Warped & Wounded Sanctuaries

Pain, grief, hurt, and anger experienced by ministry and church staff don't just go away overnight. Especially when they are raw and personal, the wounds are shockingly profound. To complicate matters, amid your grief, you find yourself still believing or hoping in the very thing you are grieving. Maybe you relate to the following: "I still love Jesus. I am just not very happy with His bride right now." Those who have been hurt by the church know exactly what this feels like amid and after the injury. It's an odd contradiction one must sift through to find healing.

Churches hurt. Churches hurt those who serve her. Churches hurt those who love her most. Yet the hurt is often not discussed beyond hushed tones and instead buried deep within the soul of the one who is suffering. When the church wounds those trying to serve her, the pain goes to the innermost part of one's heart, soul, and mind, and finding your way back to healing can seem impossible. Continuing to believe in the church's mission can seem even further away than healing. So how does one go from being hurt by the church and grieving the pain and subsequental loss to landing at a place of healing and continuing God's mission through the church?

This book explores various questions through a range of topics, including singleness within the church, how to remain true to God's calling rather than man's view of ministry, how an introvert can belong in church ministry, and how the church is often run more like a business. Providing space to reflect on one's journey, Joele M. Renee recounts her own experiences within the church, shares the stories of others, and allows the reader to revisit and work through their own ministry story on their path toward healing.