Tag: Christian

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Experiences of Lament: Unburdening from Trauma in the 21st Century Church

Person leaning over in pain

Welcome back to Week 6 of the Confession series! I’m hoping this article finds you and your family safe and healthy.

Not too long ago, experiences of deep trauma and lament were something to be confessed. Getting an abortion or divorcing an abusive husband, for example, was considered sinful in most churches. And rather than responding with compassion, many congregations heaped shame upon the victims in situations like sexual abuse or suicide.

But the last few decades have seen a seismic transformation in mainline thinking. Thankfully, these types of difficult situations–experiences of lament–are now often seen as events that require extra levels of pastoral care, not confession.

Woman leaning her head on another man's shoulder
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

This shift has taken place across a variety of domains—from seminary education to theological literature to denominational policy. But in practice, in our congregations, these experiences of lament have moved into a kind of grey zone. 

They don’t belong in confession anymore (thank goodness!). But they’re also not acknowledged or discussed elsewhere.

Two weeks ago, I talked about House for All Sinners and Saints, a church in Denver. Here’s a quick recap:  After the sermon, the congregation writes down their prayers and confessions. Worship leaders then read them aloud during prayers of the people.

Woman's eyes closed with glittery eyeshadow
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

People definitely confessed remorse for actions they considered sins—speaking harshly to a loved one, for example. But there was also a different kind of unburdening going on, too. 

One of my interviewees gave me the best example:  “Someone said the other day, ‘I just had an abortion, and I’m glad, but also really sad.’”

People were also unburdening themselves of difficult decisions or experiences—experiences of lament—that weren’t necessarily sins. And they were able to do so without the burden of shame and guilt so often associated with confession and forgiveness.

This kind of unburdening carries many of the same pastoral issues as confession does. Both require privacy and sometimes anonymity. Both often involve mourning. Both sometimes call for healing and pastoral support.

Person massaging a man's shoulder
Photo by Jesper Aggergaard on Unsplash

But they are also very different from each other. For instance, experiences of lament are much more likely to manifest from traumatic situations than in the day-to-day decisions. 

I don’t have the training to tell clergy how to pastorally support people who do come forward to talk about experiences of lament. That’s not the point of today’s article.

My goal, rather, is to seed a shift in church culture so that people feel comfortable coming forward and unburdening themselves in the first place. For churches to be relevant, it’s necessary–and all too often very far from the norm.

Person having an experience of lament on the floor
Photo by Imani Clovis on Unsplash

Among many of my Millenniel/Gen Z friends, if they were the victim of abuse or experiencing mental health issues, a clergy-person would be the last person they would turn to.

Even people in your congregation might not feel comfortable doing so, especially if they’ve seen victim-blaming from churches before. So how do we change that?

Preaching About Experiences of Lament

The first and most important thing is to definitively distinguish between what is a person’s responsibility and what is not. In other words, draw a clear line between what calls for repentance and what is, instead, an experience of lament. Churches victim-blamed for so long—and so many still do—that there is massive confusion and misunderstanding about what churches think what is a sin.

This problem is compounded by the upsetting lack of conversation about hard topics like abortion and divorce.

Person having experiences of lament looking out a rainy window
Photo by Saneej Kallingal on Unsplash

Let me give you an example. I have visited four or five mainline services where Matthew 5:27-32 came up in the lectionary. That’s the passage on adultery and divorce in the Sermon on the Mount. Since divorce affects 50% of U.S. marriages and two-thirds of American children, it’s fair to assume that it’s a relevant subject in most congregations.

Most of these churches’ pastors faithfully preached on the Gospel lectionary every single week. But when this text came up, their sermons turned into the Super Bowl of defensive avoidance techniques.

One changed the lectionary readings to avoid having it read at all. One preached on the Hebrew Testament reading exclusively. One actually preached on another part of the Sermon on the Mount that wasn’t even in the lectionary that week.

And, unfortunately, one pastor decided to preach on the text but got so flustered that he couldn’t preach a clear message. He ended up waffling on whether people in abusive marriages should leave their partners.

Man holding his shoulder in the darkness
Photo by Mitchell Hollander on Unsplash

I believe that most mainline pastors are ultimately supportive and loving towards people who are going through traumatic situations. The pastors I know would unconditionally support survivors and victims, and they would do so spectacularly. 

But despite being adept at private pastoral care, many pastors still don’t feel comfortable talking about those experiences of lament from the pulpit. And I’m concerned about that.

Because if pastors treat these topics as taboo in public, very few people will feel comfortable coming forward to discuss them in private.

Especially when topics like sexual assault or suicide come up in the lectionary or the news, they have to be addressed head-on. Sidestepping them implicitly declares them taboo and invites shame to grow.

