Review of Trauma in the Pews
Review of Trauma in the Pews by Janyne McConnaughey (Winner of the 2022 BIBA® Award in Psychology)
I thought it was just me. That I was just a failure. That, for some reason, church would always be a struggle. Maybe I am just too sensitive. Maybe I don’t try hard enough. Maybe it really is just my sin after all.
Enter Trauma in the Pews. I felt seen. And known. And understood. And accepted. Relieved. Even hopeful.
At the beginning of the book and throughout it, really, Janyne McConnaughey shares her and others’ stories of struggle and the belief that if she just tried hard enough she would grow closer to God. She finally comes to the realization that “the impact of trauma and feelings of spiritual failure were connected.” Thus, this book.
She writes to flesh out this very connection between the impact of trauma and feelings of spiritual failure, educating both leaders and laypeople within the church so that they can be agents of healing, rather than sources of greater trauma.
First of all, drawing from neuroscience, she gives an excellent overview of trauma, what it is and its impact on the brain, body, soul. She also gives language to what to do with this information and differentiates between being trauma informed, trauma sensitive, and trauma responsive, with the goal that the church should be all three.
From there she uses Richard Foster’s spiritual practices from his A Celebration of Discipline as a guide to show us why each of these practices presents a challenge to those suffering with trauma. She views each practice, meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration through the lens of trauma, explaining why that practice may be difficult or retraumatizing and offering variations and alternatives.
One theme throughout her book is her concern with what she calls the “sin narrative.” This is the one area where the more theologically strident may find troublesome, but I would urge them to pay close attention here. She never says that people do not sin. Her concern, and I agree with her wholeheartedly, is that the focus on the sin narrative as the be all and end all of our connection to God, is what is damaging to this vulnerable population. “Those impacted by trauma, specifically relational trauma, can always find a reason to blame what happened on their own sin, even when they were sinned against.”
When a church views everything through the lens of sin and guilt then the quest tends to be: “What did I do wrong? Where do I need to repent?” It can become incredibly performance oriented and there is no frame of reference for human suffering or overwhelming shame.
By far, the most powerful part of the book, and the part that needs to be impressed on seminary students, pastors, church leaders, and even lay people is the chapter on how to be a trauma responsive church. In it, she fleshes out four principles.
Trauma-responsive ministry places relationships first.
Trauma-responsive ministry unconditionally receives stories.
Trauma-responsive ministry teaches about trauma.Trauma-responsive ministry honors healing.
Trauma-responsive ministry honors healing.
Trauma-responsive ministry is compassion-driven.
She wraps up the chapter with these words of hope: “May our churches become places where we vulnerably walk alongside each other in the messy processes of life and healing. This would be the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus bringing heaven to earth.”
Janyne McConnaughey offers so much understanding and camaraderie with those impacted by trauma, as well as great hope and a path to forming healing communities. It is a must read.
Ginny Barker is a realtor who lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her long suffering husband (and business partner), Matt. They have four amazing adult children and one extroverted and energetic granddaughter. Ginny has a passion for the intersection of mental health and faith and is particularly vocal about the abuse of power in its various manifestations. She loves long walks, old houses, coffee, dogs, books, maps, and severe weather and, if she had her way, would spend her days as a storm chaser. She occasionally blogs her thoughts and experiences at Cheetos For Breakfast