Church Abuse Recovery... a basic roadmap for overcoming loss

When you’ve experienced church abuse, or any significant loss, it’s easy to get stuck in a form of exile where you feel lost and disoriented. This post offers a brief roadmap to help people find the path to recovery.

church, faith, God, grief, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichApril 24, 2025loss, trauma, restoration, recovery, churchabuse, griefandloss, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, abusivepastor Comment

Church Abuse: Why "Matthew 18" May Not Apply to Confronting Pastors

Abusive church leaders misuse Matthew 18 to silence victims. Learn why it may not apply to pastors and what you can do instead.

church, abuse, Bible, faith, God, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichApril 12, 2024churchabuse, powerimbalance, churchhurt, religiousabuse, confrontingpastors Comments

Tackling Church Wounds with Christy Boulware

This is my second post with some of the questions and answers from when I was interviewed by Christy Boulware for her podcast. We looked at spiritual abuse and women in ministry.

abuse, church, faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichFebruary 29, 2024christyboulware, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastor, abusivechurch, womeninministryComment

Church Hurt Podcast with Christy Boulware

I join Christy Boulware on her podcast to kick off her new series on “Resilience in the Pews: Tackling Anxiety and Church Wounds. In this post I answer a few of the questions that she posed to me about spiritual abuse.

Christianity, church, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichFebruary 22, 2024christyboulware, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicfaith, abusivepastor, spiritualabuseComment

When GOSSIP becomes a spiritually weaponized accusation

Spiritually toxic leaders often weaponize the accusation of gossip to shut down complaints. But what does the Bible say about gossip? Accusing someone of gossip is often a tactic of spiritual abuse.

faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMay 26, 2023gossip, spiritualabuse, church, abusivepastor, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicfaithComment

How To Recover and Heal From Spiritual Abuse

Healing and recovery from spiritual abuse is often elusive. But you can find your way back to a full life and meaningful spirituality. This post outlines a new five part video series on how to recover and heal from spiritual abuse.

Bible, Christianity, church, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichJuly 22, 2022churchhurt, churchabuse, spiritualabuse, givingupongod, givinguponchurch, spiritualabuserecoveryComment

Bad Religion and the Resurrection of Jesus, by F. Remy Diederich

So much of what is called Christianity today poorly represents Jesus. It’s just bad religion. Jesus didn’t come to give us more of the same. He came to exchange something new for the old… something alive and life-changing. His resurrection was proof that his way will last.

church, Easter, Bible, Christianity, faith, God, religion and spirituality, JesusF. Remy DiederichApril 7, 2018resurrection, badreligion, toxicfaith, churchabuse, church Comment

Choosing to Not Give Up On Church or God

There are a lot of reasons to give up on church. The church has failed many people in many ways. But the church is the hope of the world if you engage in it.

Christianity, church, faith, GodF. Remy DiederichJanuary 2, 2018quittingchurch, givinguponchurch, badreligion, toxicfaith, churchhurt, churchabuse Comment

Five Things I Learned from Spiritual Abuse Survivors

Survivors of spiritual abuse are often misunderstood and mistreated. The book, Broken Trust, was written with this in mind and incorporated the input of many survivors.

abuse, churchF. Remy DiederichSeptember 9, 2017ptsd, spiritualabuse, toxicfaith, booksonspiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuseComment

Survivors of Spiritual Abuse: Five Ways to Offer Your Support

Survivors of spiritual abuse are so often misunderstood and mistreated. This post will give you practical advice on how to treat survivors of spiritual abuse.

abuse, faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMay 13, 2017recovery, Spiritual abuse, toxic church, toxic faith, books on spiritual abuse, spiritualabuse, toxicchurch, toxicfaith, confrontingpastors, booksonspiritualabuse, survivorsofspiritualabuse, churchabuse, churchhurtComment

Churches That Abuse: Six Warning Signs

Churches that spiritually abuse people have common characteristics. Here are six traits from the book, Churches that Abuse.

spiritual abuse, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichFebruary 20, 2017churchesthatabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, spiritualabuse, toxicfaith, booksonspiritualabuse, spiritualabusebooks Comment

I Left My Toxic Church...Now What?

After being abused spiritually, some people give up on church. Others dive right back into church. Before you return to church there are a few things to consider.

abuse, toxic churchF. Remy DiederichFebruary 20, 2016spiritualabuse, toxicfaith, abusivepastor, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicchurch Comments

How to Reclaim Your Church from Spiritual Abuse

You are a leader in your church and spiritual abuse has just been exposed. What do you do? How do you “clean house” and get your church back on track? This post offers you a guide for the process.

abuse, Christianity, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMarch 14, 2015church, confronting toxic pastors, marshillchurch, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastor, toxicchurch, toxicfaith, confrontingchurchpastors, howtoconfrontyourpastorComment

You Can Smell Spiritual Abuse

When a church can admit that they have been abusive, they need to eradicate it from the roots. Any remaining scent of abuse will be quickly picked up by people who have experienced an abusive church.

religion and spirituality, faithF. Remy DiederichMarch 11, 2015spiritualabuse, toxicfaith, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastor, religioushurtComment

Don't Minimize Spiritual Abuse

It’s hard to admit to abuse. It’s tempting to minimize it. But when a church or pastor is found to be spiritually abusive it needs to be exposed. Don’t minimize spiritual abuse.

abuse, church, pastors, toxic churchF. Remy DiederichMarch 9, 2015abuse, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastorComment

How to Recover From Spiritual Abuse, by F. Remy Diederich

When you’ve experienced spiritual abuse, it can be so devastating you may not feel like you will ever recover. But God is faithful. He can renew your spirit if you give him the opportunity. This post will give you some direction to let that happen.

abuse, faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMarch 5, 2015churchesthatabuse, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicfaith, booksonspiritualabuse, abusivepastorComment

How to Confront a Toxic Pastor in a Toxic Church

The church is supposed to be a blessing to the world. A pastor should be the greatest champion of grace and truth. There is nothing more perverse and distorted than a toxic pastor. Learn how to confront an abusive pastor.

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