The church today is increasingly traumatized and traumatizing. An endless stream of "scandals" and "moral failing" of major church leaders is leaving many Christians disenchanted, disillusioned, and deconstructing their faith. There are so many survivors in our churches today suffering in silence. They carry wounds hidden in shame among communities that feel overwhelmed and unprepared to offer effective trauma-care. Where do we go from here? How can we create churches that are trauma-safe? This presentation will sketch some basic principles and practices of a trauma-safe church which are made possible by the triune God of the gospel and the blessed incarnation of Jesus Christ who has promised to never leave his people come hell or high water. Our theology is simply too good not to be trauma-safe. By seeing trauma more clearly in the light of basic Christian theology, we can begin immediately to be who we are, namely, Christ's very own body, the trauma-safe church.

Preston Hill (PhD, MLitt, University of St Andrews) is Assistant Professor of Integrative Theology at Richmont Graduate University. His doctoral thesis offers the first monograph-length exposition of the place of Christ’s descent into hell in the theology of John Calvin. Dr. Hill is the co-author of the forthcoming book "Dawn of Sunday: The Tinity and Trauma-Safe Church" that explores the themes of this lecture in depth.