WELCOME TO DAY 3!
It's the last day!
You know the drill by now. Start watching our final session videos below in any order you prefer.*
As always, a CW/TW for all sessions. Since this is a summit focused on recovery from abuse and trauma, assume that we will talk about trauma and abuse regularly. Some speakers may go into detail about their spiritual, emotional, or sexual abuse. Others may talk about suicidal ideation or attempts. If you need to take space for yourself, please do so.
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Get the All Access PassSara Billups: Orphaned Believers
In this session, Brian and Sara discuss her book, Orphaned Believers, what that phrase means, and what those believers can do to find beauty, community, and faith. Starting with this quote:
“This book is for you, orphaned believer, weary from loss yet putting full hope in Jesus. It is also for you who have left church but remain compelled by the Christian story. Because the Spirit of God can work even, and especially, in our wandering.”
We discuss her experience growing up in the evangelical church of the '80s and '90s, and disentangling her faith from the ideas of the end times, culture wars, and consumerism.
Bio
Sara Billups is a Seattle-based writer and cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Christianity Today, Ekstasis, and others. Sara writes Bitter Scroll, a monthly Substack letter. She is completing her Doctor of Ministry in the Sacred Art of Writing at the Peterson Center for the Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary.
Sara works to help wavering Christians remain steadfast through cultural storms and continues to hope for the flourishing of the Church amid deep political and cultural division in America.
Her first book, Orphaned Believers, follows the journey of a generation raised in the 80s and 90s of evangelicalism reckoning with the tradition that raised them and searching for a new way to participate in the story of God.
Links & Resources
Website | Instagram | Bitter Scroll Substack
Books
Shannan Martin: Turning On (and Toward) the Lights
“Turning on the lights poses no danger. It simply shows us what was already in the room.”
In this session, Brian and Shannan talk about her quote from her Substack post in response to the Asbury revival. Together, they discuss approaching life, faith, and community with a posture of openness, listening, and learning.
Bio
Shannan is a mom, wife, and neighbor living in Goshen, Indiana. She is a voracious reader, a wannabe-gardener, a news-geek, a thrift store-stalker, a justice-fighter, and an aficionado of not-too-spicy salsa. Shannan is author of Start with Hello, The Ministry of Ordinary Places and Falling Free. She is a cook at a local non-profit dedicated to feeding her community and falls asleep most nights thinking about breakfast.
Resources
Website | Instagram | Substack: The Soup
Books
Erin Hung: The Portal of Creativity
In this session, Brian and Erin talk about her work with the #A–ZofTraumaRecovery project, what led to it, and some artwork created by others in response to it. Erin shares some of her own artwork, and how creativity has helped her find a way forward.
Bio
Erin Hung is an artist, illustrator and mental health advocate. She is passionate about exploring how art can be a healing balm for communities, especially for the marginalised, broken-hearted and often disbelieved. She founded the #AtoZofTraumaRecovery on Instagram, a community of creatives that support each other on their healing journeys through art prompts and imaginative curiosity. Erin currently lives in Hong Kong with her husband and two children.
Resources
Artwork
Weaving: Erin Hung | Contemplative: Aimee Traeden | Poem: Kellyn Swift
Carl Binger: Emotionless Leaders
In this session, Brian and Carl discuss his own experience with spiritual abuse and religious trauma in the church, and how it's impacted his work today. We also talk about the issue of race in the church and the importance of relationships.
Bio
Carl is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor. He specializes in working with teenagers and adults who struggle with depression, and couples and individual's dealing with spiritual abuse.
After struggling with his own depression for three years, he hopes to be a light and help to as many people as he can, by not just counseling, but educating, giving hope, and breaking the stigma around depression.
When he’s not counseling, Carl enjoys running workshops and discussions on depression in the community, as well as hosting his podcast and running a private and supportive Facebook group called “Surviving Depression”.
