Welcome to ChurchTrauma.org
“Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.” Ecclesiastes 4:1 English Standard Version (ESV)
Our Story: Dominique & Megan have been in a religious cult, a charismatic nondenominational church, and a Southern Baptist church that all exhibited signs of spiritual abuse. As survivors of spiritual abuse in diverse church settings, they have dedicated their lives to preventing spiritual abuse in institutional settings and serving others who have also been abused under the guise of Christianity.
Our Goal is to:
Listen: We hope to provide a safe place for victims of spiritual abuse to share their stories without judgement.
Identify: We want to identify spiritually abusive wolves within organized religion, to protect others from harm.
Educate: We want to help others identify the signs and symptoms of spiritual abuse through our written works and educational resources, and through speaking engagements.
Blog Posts
Red Flags at Reaching & Teaching International Ministries (RTIM)
Reaching & Teaching International Ministries (RTIM) claims that it “exists to reach the peoples of the world through evangelism and by meeting the great need for deep discipleship, pastoral preparation, leadership training, and theological education around the world.” A Godly, righteous-sounding mission. Yet incredibly, at one point in the not-so-distant-past, three men who were either …
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The Storm – Part Thirteen of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College
There is a song by the popular Christian music group Casting Crowns, entitled “While You Were Sleeping.” The song takes a different approach to the classic Christmas carol about the Little Town of Bethlehem – while the town of Bethlehem was going about its usual business (which they correlate with “sleeping”), Christ the savior was …
The Calm Before… Part Twelve of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College
The last entry was pretty traumatic for a lot of people and perhaps as a result of reading this, they were re-traumatized to spiritual abuse in your own life. One dear friend who was not in Narrowgate reached out to my wife this past week and said that reading our experience re-traumatized her to some …
Armageddon: Part Eleven of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College
Author’s note: This blog was quite possibly the hardest yet to write. Of all the experiences we’ve had in the Narrowgate cult, this is most certainly one of the most traumatic experiences of my entire life. It’s difficult to dig this up – several people who I have talked about this experience have blocked it …
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Church is the Thing with Friendship
Insomniac poetry. (Yes, I know I have a ways to go. And YES I know all churches aren’t bad and NO I don’t think everyone should stop going to church. This is just my personal experience, it’s my therapy, so excuse the darkness.) From a prompt “__________ is the thing with ___________” based on Emily …
Narrowgate X: Part Ten of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College
You build me up, you break me down until I’m falling to pieces. The price I pay to live this way, and the fantasy stays alive. (Dream Theater) There were so many teachings during this general time period. Some of them were documented in my journal, though some of them just sort of popped up …
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Supplemental documentation for USA Today article on Oakwood Baptist Church
Yesterday, our story was published in a USA Today article titled “The tongue is a fire’: Southern Baptist church fractures over secrets and spiritual abuse” by Tricia Nadolny. Some external information was referenced in the story, which I have documented below. Note that the content of this blog entry may be updated or edited as necessary. …
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Descending: Part Nine of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College
This is blog post nine in this series, and since I started blogging, I have been asked numerous times “how much more is there?” I can say that there is no firm number, as I’m mainly transcribing and commenting on the journal I created back in the 90’s. Some topics have led me down a …
Continue reading “Descending: Part Nine of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College”
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“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:15-16a
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