Has church hurt or spiritual abuse ever made you want to quit church altogether? Have the actions of people who claim to know Jesus made you want to give up on God?
For author Natalie Runion, a pastor's kid and pastor herself, she has seen the underside of the Church and ministry. As a teen she experienced a deep church wound after her family was kicked out of the congregation her father pastored. That experience sent Natalie on a journey of trying to determine if God and Church was even worth the effort. It was through her own wrestling that Natalie began the Raised to Stay Instagram page where she challenges the Church and champions the saints. Through small squares, Natalie talks about the church hurt, spiritual abuse, accountability and how to navigate God's call for God's people with the hurt and pain so many of us experience from Church. In her latest book, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away, Natalie makes an honest exploration of disappointment with the Church and how to keep your faith in the middle of it.
As more and more churches and church leaders make the headlines for moral and leadership failures, Davey talks with Natalie about how to distinguish between church hurt and spiritual abuse, the important role leaders play in listening to those who share stories of leadership misconduct and abuse, and why we need to learn to be people who can wrestle well with our pain and the pain of others.
If Church has ever left you questioning who God was or His love for you, this conversation will remind you that God is good and kind even when people are not and that sometimes we have to fight for our faith to believe that.