By Broken to Beloved
Over 58 million adults in the US have experienced spiritual abuse and religious trauma. Maybe you’re one of them.
The Broken to Beloved Podcast is for anyone who’s been affected by spiritual
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The podcast currently has 26 episodes available.
This the second episode in a short series on our values. You can listen to our first shared value, "Curiosity over Certainty" in Episode 20 here.
By choosing goodness over wickedness, we affirm the original goodness of every human being and reject a theology that shames, demeans, and devalues. We choose a view of humanity rooted in Genesis 1, not Genesis 2. We reject a “worm theology” that declares our wretchedness and depravity, clinging instead to the truth of the gospel, freedom from condemnation in Christ, and our redemption to God.
Your default nature is not sinfulness, wickedness, and depravity. It is created for beauty, co-creation, and goodness.
“Though we are prone to sin and stray from God, it is important to remember that before original sin, we were clothed with original glory. God longs for humankind to experience the full restoration of our original glory, which we enjoyed at the beginning of creation.” (Ken Shigematsu, Now I Become Myself)
“Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.” (Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved)
If you have questions about what you believe, why you believe it, or any number of other things, you’re welcome here. And we’re glad you’re here.
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
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Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
CW/TW: This episode includes references to some child physical abuse and to overtly Christian language.
How does our story and theology impact our identity? How do the stories we tell ourselves or are reminded of change the way we see ourselves? How much do they keep us from seeing and embracing our inherent belovedness?
In this week’s episode, I speak with Broken to Beloved board member Brett Deal about his own story and journey from brokenness to belovedness. We talk about following the example of Jesus in walking away from situations and relationships, and the significance of understanding our own stories.
When our unexamined stories are carried forward throughout our lives, how can we begin to understand their meaning? What kind of healing can we find when we address deeper wounds that exacerbate current ones?
Healing and wholeness can be found when we find places and people who offer safety, vulnerability, and an opportunity to be heard, believed, and known. We hope you find that here.
If you’d like to donate to support our work at Broken to Beloved, you can give at our website today.
Get the full show notes and links here. 📄
Episode Resources and Links
Guest Spotlight
Brett serves in Richmond, VA, at Eternity Church. Over the last 20 years, he has pastored churches in America and Africa, teaching and training new pastors, planting churches as well as revitalizing others recovering from spiritually abusive leadership. He
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Can you really ever know when you’ve experienced spiritual abuse by church leaders and organizations? Victims and survivors are so often manipulated and gaslit that they question their own memories and experiences.
This is the work Organizational Psychologist Lianna Chong is setting out to complete. Through her work with the Spiritually Abusive Leadership & Climate Survey, she is hoping to have quantifiable and scientifically validated research and hard data.
The survey measures areas like abuse of power, emotional manipulation and abuse, defend and attack (based on DARVO and gaslighting), and psychological safety.
This research will be completed in two rounds, with the first running from Nov–Dec 2024, and a second round in early 2025. The minimum goal is 300 completed surveys, with a full goal of 600.
Would you be willing to complete the survey? It’s all scaled multiple choice (strongly agree – strongly disagree), and takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. It’s fully anonymous (with a few demographic questions), and all online. You can complete it on your phone or computer.
[ take the Spiritually Abusive Leadership & Climate Survey ]
Get the full show notes and links here. 📄
Guest Spotlight
Lianna is an organizational psychologist with experience in ministry and secular organizations. She is passionate about helping teams and leaders create environments where people can bring their best self to work. She provides training and consultation on compassion fatigue, burnout, organizational change, and psychological safety. Recently, Lianna has pivoted her focus to helping people recognize spiritually abusive leadership and promote healthier church cultures.
Lianna has a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology, a Master of Theological Studies, and is a Certified Fearless Organization Scan (FOS) practitioner. In addition to consulting, she has served as Adjunct Faculty at William James College teaching quantitative and qualitative assessment.
Website | Substack | Instagram
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Deconstruction has become a polarized term in the past few years. Added to the arsenal of pastors and church leaders, it’s most often used to to dismiss or demean those who have walked away from their church, or to stoke fear into the hearts and spirits of those asking hard questions.
What was once a word meant to invite conversation or to indicate an desire to learn more and grow deeper has been weaponized.
There is little that it sexy about deconstruction. It’s difficult work, and requires courage and humility. And according to research, most who are deconstructing aren’t walking away from their faith, they’re on the way to deepening and strengthening it.
In this conversation with Scot McKnight and Tommy Phillips, we discuss why so many have left the church in search of the Jesus they hear talked about but don’t see in their own churches. We talk about why theology is a cover for leaving, individuating and spiritual formation, and much more.
Get the full show notes and links here. 📄
Guest Spotlight
Scot has been a professor of NT for more than four decades. He is the author of more than 90 books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as A Church Called TOV.
Tommy Preson Phillips is a pastor at Watermark Church in Tampa, FL. He is also a songwriter and recording artist with his band Preson Phillips. He holds an MA in NT from Northern Seminary.
Scot: Website | Instagram | Twitter/X | Threads
Tommy: Substack | Instagram | Threads | Preson Phillips band
Get your copy of Invisible Jesus on Amazon | on Bookshop
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Here’s the first in a short series on our core values. They’re a work in progress, but I want to share them so you have an idea of our guiding principles.
This week, I’m starting with our desire to show curiosity over certainty.
How many times have we found ourselves in harm’s way for asking a question? How many times have you been met with absolutes, principles, or fundamental truths with no room for comment? Maybe you’ve felt dismissed or demeaned for questioning the way a doctrine seems out of line with the lived practices of many within the very body that professes it.
