Editor’s note: Names of some survivors are omitted to respect their privacy. Since the exposure of sex abuser Pete Newman at Kanakuk Kamps in 2009, a growing community of child sex abuse survivors and justice advocates has formed. In interviews…
What are they wearing in District One? The Met Gala, Gaza and another real-life connection to the Hunger Games
On May 6, celebrities waltzed into the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the year’s biggest night of fashion, extravagance and outrageous displays of wealth: The Met Gala. One ticket to the Met Gala costs around $75,000, which the BBC points…
Putting the wicked to rest: Creating teal steeples beyond Sexual Violence Awareness Month
I turned on the TV / And flipped it over to the news / And what I saw I almost couldn’t comprehend. I saw a preacher man in cuffs / He’d taken money from the church / He’d stuffed his…
Grace Valentine, ice cream and sources of empowerment for women in complementarian circles
After a Good Friday worship service, Anne-Tillery, a divinity school friend and I, were discussing gender roles in the church over ice cream at the local Kilwins. The night before, we had found ourselves among a sizable group of sorority…
Wrestling with the reality of sexual abuse in the Easter story in Surviving God
In their new book, Surviving God: A New Vision of God Through the Eyes of Sexual Abuse Survivors, Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Susan Shaw offer a feminist and intersectional understanding of God that challenges traditional ways of Christian thinking. Kim…
What I learned hearing 10 Baptist pastors talk about LGBTQ inclusion
Last Friday, I attended the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s 30th anniversary gathering at First Baptist Church of Greensboro, N.C. The theme of “thriving together” took on particular interest to me as a young seminarian because of one of…
Arkansas governor calls for Board of Corrections member to resign after being named in multiple civil complaints about child sexual abuse
Alonza Jiles has declined to resign from his position on the Arkansas’ Board of Corrections despite being called to do so by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders urged Jiles to resign because he has been named by multiple survivors of…
Bill on statute of limitations reform passes out of Missouri House committee unanimously for the second time
For the second year in a row, a bill proposed by Missouri House Rep. Brian Seitz (R) aiming to reform the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse has been unanimously approved by a committee in the House…
How ‘Twin Flames Universe’ leader pretends to be Jesus to create an abusive multi-level marketing scheme
“If you really had the fire of Christ in you, you would do everything in your power to share this.” Such language is common in evangelical churches, with the “this” referring to the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ. But…