Resources
Website | Instagram | Podcast | Beck's Depression Inventory | PsychologyToday.com | Mayo Clinic
Books & Resources
The Progressive Darkness: For the Christian Losing Hope in Depression | Progressive Darkness Reader's Guide | How to Human by Carlos Whittaker
Katherine Spearing: Encountering an Abusive Church After an Abusive Home
In this session, Brian and Katherine talk about her work with Tears of Eden, finding language to name our experiences, and the role of art in our recovery.
We also discuss how our family backgrounds and systems inform our faith, and how "our unmet needs do our shopping for us" when we look for churches and how naming abuse can often be difficult for many who don't feel they can use the word.
Bio
Katherine Spearing is the founder of Tears of Eden, a nonprofit supporting survivors of spiritual abuse, and the host of Tears' affiliate podcast Uncertain. She also hosts the podcast Trauma & Pop Culture and is a Certified Trauma Recovery Coach.
She is the author of a historical romantic comedy, Hartfords, a novel that challenges gender roles in a patriarchal society that will appeal to fans of Jane Austen. She has been a guest on a number of podcasts, is the author of several nonfiction articles, and writes regularly at katherinespearing.com.
Resources
Website | Tears of Eden website | Instagram | Uncertain podcast
Books
Clifton Roth: Defining Grief
In this session, Brian and Clifton discuss his work at CrossPoint Ministry and their work with pastors who have experienced painful ministry. Clif shares the resources provided at CrossPoint in spiritual direction, therapy, soul care, and more.
They also discuss what it looks like to be a trustworthy leader, "mechanic vs gardener" cultures, and defining grief.
Bio
Clif is the Executive Director of CrossPoint Ministry. CrossPoint advocates for the relational health, spiritual vitality, and resilience of pastors and Christian leaders. Clif is also a Relationship and Recovery Coach in the CrossPoint Soul Care Network, and he leads a variety of workshops and retreats. He is passionate for trustworthy pastors and leaders to be leading trustworthy churches and organizations. Clif lives in Louisville, KY with his wife Sally and their three daughters.
Resources
Website | Instagram | "Spaces of Grief" PDF
Books
Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen | Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen | Redeeming Heartache by Dan Allender
Lauren Noullet: Spiritual Direction: Companions for the Journey
In this session, Brian and Lauren discuss her role as a spiritual director, and what it looks like to receive spiritual direction with openness and curiosity. They also walk through some practical exercises and the idea of "keeping company with God."
Bio
As a spiritual director with a background of 20 years in church ministry, Lauren deeply values the opportunity to create a warm and open space where individuals can explore the contours of the inner life and ask "how is God at work here?" She created Wellspring Lane with her husband, Chris, as a place to collaborate their respective fields of psychology and spiritual formation in a way that resources others to integrate mental health, relational wellness, and spiritual growth.
In addition to offering spiritual direction, Lauren currently serves her local church in the areas of worship and discipleship, and enjoys family time with her three kiddos in the rolling country hills of western Pennsylvania.
Resources
Website | Instagram | "Lovingly Known, Knowingly Loved" PDF resource
KJ Ramsey: Compassion & Courage
Nothing has ever been said
that hasn’t already been said better
by the wind in the pine trees.
-Thomas Merton
In this session, Brian and KJ discuss Merton's quote, her work and recent books, and what it looks like to embrace our belovedness.
Through pursuing faith, befriending and embracing embodiment, discovering and finding community, and looking for "glimmers," KJ shares incredible insights and shares from her compassionate care.
Bio
K.J. Ramsey is a trauma-informed licensed professional counselor and author whose work offers space to see every part of our souls and stories as sacred. She holds degrees from Covenant College and Denver Seminary and is the author of This Too Shall Last, The Lord is My Courage, and The Book of Common Courage. K.J. writes at the intersection of theology, psychology, and spiritual formation to guide us in recovering the rhythm of resilience through nervous system regulation and the wonder of communion with God. She and her husband Ryan, along with their two exceptionally cuddly dogs, Merton and Resa, live near Denver, Colorado where K.J. listens for the liturgy of life in wildflowers, sunsets, sorrow, and church.
Resources
Books
The Book of Common Courage | The Lord Is My Courage | This Too Shall Last
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