoiding passages in Scripture that address sexual perversion, rape, and standard biblical ethics.<\/p>\n

PR: What is it about the church\u2019s relational ecosystem that church leaders need to address to create a more safe and open environment for healing?<\/b><\/p>\n

Andrew Schmutzer:<\/b><\/p>\n

Great question. Well let\u2019s be honest, church transparency has been more aggressive for those living with peanut allergies than offering proactive help and up-to-date literature for the sexually broken. With 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men being abused, which is the larger group?<\/p>\n

When it comes to the church addressing its own relational ecosystem problems, we can take a key lesson from the PennState sexual abuse scandal: our understanding of motivated blindness<\/i>. Multiple layers of leadership are not conducive to addressing authority-sensitive issues like sexual abuse. When churches view brokenness as weakness, when image is on the line, job performance is defined by more money, hierarchical structures \u201cfilter\u201d all discussion, authority figures talk down to people, and power-plays are the norm\u2014you have motivated blindness. The traumatized child doesn\u2019t stand a chance when someone in the chain of command edits the reports. Let me put it this way: who will suffer more from silence, \u201ccommand and control\u201d or the abused person?<\/p>\n

Both the corporate world and the church engage in motivated blindness. The church struggles as much with abuse of power (i.e., spiritual abuse) as the corporate sector, but faith communities handle it worse and often without the needed policies for follow-up. If information of sexual abuse has to climb numerous tiers of leadership\u2014and it\u2019s not spiritual to be in pain or question authority\u2014it is not only a disincentive to honesty, but any lower tier can claim \u201cI passed it up the chain!\u201d I know several seminaries, for example, that now require allegations of abuse to go \u201coutside\u201d first (to police), then back through internal channels. This discussion is long overdue and you can see how cynical society is against authority and abuse victims against both church and structure. These groups have their reasons.<\/p>\n

What would a more safe and open environment look like? If churches intentionally reached out to the sexually abused: April would be acknowledged as the national sexual abuse and violence month, Christian leaders would be just as concerned about the sexual \u201cbetrayal talk\u201d for adult survivors as the sexual \u201cpurity talk\u201d for teens, churches would incorporate written testimonies and prayers of survivors, pastors would equip the abused by teaching on a theology of the lament psalms, healing services for the abused would be as common as commissioning services for missionaries, support groups for survivors would be publicized in the bulletin right next to the conference on financial freedom, board rooms would always include some wounded leaders who actually \u201cget it,\u201d churches would hold seminars to train their leaders in abuse identification and care, a trained counselor would be available or on staff, crisis hotlines (for domestic violence, etc.) would be posted and available, the church or pastor\u2019s library would have several substantive books addressing sexual abuse, different denominations would cooperate for the sake of the sexually abused in their communities, teaching and preaching on sexual violence would be as common as addressing same-sex issues, the full raft of policies and literature to address allegations and minister to pedophiles would be on record.<\/p>\n

We know what can be done within the churches relational ecosystem, but do we have the moral will? It\u2019s easier to write a check for trafficking ministries in Bangkok than reach out to the abused teen in our church balcony. As a ministry, trafficking saddens us, but abuse scares us because there\u2019s always a power shake-up<\/i>. There\u2019s always triggered leaders who\u2019ve not faced their own stories of abuse, so they project their frustration on those who are addressing it. Face it, who typically has the powerful public profile, the abused or abuser? Talk to survivors. Ask them if they feel the abuse topic has been normalized<\/i> in their church. Ask them if they feel believed by those closest to them. So here are some points I would say build a profile<\/i> of healthy church ready to minister to its victims of sexual abuse. Here is the relational ecosystem of a safe church:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Has an integrative policy (of theology and mental health) addressing both prevention and healing.<\/li>\n
  • Has consistent training for all staff and volunteers,.<\/li>\n
  • Holistically addresses broken image-bearers, not broken genders.<\/li>\n
  • Addresses the strengths and weaknesses of 21st<\/sup> century media.<\/li>\n
  • Normalizes the discussion of abuse to promote support for the broken\u2014working on the victim\u2019s time-table.<\/li>\n
  • Routinely address \u201cactual\u201d sin, not just reminders of original sin.<\/li>\n
  • Is looking out for pedophiles that attend, and has a redemptive plan for them, too.<\/li>\n
  • Has \u201cwounded\u201d leaders (men and women) in positions of leadership.<\/li>\n
  • Has a developing policy for sex offenders in their congregation.<\/li>\n
  • Has checks and balances for the abuse of power in leadership.<\/li>\n
  • Has publicized support groups for survivors.<\/li>\n
  • Is cognizant of the language and tone delivered from the pulpit.<\/li>\n
  • Teaches on biblical texts that validate the experience of survivors.<\/li>\n
  • Has a reputation in the community for honesty, respect, and care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    PR: You quote Neil Plantinga, \u201cSin is disruption of created harmony and then resistance to divine restoration of that harmony.\u201d What are some of the resistances happening in churches preventing or thwarting the restoration that God wants to bring?<\/b><\/p>\n

