Religious Abuse

The cult known as the Community has taken everything from 17-year-old Minnow: 12 years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too. Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it's clear that Minnow knows something - but she's not talking.

In a breakthrough book first published in 1991, the authors address the dynamics in churches that can ensnare people in legalism, guilt, and begrudging service, keeping them from the grace and joy of God's kingdom.

Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power.

When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse.

I was born to an abusive doctor named Ahaz in Kentucky, homeschooled and not even allowed to have friends. When I was nine, Ahaz discovered The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Holdeman) in Tennessee, and he forced us to move there. The Holdeman's were religious exempt from education beyond the eighth grade, and I was beat for begging to go to a high school. As a minor, I had to kiss approximately 200 different people on the lips, some of whom were complete strangers, for the sake of something called The Holy Kiss; only it didn't feel holy. Ahaz determined to break my independent, ...

We've seen the news stories and heard the rumors. Maybe we ourselves have been hurt by a narcissistic church leader. It's easy to throw the term around and diagnose others from afar. But what is narcissism, really? And how does it infiltrate the church?

Within every community, toxic people can be found hiding in families, couples, companies, and places of worship. The cryptic nature of psychological abuse involves repetitious mind games played by one individual or a group of people. Psychological abuse leaves no bruises. There are no broken bones. There are no holes in the walls. The bruises, brokenness, and holes are held tightly within the target of the abuse.

Suddenly he pointed the gun at me and said, “Get out!” “What? There could be mountain lions or bears or who knows what else could be out there. Are you crazy?” “I don’t care,” he said. “Get out!” He cocked the pistol and I clearly remember hearing a click. P.B. Castle was born in Arizona but spent much of her childhood in a small village on the ocean in Mexico. There she had a sheltered existence until, at fourteen, she met X, a very cute nineteen year old guy who was seemingly destined to be a success in life. In fact, he was somewhat older than he claimed and intent on ...

"Beautifully written, it makes excellent use of dialogue to keep things moving along and give readers a much clearer and endearing understanding of each character and his/her motivations and actions. You will feel every emotion of hope, despair, sadness, and joy..." Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite "Wielding descriptive language and unexpected imagery, this narrative transports a reader with ease. Harvest Moon is a moving, authentic, and original work of historical fiction, while this series is a testament to Knipfer’s skilled and versatile storytelling.” Self-Publishing Review A TALE ...

Rooted in her experiences growing up in an evangelical Christian family, Jamie Lee Finch’s You Are Your Own offers an overview of evangelicalism and the painful confusion and anxiety experienced under its demands. Finch explores the mechanisms of trauma and how fundamentalist denominations match the patterns connected with PTSD. She elaborates on the doubt, guilt, fear, and grief that haunt those leaving the evangelical faith and offers an approach to help them recover healthy self-worth and resilience.

Small-town romance with faith, humor, and more than a dash of danger! A woman fighting to survive. A cowboy fighting for her. But news about her missing child could tear them apart… Escape to Cowboy Crossing, where people care about each other, romances are sweet and swoony, and six cowboy brothers with hot Irish blood fall in love when they least expect it. After being brutally beaten up by her ex-husband and left helpless and jobless, Courtney Rogers reluctantly agrees to recover at the only safe haven she knows. A ranch where one of the cowboy brothers could steal her heart if it ...

The Hurt Is Real… The hurts of spiritual trauma and abuse are real. They didn’t start with your church, but they do exist there. Why? Because people sin. And at its basic level, spiritual abuse is just one kind of sin. There is nothing particularly complicated about it—spiritual trauma is the mental and emotional harm that comes from having damaging or abusive interactions with other Christians. Any tight-knit church fellowship, regardless of its denominational affiliation, will naturally supply the preconditions necessary for spiritual hurts to occur. But what if you could heal from ...

Embark on a heart-wrenching journey alongside Hope Rodriguez in "Hope Lost," the captivating second book of the Hope series. As she tirelessly seeks solace and fulfillment, Hope's path takes unforeseen twists and turns, challenging her notions of love and redemption. With unwavering determination, Hope sets her sights on Michael Trent, the man who holds the key to her happiness. Yet, amidst her plans, an encounter with a child trapped in the clutches of sex trafficking shatters her world. Seeing it as a divine opportunity to experience motherhood once again, Hope embraces the chance to save...

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

Can a fun-loving cowboy with a precocious daughter and a guarded woman with a mistaken identity find a path to happiness together? It’s far from love at first sight when business consultant Cat Larson steals cowboy Roberto Moore’s car—with his daughter in it—then returns both and explains her reasons. After a few meetings, he’s intrigued by the mysterious thief, but his little family has suffered enough from his ex-wife’s addiction. Still reeling from her suspicious death, he doesn’t want to fall again for a woman he can’t trust. The abuse Cat suffered has taught her not to ...

Mariam Ibraheem was born in a refugee camp in Sudan. Her Muslim father died when she was six, and her mother raised her in the Christian faith. After a traumatic childhood, Mariam became a successful businessperson, married the man she loved, and had a beautiful baby boy.

Can a fake engagement become real for a single-father cowboy and a brokenhearted single mom? After escaping a horrifying relationship, all Nelly wants to concentrate on is raising her boys and rebuilding her career and self-esteem, even if she’s attracted to her new boss, Constanzo. When Constanzo suggests a fake engagement to keep her abusive ex away, she reluctantly agrees for the sake of her sons. But she knows better than to believe love exists for her, especially when their sons start to quarrel—over the same girl! Constanzo Moore can’t believe he offered to be a pretend fiancé....

In 1979, a fiery preacher named Jane Whaley attracted a small group of followers with a promise that she could turn their lives around. In the years since, Whaley’s following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr’s Broken Faith is a terrifying portrait life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades.

Jehovah’s Witnesses: The one true faith, or a cult? For Daniel Clark – a family man, devout member of the Watchtower Society and bringer of “Ther Good News” – life had lost all meaning. Disillusioned with church teachings, he decided to leave the faith, but had to find the strength to throw off the teachings programmed into him since birth and rebuild his life. In a harrowing account of growing up as a Witness in a filthy, flea-infested house, visiting his mother in a hellish mental institution and handing out Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets door to door, Daniel shares the story of ...

Dr. Laura Anderson takes an honest look at a side of religion that few like to talk about. Drawing from her own life and therapy practice, she helps listeners understand what religious trauma is and isn't, and how high-control churches can be harmful and abusive, often resulting in trauma. She shows how elements of fundamentalist church life—such as fear of hell, purity culture, corporal punishment, and authoritarian leaders—can cause psychological, relational, physical, and spiritual damage.