‘Read the Bible through the lens of trauma’

Six hundred people from 32 countries and six continents met online for this year’s ‘Church as a Refuge’ conference. Among the themes talked about were ‘reading the Bible through the lens of trauma’. Naomi Dawson reports:

The ‘Church as a Refuge’ conference was born out of a desire to help churches better understand power, control and abuse within the church. Jacqui Wright and Cliff Turner (both health-care professionals) planned and hosted the conference. This conference was not just academic, but real, personal and tragic for so many involved. Having benefitted from the teaching of Dr Dianne Langberg, Jacqui wanted the wider church to benefit from her teaching too.

Three hundred people had originally registered for the conference in London in May 2020 but, due to the pandemic, it was postponed. The organisers see the Lord’s timing in this as, one year on, it was no longer a small in-person conference. It had become much larger, and was now a two-day, online, international event.

During the conference Dr Dianne Langberg and six other experts spoke. The sessions covered abuse, power and control, and the dangers that can happen within our churches.

Over the past year the work of ‘Church as a Refuge’ has grown. This includes: international thinktanks for Bible Colleges and pastoral workers; online support groups for Christian women; and a new group for male leaders subjected to abuse through workplace bullying.

A stand-out talk for me was Dr Phil Munroe’s session ‘How to face challenges and opportunities – dealing with abuse’. He encouraged us to read the Bible through the lens of trauma. Munroe said: ‘The Bible was written for people that are suffering, the focus on traumatised people is not a condemnation.’ This summer take some time to listen to these recordings. Pray that the church would no longer be a place of hurt but of healing, no longer a place of danger but of refuge.