Woman hiding her hair with her face
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

One important caveat:  taking a right-or-wrong stance on thorny issues, like abortion, creates “sides” that can alienate people who disagree with you. Instead of declaring a set postion, perhaps focus on addressing the pastoral issues that come up from these situations. That might actually bring your congregation into deeper connection and belonging. 

On non-controversial issues, like abusive marriages or sexual assault, I’d encourage you to openly show your support for the safety of the abused. All too often, the church has traditionally condemned victims, and in the mainstream American media, they still have a reputation for doing so. Clearly announcing your advocacy for the protection of victims is crucial to changing the narrative about churches being a haven for those lamenting.

Making room for Experiences of Lament

I recently received a newsletter from my church in the wake of the coronavirus. It gave me a really helpful model for inviting people to seek pastoral care after experiences of lament. At the bottom of the newsletter, a note read, “We want to know if any member of our congregation becomes infected. If you or a loved one does become ill from the coronavirus, please reach out.”

Coronavirus
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

That kind of statement is exactly the sort of thing that can encourage someone to reach out and unburden themselves. It could say something like, “If something difficult or traumatic is happening in your life, I want to know so that I can support you. Please email me or call to set up an appointment.” 

Statements like that might show up in your bulletin, newsletters, and announcements. When that becomes the norm, it will invite people to see the Church as one of their first resources in the midst of a difficult decision or situation.

Phone and laptop
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Experiences of lament are no longer things to confess in mainline Protestantism. Denominational policies and theology have shifted from blaming victims to providing pastoral care. But these experiences still need a place in our church conversations. 

How can your church strengthen its pastoral response to experiences of lament? How might it become more open? How are you already encouraging this unburdening in your community? 

Much love to all of you as we head into Holy Week. If you’re a layperson, checking in with your pastor to ask if you can help them out is such a gift. If you’re clergy, remember you don’t have to do everything by yourself—in the age of COVID-19, there are amazing resources for everyone to share!

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5 Ways to Address Religious Trauma During Christmas

Healing from religious trauma

A few Christmases ago, the pastor stepped up to the pulpit to begin her sermon. Everyone rustled their bulletins. The pews creaked.

And then everything got quiet. The pastor looked at us. She took a deep breath. And then she didn’t say anything. 

For an uncomfortably long time.

Finally, she began to speak. “I always get nervous when I preach a Christmas Eve sermon,” she said. “There are so many people here. Many of you are here for the holiday. This is my one chance a year to talk to you.”

Christmas decorations
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

As your church prepares for Christmas, you also may be wondering how to reach the influx of annual attendees. Why don’t they come every Sunday? What drives them away? And how do you create a welcoming environment that entices them to stay?

As you ponder these questions, I invite you to turn to one group in particular. They’re underserved and sorely lacking in pastoral attention. And one offhand comment could make or break their church attendance for years to come.

These are the people who have suffered religious abuse or trauma.

What is Religious Trauma?

Person experiencing religious trauma
Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

Religious trauma is increasingly recognized in psychological circles. Experts now understand that religious abuse can create severe mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. Some forms require professional help to overcome.

People suffer from religious abuse in a variety of ways. Some people are kicked out because of their sexual orientation. Others are deemed inferior and sinful because of their gender. 

As children, some deal with parental abuse because of their church’s position on corporal punishment. Far too many have suffered physical or sexual abuse by pastors.  And when others turn to church leadership to help with domestic violence, they are ignored.

Some survivors of religious abuse deal with none of those things. Rather, they are told over and over again that they are inherently sinful and evil and that God is angry with them.

Religious trauma produced by theology of sin
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash

Religious trauma can result from indirect contact with Christianity, too. When I moved into the dorms my freshman year of college, few of my peers had experienced religious abuse directly. But most of them still mistrusted me, some of them for years, because of my religiosity.

Thanks to social media and the news, angry Christians had reached my peers, even though they grew up outside religious communities. They had watched their religious friends suffer. They had heard Christians attacking their identity online. And it had created grief, anger, and fear.

And so, even without direct religious abuse, they didn’t trust Christians or religious spaces. No matter how progressive they claimed to be.

Religious Trauma in Mainline Protestantism

In the mainline Protestant churches I grew up in, we rarely discussed this issue. Why? We underestimated the magnitude of the problem and the complexity of the healing process.

Everyone is welcome sign
Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

We assumed that people who suffered from religious trauma would already know about our church as a safe space. We assumed that our friendliness would make them willing to give Christianity another shot. And we assumed that attendance in our inclusive churches would automatically heal their trauma after a short period of time. 

But that’s often not the case. Even if people know about your church as a safe space, elements of the worship can still trigger pain from past abuse. Ultimately, you probably share much of the same language, symbols, and Scripture with the church where they experienced abuse.

And, even if they do overcome these hurdles and start attending your church, healing is not fast or automatic.

