This shirt reminds us all that the fight doesn’t end with the war. Yesterday was full of reminders of our Veterans: beautiful tributes to their service, social media posts about their sacrifice, ceremonies to honor the fighting and the fallen. This is right and good and honorable. But just as there is a morning after Veterans Day, when most of the country goes on with little thought to those who give their lives for our freedom, there is the morning after our soldiers... Read more
The label “Christian” used to make me feel itchy deep in my soul– like the word itself was one of those too-tight 100% wool sweaters your mother made you wear for family photos. To conquer my “Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome”, I went on a journey through 30 religions before my 30th birthday–which is how I found myself in a Hindu Temple on Diwali four years ago, wearing a dazzling, bejeweled sari, asking a guy in a loincloth about God. The following... Read more
We all need people to carry us on their shoulders when we can no longer go on. Joey Mullaney is a college junior at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where it is a rite of passage to hike Sleeping Giant mountain. A high school class valedictorian, Joey is reportedly “an amazing young man…taking Quinnipiac by storm” both academically and socially. He was born with Friedreich’s Ataxia, an autosomal recessive inherited disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. Because... Read more
This is an excerpt from my memoir Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome, which debuts 8/18/15. Download four free chapters from Howard Books–Simon & Schuster HERE. I closed my eyes and considered what brokenness means. Being broken is destruction—yes, it’s pain and filth and ugliness and wondering how you’ll ever breathe—or believe—again. But a break is also an opportunity, a crack opening worlds of possibility that don’t exist when everything is intact. If a break can turn into something beautiful—and it can, because a... Read more
Allow me to tell you the very worst thing about giving a Tedx talk with “courage” in the title: you cannot back out because you’re scared. No matter how much you want to run out the back door screaming, you have to go on when they call your name, because, um… courage? So here I am, shoeless [gestures to bare feet], which you may have noticed. I promise I’ll get to why I’m barefoot, but first I’d like to ask... Read more
I recently had the opportunity to share my story and book with Mark Fitzgerald on his podcast, Fundamental Escape. Mark’s podcast is an avenue to create space for people to question and doubt, to talk about any issue in an open handed and fair manner and to be engaging and enlightening. Clearly sharing about Post Traumatic Church Syndrome was a perfect fit. Mark, who lives in New Zealand, was my first interview across the ocean and I was his first... Read more
A couple months ago, I had the privilege of talking with Kathy Chiero on The Sitting Room; a radio show that is– a place of no judgement; a place where mistakes, healing, and …restoration are accepted as the reality of life and part of God’s plan. Unconventional Christianity in a refreshing hour of talk, laughter, and honesty. In the interview I share my story as Kathy Chiero put it – “as an insider who came out.” I share how I was... Read more
Sometimes we find grace where we least expect it. By: Anna Johnson Throngs of people swarmed Third Avenue, coming in, going out, and waiting to enter bars. After a long work week and forty-five minutes waiting in line to get into Tube Bar & Lounge (shaped as its name implies and affording scarcely more room), my best friend, Rita, and I had neared the Promised Land of margaritas and obscure semi-danceable Europop. “I think shivering in line must be our... Read more
There’s no question, Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome is Real, with a capital R. Most everyone reading here knows it; we either have experienced it ourselves or know someone who’s in the midst of trying to deal with a severe church allergy that developed for all different reasons. Sometimes things come apart from a bad church or ministry experience with leadership. Other times we just begin to feel restless, tired, and disconnected from all-things church after many years of being faithful followers.... Read more
My friend Susan Gray Blue, has graciously allowed me to share another one of her fantastic posts! Thank you and Enjoy! As you can read about over at The Hairpin (which I could not be more excited about!), I was sent to Christian charm class as a kid – it was required for girls at the fundamentalist school I attended. Studying the Bible was no longer enough. Now we needed to look good doing it. The pink-covered workbook we studied, which is... Read more
Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome
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