Nancy Myer Hopkins

When pastors of churches become involved in any kind, they betray the trust of their congre collective soul. There may be primary victims, people who have been directly sexually involved with the pastor. Everyone else who has looked to this pastor as a spiritual authority has also been violated. These are the secondary victims. They are church members, people in the wider community, other pastors who are successors in these churches, family members of these pastors, and the Church as a whole.

For too long primary and secondary victims have been ignored and abandoned in an attempt to control the damage. Feelings of anger, shame, and resentment have festered and led to deep church conflicts for years. It is time in honesty to address these needs and find paths of healing.

Restoring the Soul of a Church does just that. Experts in a variety of fields describe the nature of the damage to churches and assess what can be done about it. This book is about crises and long-term healing strategies for damaged congregations that will restore them to being healthy communities of faith.