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$ Trauma-informed Evangelism: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers (Neighborhood Seminary)
April 27, 2023 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
We live in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and an awakening in the white American church to its complicity in white supremacy and systemic racism; in the wake of riots at US Capitol fueled by Christian nationalism; in the wake of notable megachurch meltdowns; in the midst of significant decline in the American church; and in the midst of widespread faith deconstruction among folks who have been harmed by the Church because of their gender, sexuality, race (or any number of other reasons). Many question if Christianity is worthy of participation, given the bad fruit it often bears.
If the Church is to faithfully bear witness to the good road of God’s kingdom in this context, it must reckon with the pain it has caused its neighbors, the spiritual abuse experienced in religious communities, and the resulting religious trauma neighbors carry in their bodies and minds. Christians who want to love these neighbors well must adopt trauma-informed postures in order to be sources of healing rather than harm.
Charles Kiser (joined on occasion by Elaine Heath) leads the course through TRAUMA-INFORMED EVANGELISM: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers, equipping participants with an understanding of spiritual abuse and religious trauma, theological imagination about religious trauma and healing, and trauma-informed postures that help individuals and churches relate to their neighbors in loving and healing ways.
COURSE DETAILS
- 8 Thursdays beginning April 27 through June 15, 2023
- Classes meet April 27, May 4, 11, 18, 25, June 1, 8, 15
- Virtual course via ZOOM
- 7:30-9:00 pm EST/ 6:30-8:00 pm CST/ 5:30-7:00 pm MST/ 4:30-6:00 pm PST (USA)
- Course outline and reading assignments provided after course registration
- Zoom link provided one week prior to start of first class.
- Each weekly session is 90 minutes long and includes:
- A trauma-informed centering practice
- Creative engagement with the focus chapters of the week from Kiser and Heath’s book
- Small group discussion in breakouts
- A “weekly adventure” — a suggested activity to put the course into practice that week
$225