In a New York Times article, religious trauma expert Marlene Winell explains, “Even after people leave religions where they have suffered abuse, they can still harbor the emotional conviction that they are ‘basically sinful and wrong.’”

Healing from religious trauma
Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

Welcoming policies aren’t enough here. Even one sentence can trigger memories of past religious trauma for someone. 

Many of my friends with religious trauma courageously tried a more inclusive church. But many were triggered by a pastor’s offhand comment about sin or by the request for donations before the offering.

Even if your statement is well-intentioned, you might accidentally place yourself in the same category as a previous pastor they have met. And if you do, they may not give the church a second chance.

So how to provide compassionate pastoral care this Christmas? Here are five tips for creating a welcoming, safe space for people who have suffered religious trauma.

1. Understand How Religious Abuse Works

Everyone knows about the Catholic sex scandals. That’s a clear example of religious trauma in its worst form. 

Church roof with cross
Photo by Akira Hojo on Unsplash

But there are other, more subtle forms of abuse, which occur across ecumenical circles. I grew up knowing that some people experienced abuse at the hands of exclusionary religious groups. But I didn’t know how deeply it could scar someone until I watched Netflix’s Queer Eye.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, five gay men take a week to make over a person or organization, inside and out. In Season 2, they take a trip to Gay, Georgia (pun very much intended by the producers). Their mission:  to reinvigorate the local church.

Early in the episode, the Fab Five visit the church sanctuary to check it out. But one of them, Bobby, hangs back. When his friends invite him in, he shakes his head.

In an interview, he later explained why. “My mother and father were very religious. I carried my Bible to school every day. Christianity was my life,” he says. But for them, “gay people were bad, they were pedophiles, they were evil. So I spent every prayer meeting on every Sunday crying and begging God to not make me gay.” 

Man praying through religious trauma

When he finally came out of the closet, his family and church disowned him.

The trauma from his experience is not superficial, nor easily healed. Decades later, standing on the church’s porch, he still couldn’t bring himself to enter a religious space. 

“I had to know where to draw the line for my own mental health, and I think if I had gone into that church, we probably wouldn’t have finished filming that episode that day because I would’ve broken down.”

His story is far too familiar. In my subsequent interviews across the country, I asked about each interviewee’s religious background. Stories like his were shockingly widespread.

As you think about how to serve survivors, it’s important to understand how widespread the problem is and the varied forms it can take.

2. No Judgment

Hand saying no to crossing the street
Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash

Now that you understand more about religious abuse, it’s time to learn the Golden Rule:  no judgment.

Likely, you’re not going to tell someone they’re damned to hell. But church judgment can come in subtler forms, too. Maybe it’s a critical joke about your spouse or child in the sermon. Maybe it’s a raised eyebrow as someone tells you about their lifestyle. 

Perhaps most importantly, think about the Christian words and symbols that are often used judgmentally. Words like sin. Or even words like redeem and grace, which are often used in conjunction with theologies of sin and substitutionary atonement.

Open Bible
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

These words are often used to tell people that they’re bad. That they’re inherently evil. That their very being is flawed. That the church is in the shaming and blaming business.

As such, be aware that certain religious words can have a profoundly negative impact. If you want to use them, it really helps to unpack your non-judgmental theology behind it. When you reframe these words in light of God’s unconditional love, you confront and address the shame that comes hand-in-hand with that theology.

(Or you can just steer clear of those concepts altogether).

3. Pastoral Care

Pastoral care healing from religious trauma
Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash

Maybe someone comes to you for a one-on-one conversation. Apply the no-judgment rule here, too. 

If they ask about theology or doctrine, you can focus on God’s compassion in your response. Again, try to steer clear of talking about sin, evil, or what your church believes is right vs. wrong. Emphasize everyone’s belovedness.

You can also listen for signs of religious trauma. If you do hear signs of religious abuse, react in the same way that you would if someone divulged physical or sexual abuse. Listen, comfort, and ask what they are needing.

Especially if this person is interested in joining your congregation, you can ask how to make your church a welcoming space for them. Ask what they need in the way of ongoing pastoral care. 

And, if they tell you that they’re triggered by your church or something you’re doing, take note. Think about how you can shift your practices.

4. Get Resources

Woman getting help
Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash

As discussed above, religious trauma can be on par with other forms of abuse. It may have even been combined with physical, psychological, or sexual abuse. As such, you may not be equipped to handle everyone’s needs.

So read up on resources in your area, both religious and secular. Find therapists or spiritual directors familiar with supporting the healing of this type of wound. Perhaps you know people in your congregation.

Look for resources to deal with other interconnected issues, too. Find support groups for LGBTQ people kicked out by their families. Look for domestic violence shelters for women and children in abusive Christian households.

If someone comes to you with a history of religious trauma, don’t hesitate to refer them elsewhere. It’s certainly important to extend pastoral care and offer ongoing support. But keep in mind that they may need resources beyond what you can provide. And then follow up with them to see if they’re getting what they need.