At Broken to Beloved, we want to approach faith, relationships, and life with a sense of curiosity over certainty. With awe, wonder, and mystery. Certainty leaves no room for faith, which by its very nature is an un-knowing.
If you have questions about what you believe, why you believe it, or any number of other things, you’re welcome here. And we’re glad you’re here.
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
—————
Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Broken to Beloved is officially one year old!
This week, I’m taking a few minutes to reflect on what we’ve seen in the last year, and to provide a brief update on the podcast.
I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly grateful I am for each of you who listen. We’ve just hit 10,000 downloads, and have listeners in 49 states and 63 countries outside of the US!
This podcast wouldn’t exist without you in any meaningful way, and I’ve heard such kind and gracious feedback from many of you. If you’re willing, would you leave us a rating or review, or share with your friends?
If there’s a guest you’d like to hear from, send an email to [email protected] to let us know with “Podcast Guest Request” in the subject. I’m looking forward to wrapping up season one with the things we value, along with a few more guests and conversations.
Thank you again for being here. Here’s to moving toward healing and wholeness. Together.
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
CW: While not explicit, this episode will talk a lot about sex, sexual ethics, and beliefs around sex in and outside of marriage.
If you grew up in church in the 90s and through the 2000s, it’s highly likely you were brought up in purity culture. If you’re here, it’s likely you’ve found yourself deconstructing and disentangling your thoughts and beliefs around sex and sexuality ever since.
Dr. Camden Morgante has done the work of identifying 5 myths around purity culture, and we get to talk about each them, the harm they caused, and how we can work to reform and reconstruct a sexual ethic that allows us to find healthy and authentic ways of embracing and expressing ourselves within the bounds of our current beliefs.
Join us as we discuss overcoming shame, bringing our full and healthy selves into healthier relationships, navigating singleness and dating in (and out of) the church, and more.
Get the full show notes and links here. 📄
Episode Resources and Links
Guest Spotlight
Dr. Camden is a licensed psychologist with nearly 15 years of experience as a therapist and college professor. She owns a private therapy practice and is a writer, speaker, and coach on purity culture recovery, egalitarianism, and faith reconstruction. Her first book, Recovering from Purity Culture: Finding Freedom and Reclaiming a Healthier, Values-Based Sexual Ethic, publishes October 15 by Baker Books. Dr. Camden lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband and their daughter and son.
Website | Instagram | Threads | Facebook | Substack
Recovering from Purity Culture on Bookshop | on Amazo
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Surprise! We have a little bonus episode to share from the personal experiences of a few cohort alumni.
If you’ve experienced spiritual abuse, religious trauma, or church hurt/harm and are looking for a safe place to gather and process, then the THROUGH Cohort is for you.
Over 8 weeks, we’ll work together to build trust, find a community of others who share stories like yours, provide safe and compassionate care, and equip you with foundational knowledge and practical tools to seeing and embracing your identity not as broken, but beloved.
Starting October 7, you'll get access to new video lessons in your library on Mondays for you to watch at your convenience. Then, we'll meet virtually on Thursdays or Fridays to discuss that topic at each cohort gathering.
Cost is $399 to join, and limited scholarships are available upon request. Seats are available on a first come, first serve basis, so go to brokentobeloved.org/through to apply today!
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
—————
Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
How many of us know someone who talk about holiness and righteousness, then in the same breath can be found cursing out their opposing political party or candidate?
For many of us, the disconnect of faith and politics (or is the over-connection?) has caused much tension and conflict. For some, it’s led to questioning our faith, deconstructing why we believe what we do, and leaving our churches.
Seeing signs declaring Jesus Saves from those who violently marched into the Capital building on January 6 was a moment of startling confusion and clarity for many. So what is Christian Nationalism? And what do we do with it?
Join me as I talk to expert Andrew Whitehead about his book, American Idolatry, why he chose to write it as a cis white man who claims faith in Christ. Hear how he responds to critics who may accuse him of liberalism or wokeness, and how and why he holds on to hope.
Get the full show notes and links here. 📄
Guest Spotlight
Andrew Whitehead is Professor of Sociology at Indiana University Indianapolis.
Whitehead is one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States. He is the author of American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church which was awarded the 2024 Gold Medal Book Award from Foreword Reviews and the 2024 Midwest Book Award. He is also the lead author of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States.
Website | Substack | Instagram | X
Get your copy of American Idolatry at Bookshop.org | on Amazon
Listen to Andrew’s 4-part podcast on Christian Nationalism
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
—————
Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Trauma fundamentally disconnects us.
It can disconnect our brains from our bodies. It can sever relationships and entire communities. Those of us familiar with trauma know it can have a real impact on our faith or beliefs. It warps our understanding of others, our sense of safety, and even our own identity.
So how do we find connection again?
When we are alienated from ourselves, each other, and God, how do we find our way back home?
These are the questions that therapist and author Chuck DeGroat tackles in his latest book, Healing What’s Within. This is not a sequel or follow up to his previous When Narcissism Comes to Church, but rather a look at his own journey and process of dealing with his own trauma after spiritual abuse.
His deep knowledge and understanding of therapeutic work coupled with his experience as a minister, DeGroat offers incredibly practical tools for us to examine our own stories with curiosity and compassion and find our way back home to safety and security.
He reiterates our deepest message and hope, that we are indeed not just broken, but deeply Beloved.
Get the full show notes here. 📄
Episode Resources and Links
Guest Spotlight
Website | Instagram | Facebook
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Subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
—————
Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review. It would mean the world if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple or on Spotify. They’ll help us share these conversations and resources with more people, and let us know how we can better serve you.
—————
Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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As an Amazon and Bookshop.org affiliate, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The podcast currently has 26 episodes available.
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