Darby Strickland is raising awareness about domestic abuse, but… (pt 2 of series on the Church Cares program)

Darby Strickland is helping awaken the church to abuse issues. She is one of the teachers in the free videos which are soon to come out from Church Cares – the SBC's attempt to start educating the church about how to identify and respond to abuse. In Part 1 of this series I praised the… Continue reading Darby Strickland is raising awareness about domestic abuse, but… (pt 2 of series on the Church Cares program)

David Clarke is another self-styled ‘expert’ on domestic abuse and Focus On The Family are promoting him.

[March 9, 2023: There have been some changes made to this post. For more information, read the Editors’ notes at the bottom of the post. Editors.] Focus On The Family are promoting David Clarke and his book I Don't Want a Divorce: a 90-Day Guide to Saving Your Marriage. David Clarke does not understand enough… Continue reading David Clarke is another self-styled ‘expert’ on domestic abuse and Focus On The Family are promoting him.

Shepherds Protect the Flock: Five Changes Pastors Need to Make in Addressing Abuse in the Church

A guest post by an American pastor. In his excellent book on pastoral ministry, Timothy Witmer proposes four duties of the pastor. Taking his cues from the Bible, he uses the image of a shepherd to describe these duties. A shepherd must know the flock, feed the flock, lead the flock, and protect the flock.… Continue reading Shepherds Protect the Flock: Five Changes Pastors Need to Make in Addressing Abuse in the Church

“How He Gets Into Her Head” — an introduction to Don Hennessy’s book

Nearly four decades ago, Don Hennessy was working in the Irish city of Cork at the Cork Marriage Counselling Centre. They identified domestic violence as the underlying issue for about 30% of their clients. It was identified as a pattern of abusive and violent behaviour that allowed the offender to control his intimate partner. Thus… Continue reading “How He Gets Into Her Head” — an introduction to Don Hennessy’s book

Survivor’s story in response to Texas church shooting — a guest post

[May 22, 2022: There have been some changes made to this post. For more information, read the Editors’ notes at the bottom of the post. Editors.] While driving about this morning, I listened to a radio interview about the shooter who killed and hurt people in a church in Texas. It turns out this man… Continue reading Survivor’s story in response to Texas church shooting — a guest post

Finding a good counselor

Finding a counselor who is competent to counsel victims of abuse can be quite challenging. Some counselors have a good understanding of domestic abuse but many do not. Catherine DeLoach Lewis is a Christian counselor who was untrained in domestic abuse until—by the providence of God—she woke up. We interviewed her on this blog and she said: I began my… Continue reading Finding a good counselor

FAQ Highlight — What about couple counseling?

Resolving the kind of conflicts between people for which couples counseling is intended will not stop one person from abusing the other.  Conflict is a pretext for abuse, not a cause of it.  (Terry Moore, a licensed clinical addiction counselor) FAQ: What about couple counseling? Many of our readers can attest to the fact that… Continue reading FAQ Highlight — What about couple counseling?