5. Worship

Jar of pennies tipped over
Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

Most guests with religious trauma will not seek out a one-on-one conversation. Their impression of your church will be limited to your sermon and welcome. So, here are a few ways to avoid triggering them during the service itself.

First of all, do not exert any pressure to give money. Many people with religious abuse were told that their spiritual status was tied financial generosity. Short of that, many people feel churches are too focused on bringing in income.

With a larger-than-normal congregation during the holidays, it may be tempting to speak about the congregation’s leaking roof or shrinking tithes. Don’t. This may very well be interpreted as pressure—even from people unaffected by religious trauma—and may induce them to give less.

On a related note, don’t ask people to come back next week. Definitely don’t make a joke about how many more people there are on Christmas than usual. It will come across as pressure and desperation, which are two experiences especially hard for people with religious trauma.

Christmas tree
Photo by Tj Holowaychuk on Unsplash

It’s hard to minister to a one-off congregation on Christmas Eve. Especially if you want them to come back. So it’s important to know who you’re talking to.

People who have suffered religious trauma and abuse are tremendously courageous to even consider walking into a church. They may still be there under pressure from their family.  If you want to minister to them, recognize what a big deal it is—and think about how you may inadvertently trigger them.

Ultimately, those who have suffered at the hands of the Church need to find an alternative community that will love them unconditionally. That community may not be a religious group—the scars might be too deep. 

But if it is your church, we want to do our best to prepare and welcome them. We may not have caused the trauma. But it is our opportunity—and responsibility—to help heal it.

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Christian Social Justice: Life-Changing Medical Debt Relief

Debt will tear us apart graffiti

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of my Christian Social Justice series! In case you’ve missed it, we’ve been exploring how churches can reform their mission work to meet the spiritual needs Millennials bring to the table.

In the past two weeks, we’ve looked at relevant, personal, and tangible approaches to natural disaster ministry and immigration justice. Today, we’re tackling medical debt relief in churches.

Person drowning under water
Photo by Ian Espinosa on Unsplash

Medical debt relief is not your grandmother’s church mission work. Debt in general is not a new problem. But in the last few decades, and especially in the last few years, it has been cropping up in new and more pernicious ways.

More and more, the news carries stories of debt-ridden Americans crippled by financial strain. And no generation more so than Millennials. What happened? And how is debt relief–specifically, medical debt relief–a social justice problem that churches can remedy?

How Did We Get Here?

Millennial needing medical debt relief

A few things have taken place. First of all, student loan costs have ballooned. The price of college, adjusted for inflation, has grown 161% since 1987. Meanwhile, salaries have stagnated. As a result, there’s no longer such a thing as being able to fully work yourself through college.

Second, housing prices are on the rise. Especially for young people.

Take Marin County. When my parents married and bought their first house in the early 1990s, real estate was only slightly more expensive here than the national average. Now, over the last thirty years, their house has skyrocketed in value, far outpacing the rest of the country.

Housing debt crisis
Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

For my friends and me, the story will be very different. We grew up here, formed communities and attachments here. Many of us can’t imagine raising our kids anywhere else.

But real estate here is now shockingly expensive. The salary needed to buy the median-priced home is over $230,000 a year. And let me tell you, none of us are making that much.

Which means, after grad school, we’ll be lucky if we can afford to rent a studio apartment in the town where we grew up. And if we do rent that apartment, and pay for the groceries and gas prices that come along with the area, we’ll have very little money left over for anything else.

That’s not unique to the San Francisco Bay Area–it’s happening all over. As a result, even middle-class Millennials aren’t even trying to invest in a house–it’s simply too expensive. So we tend to spend our money on other things. Things that don’t build equity. And thus we often accrue further debt.

The Worst Kind of Debt

Ambulance
Photo by Mark Boss on Unsplash

But there’s one more type of skyrocketing debt that hits the hardest—medical debt.

I have some personal experience with this. I was sick for about eighteen months in 2018 and 2019, at times needing constant care. I took two ambulance rides that weren’t really optional. Saw specialist after specialist. Wasn’t able to work. And on and on.

I was incredibly lucky. I had a family that could support me. I also had excellent insurance, which accepted my claims for everything. I didn’t have extended hospital stays, surgeries, or any of the most expensive kinds of medical needs. I got very, very lucky.

Medical debt relief in a hospital
Photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash

A few months later, the bills have started to come in. It’s been a tender time—I’m still recovering emotionally and physically. The stress of keeping on top of the bills and making endless calls to the health insurance company is exhausting.

And I’m lucky. We won’t go into debt.

I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like for a healthy person—much less a sick or recovering one—to go through this process with the added strain of debt. Especially if that person is elderly. Or doesn’t have a support system.

