What Is Abuse?
From Healing Spiritul Abuse - Ken Blue
"Abuse of any type occurs when someone has power over another and uses that power to hurt. Physical abuse means someone exercises physical power over another,causing physical wounds. Sexual abuse means that someone exercises sexual power over another, resulting in sexual wounds. And spiritual abuse happens when a leader with spiritual authority uses that authority to coerce, control or exploit a follower, thus causing spiritual wounds, Ron Enroth explains further “Unlike physical abuse that often results in bruised bodies, spiritual and pastoral abuse leaves scars on the psyche and soul. It is inflicted by persons who are accorded respect an honor in our society by virtue of their role as religious leaders and model of spiritual authority. They base that authority on the Bible, the Word of God. and see themselves as shepherds with a sacred trust, but when they violate that trust, when they abuse their authority and when they misuse ecclesiastical power to control and manipulate the flock, the results can be catastrophic”
"Once I saw what Jesus was really saying in Matthew 23, I found him saying similar things throughout the Gospels. In fact, Jesus was so focussed on the problem of spiritual abuse that it was the only social evil against which he developed a platform. It was the only cultural problem that he repeatedly exposed and opposed. This is amazing when we recall that his culture was plagued by a host of serious social ills. Jesus took no public stand on slavery, racism, class warfare, state sponsored terrorism, military occupation or corruption in government. He spoke not a word against abortion or infanticide , homosexuality or the exploitation of women and children. All of these and more were pressing problems in Jesus' day, but we have no record of his directly addressing them.
The modern church has spoken out against each of these social ills. Surprisingly , however, until recently we have said virtually nothing about spiritual abuse, the one social problem Jesus seemed to care about the most."
From Healing Spiritul Abuse - Ken Blue
"Abuse of any type occurs when someone has power over another and uses that power to hurt. Physical abuse means someone exercises physical power over another,causing physical wounds. Sexual abuse means that someone exercises sexual power over another, resulting in sexual wounds. And spiritual abuse happens when a leader with spiritual authority uses that authority to coerce, control or exploit a follower, thus causing spiritual wounds, Ron Enroth explains further “Unlike physical abuse that often results in bruised bodies, spiritual and pastoral abuse leaves scars on the psyche and soul. It is inflicted by persons who are accorded respect an honor in our society by virtue of their role as religious leaders and model of spiritual authority. They base that authority on the Bible, the Word of God. and see themselves as shepherds with a sacred trust, but when they violate that trust, when they abuse their authority and when they misuse ecclesiastical power to control and manipulate the flock, the results can be catastrophic”
"Once I saw what Jesus was really saying in Matthew 23, I found him saying similar things throughout the Gospels. In fact, Jesus was so focussed on the problem of spiritual abuse that it was the only social evil against which he developed a platform. It was the only cultural problem that he repeatedly exposed and opposed. This is amazing when we recall that his culture was plagued by a host of serious social ills. Jesus took no public stand on slavery, racism, class warfare, state sponsored terrorism, military occupation or corruption in government. He spoke not a word against abortion or infanticide , homosexuality or the exploitation of women and children. All of these and more were pressing problems in Jesus' day, but we have no record of his directly addressing them.
The modern church has spoken out against each of these social ills. Surprisingly , however, until recently we have said virtually nothing about spiritual abuse, the one social problem Jesus seemed to care about the most."
From Cultures of Secrecy & Abuse: A Paradox for the Church by Cara Beed
ABUSE_ act or relatioship which causes hurt to another person.
BULLYING is defined as,-the act of repeatedly and deliberately putting a person under stress.
SECRECY- deep suspicion of secrecy in any of its forms. Churches do not have a greater right to resist public scrutiny than any other group. The urge to keep things quiet, and the desire to avoid scandal at any cost, is a response which does nothing to protect the Church from it happenning again.
WITHOUT “MORAL COURAGE’ TO TELL THE TRUTH, we are in danger of losing the ‘freedom’ to speak out at all.
"Safeguarding everyone in the church from all forms of abuse - bullying, secrecy and misuse of power - is our first responsibility. Prayer, contemplation, service, liturgy, communion and Bible study offer inspiration, and then there is action.
The first action must be to put our house in order."
"The present structure of churches, working from a top down hierarchy, encourages silence from lay members. But church leaders must not be appointed and then left to carry responsibilities for the church. A new structure is needed where all contribute, expect to contribute, know we are responsible.
Intense, cooperative work needed to uncover the structures that hold, and misuse power between individuals and within groups and cliques. We need education about what encourages secrecy, abuse and bullying."