Oneness in Faith

Oneness in faith is our faith talk topic for January 11, 2025. We go to church. We serve in the church. We call the people in the church our brothers and our sisters. The church is the last place we expect to experience trauma. What happens when the people of the faith hurt us? Who do we run to for help? How do we cope with the hurt? Are we even aware of the effects of the hurt? Is church hurt a single, secluded event or a world-wide phenomenon?

In a study conducted in 2023, research shows that at least one-third of people in the church have experienced religious trauma (Percentage of U.S. Adults Suffering From Trauma: A Sociological Study). In this article, Dr. Martin Rossman noticed that most of his patients suffered from lifelong consequences from being raised in toxic, religious environments. Rossman wrote, “A great number of people I see in my medical practice have been traumatized rather than uplifted by their religious training. I think that harmful religious training may be one of the great unrecognized causes of mental and physical illness in our culture,” ((PDF) Percentage of U.S. Adults Suffering from Religious Trauma: A Sociological Study ) This article has a plethora of resources for dealing with religious trauma.

One of my favorites is an article written by Carmen Rumbaut, Healing Religious Trauma Through Art. Rumbaut writes, “I encourage you to write, paint, dance or sing your religious trauma. Writing Immigrant Limbo was a first step in healing my religious trauma. Art gets all your parts talking. Getting out of the rational mind while still having some activity of expression gives your wisdom a chance to come out and play,” (https://tinyurl.com/23ukyt9v ).

As we journey together to deal with church hurt, let's start with the faith challenge of creating art this weekend or this week. See where the art takes you. Let us know how it goes. Share your art with us on social media (Instagram or Facebook) or text us your pictures (313) 444-0608.