I know that if I was in debt on top of everything else, it would absolutely hinder my recovery.

I’m one of the privileged ones. John Oliver did a piece in 2015 about medical debt and the people it affects. At the beginning, he points out that people go into this kind of debt “through no fault of their own.” This isn’t reckless spending. It’s spending to live.

Medical Debt Relief

Okay, so medical debt is a huge problem. But how can you actually help? And, more to the point, what does this have to do with church mission work?

What if I told you that churches could make a substantial dent? If I told you that, even with a limited budget, you could cheaply relieve hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars medical debt for hundreds or thousands of people in your community?

(Bear with me for a couple paragraphs of the nitty-gritty.)

Turns out, most debt is for sale. If you owe BlueShield $4,000, they can sell that debt to someone else. Usually, BlueShield would sell it to a debt buyer for a tiny fraction, like $50. Then, that debt buyer can try to collect on the full $4,000.

Medical debt relief in cash
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

If the debt buyer is unsuccessful in their collection, they may sell to another buyer for an even smaller amount, like $5. That buyer can then call you up and try to collect on the full price. And on and on. And eventually, that $4,000 is on sale for pennies.

The thing is, if you buy up that debt, you’re not legally obligated to collect it. It’s all yours. If you choose, you can forgive it. Voilà. Medical debt relief made cheap.

That’s the premise behind RIP Medical Debt, an organization founded by former collectors to promote medical debt relief. Through their organization, you can cheaply buy people’s medical debt and forgive it. (If you want to know more, you can click here to find out the details of how their charity operates).

And that’s what some churches are now deciding to do. In Chicago, a church worked with RIP to buy $5 million in medical debt relief for nearly 6,000 families in Chicago’s South Side. 

The cost to the church? $38,000. Some of which they raised and some of which they donated themselves.

This is a spectacular opportunity for churches, especially ones with low operating budgets. It can be frustrating to see wealthy churches rolling out large-scale mission programs that reach tons of people when you can’t afford to make that same kind of community impact.

Here’s your chance. Reach out to RIP Medical Debt and ask them to work with you. In addition to allocating some of your own funds, you can raise some money. Knock on some doors and become known as the congregation raising money for medical debt relief that will reach some of the poorest families in your town.

A dollar bill describes medical debt relief
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

In addition to being a wonderful opportunity to affect change, it’s a great way to redefine yourself as relevant in the community. Millennials care about debt, and with rising student loans, GenZ likely will, too. It’s an issue that hugely affects their lives, and it’s something we don’t want to affect others’. It’s timely and hugely tangible in terms of impact.

And, perhaps most importantly, it shows that you can accurately understand and address the needs of our time and culture.

I hope you enjoyed my Christian social justice series. Leave a comment below and tell me what you think—and how your own congregation is pioneering justice for the 21st century.

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Christian Social Justice: The Church Response to Natural Disasters

Church response to natural disaster via fire

Welcome to my Christian Social Justice series! In case you missed it: last week, we found out that Millennials are tired of intangible, remote approaches to social justice. Facebook activism and donation-heavy programs simply aren’t cutting it. But how can churches work for justice in a way young adults can understand, connect with, and want to join?

For the rest of the series, I’m going to be discussing examples of effective, tangible, and often personal approaches to social justice issues like immigration and poverty. This week, we’re tackling the Church response to natural disasters.

I’m writing this from a cold parking lot early in the morning, hunched over a dying laptop and a non-functional phone. A hundred of my neighbors and I are eagerly parked around the entrance of our local grocery store, waiting for one precious commodity—ice. Meanwhile, my other family members are at home. They’re filtering water, buying candles, waiting in gas lines, and charging solar-powered batteries.

Sound like a trip back to the Dark Ages? Nope. Just a five-day power outage. Which, in Northern California, is apparently our new reality.

I’m not too upset, honestly. It could be a lot worse. Two families we know personally were evacuated. One nearly lost their house. Thousands of firefighters are spending days breathing in smoke on very little sleep. So, as frustrated and uncomfortable as I am, I know I’m pretty lucky.

Church response to natural disaster via tornado

And I’m definitely not alone. Wherever you live in the United States, natural disasters have been on the rise. Some places have been beset by frequent tornadoes or monster hurricanes. Others have had several once-in-five-hundred-year floods just a few years apart. Or maybe you’re caught up in blizzards with unnatural ferocity.

Science has connected many of these extreme events to climate change. Which, incidentally, is a cause that Millennials care about in record numbers. Even the conservative ones among us. Creating a church response to natural disasters demonstrates that you are taking actionable steps to acknowledge and mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

(And even if you don’t believe in climate change, hopefully, we can just agree that it’s important to help the victims of natural disasters.)

Past experiences have proven that extreme weather events disproportionately affect the least of these. Sometimes, it’s those who can’t afford to pay for rebuilding costs. Other times, it’s the elderly and disabled, who rely on power and heat to stay alive.

