Dear College Freshmen: 10 Things I Wish I’d Known My First Week of College

August 25, 2014 By Reba Riley

Dear Sweet, Starry-Eyed (and quite possibly hung-over) Freshmen Everywhere: Today you’re leaving your dorm room, throwing a backpack over one shoulder, and walking into your first college class. You’re imagining that in four or five years— armed with a barely-dry diploma– you’ll be ready to conquer the world. You won’t be. A college degree is like a very expensive train ticket: you absolutely need it to board the train….but then you can basically wad it up and throw it in the bottom... Read more

Formerly Fundie asks: “Do you have Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome?”

August 22, 2014 By Reba Riley

Written by Benjamin L. Corey, this post first appeared on his blog, Formerly Fundie. Do you suffer from church related trauma? This is a post for those who do, and those who don’t. Maybe the extent of your church trauma is having to sit through stuff like this: Or, maybe your church related trauma is a little more serious. When we were dating, one of the things my wife used to say that infuriated me was “I don’t like Christians”. “How... Read more

Archdiocese of Cincinnati: Just Say NO to Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS Association

August 20, 2014 By Reba Riley

This afternoon, WCPO in Cincinnati, Ohio, reported a story with the headline: Archdiocese of Cincinnati douses enthusiasm for ice bucket challenge in Catholic schools. According to the report, Archdiocesan staff in Cincinnati received a directive on Tuesday instructing that they not participate in the challenge as representative of Catholic schools. The directive was issued based on concerns over embryonic stem cell use in ALS research. It read: “If your school is planning an effort to raise funds, you should immediately... Read more

The Liberation of Sophia: Art that speaks

August 19, 2014 By Reba Riley

“Faith means moving forward by whatever means we can.” -Julia Cameron David Hayward’s (aka The Naked Pastor) book The Liberation of Sophia is an artistic rendering of his personal journey of spiritual transformation as told through the lovely, haunting, character of Sophia. As I read the book–which is laid out on oversized pages with poetry-like text on the left page and illustrations on the right—I felt like I was looking at some of the images from my own journey of... Read more

Reba Riley with Martha Beck & Lissa Rankin

August 18, 2014 By Reba Riley

THANK YOU for helping make the launch of Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome a wild success! The book has ranked #1 in multiple categories including Faith and Self Help. It continues to climb in ranking on Amazon.com and across the country. As a thank you, please enjoy this recorded discussion with best-selling authors Martha Beck and Lisa Rankin! Click below to download my interview with Martha Beck and Lissa Rankin! If you are unable to use the audio file above, CLICK HERE to... Read more

Truth in the Grocery Aisle

August 18, 2014 By Reba Riley

I don’t give money to people on the street. On a good day, I give coffee, pizza, directions to the Urban Monk’s Mission (a place my husband and I support). I offer a sandwich, a coat, kind words, or—at the very least—a smile. On a bad day, when I’m rushing, worried, sick, impatient or just plain in a nasty mood—I avert my gaze and keep right on walking. I am not proud of this, but it’s true. Maybe I’ve become... Read more

A Bead And An [Interfaith] Prayer

August 11, 2014 By Reba Riley

This sweet little book arrived in my mail the week I was working on final memoir edits. Its arrival wasn’t only significant because all authors could use prayer beads during final edits–though I could argue this point!—but because throughout my journey through thirty religions before I turned thirty, I saw prayer beads everywhere. I don’t know how I survived nearly three decades of life thinking that only Catholics used prayer beads, but I was both surprised and pleased to discover... Read more

Guest Post: My Surprisingly Peaceful Visit to Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber’s HFASS

August 10, 2014 By Reba Riley

A reminder that while churches can hurt, they can also heal. This guest post is by Tammy Pyron, a sweet, victorious soul, and a member of the awesome Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome Facebook group Moderator Team. Butterflies? Check. Sweaty Palms? Nervous Energy? Double-check!! I’m just SO out of practice with this sort of thing. Shit, we’re almost here. AAAHHHHHHHHHH! I get out of my compact and look myself in the mirror; I appear passable. *Smells armpits* I smell pleasant enough, too. The butterflies in... Read more

Divergent + Christian = ?

August 5, 2014 By Reba Riley

“I don’t want to be just one thing. I can’t be.” -Four (Theo James) in Divergent Since I value polite conversation in social situations, I try to avoid talking religion when at, say, a cocktail party with the senior partners of my husband’s firm. Unfortunately, avoiding religion is an impossible task since I wrote a book titled Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome about experiencing thirty religions before my thirtieth birthday.Given my profession, even the most polite (distinguished) (intimidating) partner feels free to... Read more

Forgiving the Church…With a Sledge Hammer

July 16, 2014 By Reba Riley

By: James Alexander Langteaux I am probably the poster child for Post Traumatic Church Syndrome. I was raised in an extremely fundamental Pentecostal church where women were not allowed to wear pants. (Okay, that could be a misleading mental image). This church taught me that God hates gays. My trauma started there: I loved God and I was gay. After years of abuse by pastors, family members and TV ministries, I had to escape. I wrote a book Gay Conversations with... Read more