Category Archives: Abusive churches

In Church Conflict (as in War), The Malice of the Wicked is Reinforced by the Weakness of the Virtuous

Posted on January 16, 2019 by David V. Edling

Over the holidays, I began reading Winston Churchill’s Memoirs of the Second World War (the abridged version not knowing if I would live long enough to read his entire six volume set!).  In one of the opening paragraphs Churchill writes … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Confrontation, Excerpts from "Redeeming Church Conflicts", Postmodern Relativism and Church Conflict | Comments Off on In Church Conflict (as in War), The Malice of the Wicked is Reinforced by the Weakness of the Virtuous

Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can Be Grace

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Tara Barthel

Since I linked over to it in today’s post on my personal blog, I thought I would share this post with you too: Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can Be Grace Not only is this an extraordinarily important topic … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor, Lawsuits and Church Conflict | Comments Off on Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can Be Grace

What should we do when our church’s leadership is boldly rewarding and promoting their own “inner circle”?

Posted on May 27, 2017 by David V. Edling

Q: We have all heard of “cliques” in the church, but what should one do when it becomes obvious that the church’s leadership culture boldly rewards, acknowledges, and promotes their own elite “inner circle?” This is occurring while at the … Continue reading →

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Making the Decision to Leave Your Church

Posted on October 30, 2016 by David V. Edling

A few weeks ago in response to my blog about church membership, member vows, and what might be a valid reason to leave one’s church, a reader wrote that she didn’t think I answered the question. She also expressed her opinion that … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Conflicts involving church leaders, When is it valid to leave a church? | Comments Off on Making the Decision to Leave Your Church

The Greatest Danger to Your Pastor’s Spiritual Growth

Posted on September 1, 2016 by David V. Edling

I have always believed that the highest character trait of a Christian is humility. There are many statements in the Bible that support my position. Here are just a few: This is the one I esteem: he who is humble … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Causes of Church Conflict, Conflicts involving church leaders, Conflicts with our youth pastor | 3 Comments

Church Discipline: Also Pursuing the Sinned-Against

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Tara Barthel

In Chapter 12 of Redeeming Church Conflicts (“Accountability We Should Cherish”), Dave and I  recommend a wonderful book on church discipline by Jonathan Leeman entitled The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline. As I … Continue reading →

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RedeemingLinks: What Spiritual Abuse IS and Is NOT

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Tara Barthel

Tim Challies and Bob Kellemen do an excellent job discussing what spiritual abuse IS and is NOT in this two-part series: Spiritual Abuse More on Spiritual Abuse

Posted in Abusive churches, Church discipline, Conflicts involving church leaders, Disappointment in the church, RedeemingLINKS | Leave a comment

Should we stop saying, “The church hurt me?”

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Tara Barthel

An excellent post by Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile: Should we stop saying “The church hurt me?” Pastor Thabiti starts by exploring what we really mean by “the church”: the church universal? The local church? The church’s leadership? An individual or small … Continue reading →

Posted in Abusive churches, Authentic Relationships in the Church, Biblical peacemaking in the church, Disappointment in the church, RedeemingLINKS | Leave a comment