Church response to natural disasters

This means that creating a Church response to natural disasters is no less than a social justice opportunity.

So how do we respond? And how do churches with only a few people on staff provide havens to their communities in times of trouble?

First, a disclaimer:  The point of this article is to get your creative juices flowing and help facilitate a vision. This post is not meant to contradict or replace the advice of emergency services professionals. Any idea discussed here should be thoroughly vetted in conjunction with the laws of your city and state and with emergency services experts in your area. And, obviously, certain ideas are more appropriate for smaller churches, while others are feasible only at big ones.

We’ll begin with four different areas to consider when developing your church response to natural disasters. Afterward, we’ll consider how to prepare for your chosen ministry.

1. Church Response to Natural Disasters:  Social Media

First off, here’s an opportunity to use social media in the most helpful possible way:  turn your feeds into a consolidated source of information. 

During our blackout, we received confusing and often conflicting updates from our Sheriff’s Office, City Hall, City Police, and local utility. Each of these agencies also had text and social media alerts. Then there were the rumor mills by word of mouth, NextDoor, and Facebook. It was a veritable swamp of unreliable information.

You can combat this phenomenon by creating one volunteer as a point person. They can spend their time monitoring the information coming from websites and texts and then consolidate it into coordinated Facebook and Twitter feeds. Trust me, people will be grateful.

2.  Church Response to Natural Disasters:  Maximizing Your Space

Here’s the biggest resource you have to offer:  your building. Most church complexes include a sanctuary, fellowship hall, kitchen, Sunday school/classroom wing, church office, and perhaps a smaller chapel. This is a lot of space. Use it well.

Church response to natural disasters through food

To begin with, the Red Cross offers comprehensive disaster training courses, including one on how to run a shelter, if you want to do that. In the meantime, think through your spaces and how they can become useful.

The most obvious one is the kitchen. Make a cache of food and cooking supplies available so that you can cook for the hungry in the event of earthquake. Buy several industrial freezers filled with ice so you can hand it out and make more if others can’t. Think through how you will cook without gas or power.

Then, there’s the sanctuary. If you anticipate numerous people will be out of their homes, you can turn the sanctuary into a dormitory. Buy sleeping bags, futons, and blankets to put on the pews. String up curtains so people can have some privacy.

You can use classroom space to put up families with babies, disabled people or others who need their own space. If you anticipate people will be there for a long time, you can even have some washers and dryers ready to go.

People charging their phones

Maybe people have access to their homes, but the power is out. Turn your chapel or fellowship hall into a day lounge/work area. Buy up power strips and a generator. Make sure you’ve updated your electrical system to accommodate lights, heating, wifi and charging needs. You can even set up TVs or games for kids.

Or perhaps you anticipate that people will need information. Repurpose your church offices into information booths. If people from other parts of the country are concerned about the welfare of their elderly or disabled relatives, you can funnel their concerns to the police department. Or, you can call the loved ones of people who have made it safely to your shelter.

Both before and during natural disasters, you can establish yourself on social media as a rendezvous point for separated families. In case of the loss of cell phone signal and wifi, connect good old fashioned landlines so that people can check in with their loved ones.

Church complexes, for better or worse, are often equipped with lots of space that they don’t use anymore. Here is your chance to use it for good!

3. Church Response to Natural Disasters: Pastoral Care

Pastor with a congregant

Here is where you can provide a unique service. The emotional toll of a natural disaster is often as bad as, or worse than, the physical one. Make sure your pastoral staff arrives soon after an emergency happens. Invite other pastors, too. Wear a collar or stole so you’re easily visible.

If you’ve only got a small number of people in your building, wander around and offer support. If you’ve got larger numbers, you can section off the church office or other rooms to create a designated space. Online, you can post prayers, collects, and Bible verses.

Alternatively, it’s never a bad time to offer worship. Set aside a room or a corner for the Eucharist and other sacraments, a healing service, or compline for overnight guests. Nothing needs to be fancy or liturgically correct. It just needs to happen. 

Maybe you’re too emotionally exhausted. That’s okay. Reach out to your denomination’s disaster assistance program. Most likely, they will send chaplains to take care of you and the people you’re hosting.

Woman doing yoga

Allow your guests to provide pastoral care to each other, too. If your religious group prays the rosary, meditates, or uses other lay-led prayer practices, find someone willing to lead. If your music staff is around, they can lead those who wish in hymns, secular music, or sing-alongs for children. Even if your music staff isn’t around, chances are, someone will know how to play.

One note:  make sure that none of these are forced. Set up areas for these activities in such a way that everyone knows it’s happening, but people are not forced to participate. Otherwise, it may feel like you’re taking advantage of a disaster to evangelize.

This area is your opportunity to shine, to be a unique resource to your city. Go all-out.

