John Smyth, shame, his son PJ, & a big Channel 4 documentary

PJ is a friend of mine. His dad’s abuse and its cover up caused the resignation of our last Archbishop of Canterbury.  PJ is also one of my heroes. He is transforming his pain into personal growth and producing healing, help, and support for others. This week in a major Channel 4 documentary he and his family will be opening up about what really happened.

As he puts it in this short video given how public the “dirty laundry” was for their family, they felt they needed to do this for their own sake, as well as for the other survivors.  I pray this will help them and others deal with the shame that his father’s abuse caused.

Please pray for him, his family, and the other survivors this week as it can’t be easy seeing your horrific stories being portrayed. You might say why do it? Well it’s not just for our “entertainment”. The church must learn crucial lessons from this case.

Trailer of the See No Evil documentary

This week PJ also posted these great short clips on Facebook I encourage you to watch:

Tune in to the See no Evil documentary this Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm on Channel 4 or online

Watch PJ and Andy Morse be interviewed on Good Morning Britain.

Here is what the journalist Cathy Newman had to say to describe this documentary on her Facebook page:

The inside story of how prolific abuser John Smyth operated, the lives he ruined, the devastating effect he had on his own family…and the scandal that ended up toppling the Archbishop of Canterbury. In this powerful film, his wife speaks for the first time about the man she thought she loved, and his children confront her about what he did. It was a privilege to be an executive producer on this two-part series by the brilliant Passion Pictures Films.