Being a Woman of Color in a White Church

Guest Bios

Show Transcript

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnFRUZwmjZE

What is it like to be a person of color in a predominantly white evangelical church? Does fitting in require someone to change their behavior, appearance, and speech? And if so, what does that say about the church?

In this latest podcast, Julie explores these issues with Jenai Auman. Jenai is a survivor of spiritual abuse in an Acts 29 church. She’s also a certified trauma support specialist and has a unique ministry, writing about healing, hope, and the way forward for survivors of religious trauma.

Jenai also is Filipina American—and spent more than a decade worshiping and serving in a white evangelical church in Texas. She says she has seen how persons of color face discrimination in overt and subtle ways.

Speaking vulnerably and lovingly, Jenai shares what it’s like to live as a person of color in a predominantly white church. And she offers insights into how white Christians can do a better job of loving and embracing persons of color in their midst.

This Weeks Guests

Jenai Auman

Jenai Auman is a Filipina American writer, artist, and storyteller who writes on belonging and the goodness of God from a trauma-informed perspective. Drawing from her biracial upbringing in the American south, 17 years in church ministry, and education in behavioral health, she writes on healing, hope, and the way forward for those who have experienced abuse and trauma within the church. She lives in Houston, TX with her husband and two sons. You can connect with Jenai across social media @jenaiauman.

Show Transcript

SPEAKERS

JULIE ROYS, JENAI AUMAN

JULIE ROYS  00:04

What is it like to be a person of color in a predominantly white Evangelical Church? Does fitting in require someone to change their behavior, appearance, or speech? And if so, what does that say about the church?

Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And joining me today is Jenai Auman. Jenai is a survivor of spiritual abuse in an Acts 29 church. She’s also a certified trauma Support Specialist and has a really unique ministry writing about healing, hope, and the way forward for those who have experienced religious abuse and trauma. Jenai also hosts a private online community called Wilderness Forum. This is a safe place for other spiritual abuse survivors to process their stories and find healing. In this podcast, we’re going to talk about Jenai’s journey. We’ll discuss how she came to Christ and then got involved in the Reformed church movement, and then had one of the most painful experiences in her life when she became the target of spiritual abuse. But we’re also going to talk about her unique experience of growing up biracial in Texas, and serving in the white Evangelical Church, and how being an abuse survivor has opened her eyes to other problems in the church, like how we treat and marginalize persons of color. I know this is going to be a challenging and important discussion, and I’m so excited to have Jenai on this podcast.

But before we dive in, I’d like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, The Restore Conference and Marquardt of Barrington. I am so excited to announce the next Restore Conference, June 9th and 10th at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois. Joining us for this amazing two-day event to restore faith in God and the church will be many leading abuse survivor advocates. These include our beloved speakers who have joined us before, Wade Mullen, Scot McKnight, Mary Demuth, Lori Ann Thompson and Nagmeh Panahi. But we have new voices joining us as well, like trauma informed soul care provider Kyle James Howard, Sudanese Christian activist Meriam Ibrahim, and my guest on today’s podcast, Jenai Auman. Yours truly will be there as well. But by far, what makes this gathering so special is you – the survivors, allies, activists, and church leaders who truly get it or want to get it. For more informa