4. Church Response to Natural Disasters: The Least of These

Kids playing

Finally, as you consider which services to provide, think about who will be the least of these in your community’s next disaster. For us this week, it was disabled people, who relied on power for medical devices or heat.

Think about what you can do for those most vulnerable groups. Create a list of your congregants who will need home visit check-ins, or who will need to be driven to the church shelter. Create a go-fund me page for low-income members of your community so that other congregations around the country can contribute.

Make sure the homeless know they can come to your church in case of extreme temperatures or rain. Think about how to support and entertain kids (their parents will probably be pretty grateful as well). Overall, just think ahead about how you can help those who will need it most.

Okay, feeling overwhelmed yet? Deep breath. That was a lot. Again, you definitely do not need to provide all of these services. Just talk to your staff and lay leaders to create the most feasible vision for your church response to natural disasters. Once you’ve got an idea of where you’re going, it’s time to think about getting prepared.

5. Before Disaster Hits: Get yourself prepared.

Put your own oxygen mask on first, people. You can’t help those in your community if your church building is barely functional itself. This often means thinking ahead, months before your “season” of bad weather starts.

The day before the power outage, as we just started to grasp the reality of what was coming, my family and I started to scramble for generators, ice, and other resources.

Too late. Everything was sold out—or behind huge, time-consuming lines. Don’t be like us.

Once you’ve figured out what you’ll need in a disaster, it’s time to get prepared with research and classes. In addition to the Red Cross, check out denominational resources for disaster preparedness and relief. Episcopal Relief & Development has a comprehensive guide on church preparedness here. As another example, United Methodist Insurance made a handy little book, which you can download for free.

If you’re near a disaster zone, visit government shelters or power stations and see what they’re doing. Send your volunteers to help out and get trained while they’re at it.

You can also try to reach out to the local Office of Emergency Services or other government agencies.

Then, bring a vision back to your congregation for your church response to natural disasters. This will often involve raising some money. Maybe you need to buy an industrial generator or re-do the insulation so that you’ll be more resilient against extreme temperatures. Perhaps you need to upgrade your electrical system. You may even need a large-scale remodel to make seismic upgrades.

6. Before Disaster Hits: Get others prepared.

Text alert system

Okay, so your church is weather-proofed. Now you’re ready to think about helping others. This is one way that social media, texting, and the Internet can come in.

Connect as many of your congregants as possible to emergency text alert systems, which will let them know that an emergency has occurred and that you need volunteers. Spend time training.

Shortly before your “season” starts, use social media to broadcast your plan. Share your address and the services you will provide. Forward this information to government officials.

You can use more traditional techniques also—staff a booth at your local farmer’s market. Put up flyers downtown. Go to community meetings.

In the days before an imminent weather event, re-hash your publicity campaign all over again. If you’ve got an especially wonderful group of volunteers, you can even try knocking on some doors.

Creating a church response to natural disasters is a huge undertaking. Heck, the people in charge of the government response to natural disasters are often overwhelmed. It’s not something most churches are doing on a large scale yet, except a few megachurches. But it’s what’s needed. Maybe you only do one thing mentioned above. Maybe you join forces with another church.

Or maybe you don’t do any of these services, but instead encourage congregants to volunteer in other shelters. But in the age of climate disasters, you have a huge opportunity to do something.

And, if you do, this is a chance to enlist Millennial participation. As I said, we’re pretty cognizant of climate change, and we care about its effects a lot. When disaster strikes, churches have the opportunity to serve in very clear, tangible, and relevant ways. Which is exactly what Millennials are craving.

Millennials working

As you work to envision your church response to natural disasters, you can use social media, NextDoor, and other platforms to ask Millennials to sign up to volunteer. You can even hire a few young adults to manage the online part of preparation and implementation.

Just don’t squander this opportunity to make young people central in your social justice outreach. And don’t squander the opportunity for social justice itself.

Come back next week for Week 3 in my Christian Social Justice series–we’re tackling immigration justice!

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Christian Social Justice for a New Generation

A few months ago, when immigration was particularly prevalent in the news, I went out to dinner with some friends. Everything was going great–until the topic of immigration came up. With a forkful of spaghetti halfway to my mouth, I suddenly realized my friend staring at me. Actually, glaring.

”I have a bone to pick with the Christians,” he said. “Why aren’t churches saying anything about immigration? Why aren’t they doing anything?”

Christian social justice at a rally

As the Designated Christian at the table, I was floored. I’d spent most of the day on Twitter and Facebook, looking for a Christian social justice perspective on current events. My feed had been nothing but livid Christians, hurling Bible verses and theological insults from opposite sides of the issue. My ears were practically ringing with Christian Twitter’s upheaval. 