    Andrew Schmutzer:<\/b><\/p>\n

    We can identify several kinds of church resistance <\/i>that are thwarting restoration and healing:<\/p>\n

    The resistance of \u2026 \u201csacred silence\u201d<\/b> (e.g., a faith-culture of selectively discussing the sins we want to face; ironically, this is accompanied by an avoidance of preaching and teaching biblical passages that already address rape, incest, and sexual betrayal; this resistance forces a teen to out their story first because the leadership won\u2019t break the silence for victims).<\/p>\n

    The resistance of \u2026 happy-worship<\/b> (e.g., a one-sided kind of praise that withholds the opportunity for survivors to engage in redemptive naming, lamenting, and weeping; this forces the sexually broken to worship in spite<\/i> of pain rather than in<\/i> pain\u2014creating dishonesty and superficiality\u2014and does not teach the larger faith-community to shoulder collective grief<\/i> on behalf of their sexually broken brothers and sisters).<\/p>\n

    The resistance of \u2026 minimization<\/b> (e.g., claiming that \u201call sin is the same\u201d is a post-modern mantra that actually trivializes the evil of sexual abuse and does not understand that all sin is not equally devastating<\/i>; this is particularly painful when the non-abused tell the abused how they should feel and respond; would we tell a returning soldier how to deal with their phantom limb?)<\/p>\n

    The resistance of \u2026 mandated forgiveness<\/b> (e.g., while it sounds spiritual, it is a re<\/i>-victimization for survivors that stems from not understanding the layers of trauma in sexual abuse, coupled with the common mistake of equating forgiveness with reconciliation; a jewel thief can be forgiven but should that person return to work for the store owner?)<\/p>\n

    The resistance of \u2026 avoiding wounded leaders<\/b> (e.g., sometimes it takes wounds to heal wounds, but withholding wounded leaders from shepherding positions can leave the wounded sheep with no \u201csafe\u201d model to connect to\u00a0 their form of sexual brokenness).<\/p>\n

    The resistance of \u2026 \u201cvictory\u201d theologies<\/b> (e.g., such theologies are not capable of addressing horrendous evil, have little patience for healing as a process<\/i>, blame too much on the devil, typically search for some \u201csilver bullet\u201d to eliminate suffering, dismisses the candor of lament theology, and lack adequate integration with the disciplines of psychology and medicine that also speak into the trauma of sexual abuse; behind \u201cvictory\u201d theologies is often a misunderstanding of how sexual abuse lives on within the relational ecosystem).<\/p>\n

    Like addressing obesity, only some groups are taking sexual abuse seriously. Abuse is an issue people don\u2019t want to face till it hits their family or faith community, and even then some won\u2019t go there. For many churches, it has been too easy to dismiss the epidemic of sexual abuse when their church doesn\u2019t have priests, a tall hierarchy or a magisterium to follow. \u201cSocial justice,\u201d particularly in its faddish forms, often appeals to issues \u201coutside\u201d its own group, but can be callous to difficulty within its own ranks.<\/p>\n

    There has always been a current within protestant church culture that delights in its independent <\/i>or escapist <\/i>identity. Abuse thrives where transparency doesn\u2019t<\/i>. Obviously, I don\u2019t need to explain how primed for abuse such a church culture is: the isolated pastor, personality cult or the secluded community. It is one thing when the abusing priest speaks for God and is also called \u201cFather,\u201d yet protestant churches mimic this when obedience is enforced, evil is only mystical, and questioning of authority is punished. Abuse thrives when image management trumps accountability. The effect is similar among the insular Amish and Hasidic Jewish communities. Google such stories of abuse\u2014the names can be easily traded out for other churches. The truth is, isolated churches lack: (1) the knowledge for adequate policies, (2) the mechanisms for accountability, (3) and the grace necessary for restoration. So unless pastors preach on abuse and seize the teachable moments in society, the sexually traumatized won\u2019t hear this ancient sin named and God\u2019s desired healing gets short-changed by servants who lack moral vision.<\/b><\/p>\n

    PR<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In Conversation with Andrew Schmutzer An interview with Andrew Schmutzer about The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused, and part 1 of his chapter, “A Theology of Sexuality and its Abuse: Creation, Evil, and the Relational Ecosystem” as appearing in Pneuma Review Summer 2013.           Note from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2912,"featured_media":21340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,5885],"tags":[2772,2700,2680,2835,2868,5079,3964,2682,2818],"ppma_author":[4440],"class_list":["post-21339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry-2","category-summer-2013","tag-bible","tag-christian","tag-church","tag-global","tag-god","tag-home","tag-journey","tag-long","tag-pentecostal","author-andrewjschmutzer"],"authors":[{"term_id":4440,"user_id":2912,"is_guest":0,"slug":"andrewjschmutzer","display_name":"Andrew Schmutzer","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/AndrewSchmutzer4-150x150.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/AndrewSchmutzer4-150x150.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21339"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=21339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}