Yet my friend (like most other people in the Bay Area) hadn’t seen any of that in his social media feeds. And, as he looked around at the undocumented community around us, he couldn’t see Christians making an impact there, either. As a result, he thought me and my religion clueless, unfeeling, lazy, and/or cowardly. Christian social justice, to him, was an oxymoron.

Obviously, I disagree with his assessment. The churches and pastors I know in California are incredibly passionate about justice work, especially on issues of immigration. I can name countless examples of Christians sharing their beliefs on Facebook or churches sponsoring fundraising drives for important organizations. 

Christian social justice at a march

The problem is, we’re not creating justice in a way Millennials can see, understand, or connect with. Especially the secular ones.

And that’s our problem.

Christian Social Justice Online

Facebook activism is a relatively recent trend. You know what I’m talking about. Maybe you post an article about the latest injustice with a witty caption. Or perhaps your differently-minded friend shared an article on their feed, and you take to the comments for a rebuttal.

Usually, it happens on Facebook, but it can take place on other social media platforms as well. All you need is a comments section, really. This type of activism isn’t part of a church’s organized ministry. Instead, it’s often undertaken by the pastor or congregants as a personal crusade. 

The problem is, it simply isn’t very efficient. 

Twitter feed

That’s for two reasons. First, Facebook and Twitter use algorithms to ensure that we see the content we want to see. If I’m liberal and Christian, I’m going to see your Facebook post on what Jesus would think about climate change. If I’m conservative and/or secular, I won’t. 

Which means Facebook activists are preaching to the choir. They aren’t reaching the secular people in their communities. And that’s why my friend at dinner had no idea about the Christian firestorm that had been all over my feeds.

But even if you do reach someone who disagrees with you, Facebook activism relies on changing minds one at a time. And, usually, those minds don’t want to be changed. 

That’s why most people in my generation don’t do much Facebook activism; in fact, many of us aren’t really on Facebook altogether. We know that diving into the comments section will probably just result in a virtual war no one will win.

But isn’t social media a huge part of Millennial activism? Yes, it is! Think Black Lives Matter and #MeToo. We just do it differently.

Christian social justice on Twitter

For us, it needs to come with tangible, sizable results, like laws being changed or a company reversing a policy. That’s why we like hashtags. They collect groups of people together to generate huge momentum. 

Later on in this series on Christian social justice, we’ll explore ways that social media can aid effective activism. You’ll learn how to add your church’s work to sweeping movements, so that you can help effect large-scale changes. For now, just pause the next time you think about investing your energy into one-on-one social media debates.

Donating time, not money

For much of the late twentieth century, with the dawn of credit cards and the Internet, donations were all the rage. People loved to give money to a cause—it was just such an easy way to affect change.

In response, churches implemented a donation-heavy approach to Christian social justice. Congregants were often asked to donate to specific projects, programs, or charities. Much of that money was passed on to other charitable organizations in the community or denomination.

The problem is, that’s not how Millennials like to change the world. For one thing, we don’t have very much money to give away. For another, we simply like to be more hands-on. 

Christian social justice at a meeting

Social justice for many Millennials is a lifestyle, having to do with the brands we purchase, the food we eat, and the way we spend our spare time. And just like we want tangible results from our social media activism, we want to see the changes we’re creating in our communities, too.

That’s why we like to get personally and often extensively involved with projects that have an obvious impact on our communities. And we like to attack it on multiple fronts, not just through occasional volunteering.

But why should we change?

Okay, so Millennials can’t connect with Christian social justice as it’s practiced right now. Why should you care? Your church has probably been working on crucial projects for many years, perhaps with much success. Is there really a need to change things up?

Yes, there is.

First of all, this is a crucial area to tackle if you want to see young people in your pews. My data shows Millennials searching for churches where they can practice their passion for social justice. For people like my friend at dinner, it is the litmus test for whether or not a church is worth existing. And evidence shows that GenZ is growing up with the same kinds of values.

So, Millennials need to know what you’re doing. They need to connect with it. And they need to feel compelled to join in.

Christian social justice between generations

But also, just maybe, a new generation could bring surprising insights. Many problems, like poverty, are timeless. But our postmodern era brings new justice issues, too–climate change, for instance. Millennials spent their 20s learning these issues and constructing frameworks for pushing the needle. Maybe it’s worth giving them a shot.

So what do we do next?

First of all, Christian social justice programs need to become central to your church. Not just something mentioned in the announcements or before the offering. Not buried in the bulletin. And definitely not just for a core group of your most committed members. Justice, in whatever area(s) you choose to focus on, needs to become a key part of your congregation’s identity.

With that in mind, this series will focus on practical ideas for giving Christian social justice programs a makeover. We’ll explore ways to make tangible, sizable differences in your community. We’ll discuss how to bring Millennials on board. And we’ll think about how these new ideas can link to your congregation’s past experience. Stay tuned for next week’s installment:  how to help your community when disaster strikes.