Restor(y) Year End Report
Thanksgiving is here, and coming quickly behind it is Advent and Christmas, and then before we know it it will be 2025. We can hardly believe another year of ministry is coming to a close. As we approach Thanksgiving, we are feeling immensely grateful for those of you who are a part of the Restor(y) community, for those of you who have chosen to believe that trauma does not have to write the church’s story.
If you are here, my guess is you are deeply acquainted with the stories of harm and brokenness in the church. Many of us come to the work of restoring the church out of places of experiencing deep wounding within her walls. We not only read the stories of abuse on our social media feeds, but have lived them ourselves. Yet, there is something within us that causes us to cling to the church, to hope despite all the darkness, that restoration is possible. It is this hope that birthed Restor(y). I would assume that if you are reading this email, this hope is alive in you. Perhaps your hope feels dim as the darkness feels heavy. Perhaps you are in a season where you wonder if the hope that is within you for a healthier church will every be fulfilled. If this is you today, I pray this email encourages you to continue to cling to hope. If there’s anything we’ve learned through this last year of ministry, it is that God is at work to restore his church. He is raising up new shepherds who will love his people. He is showing churches and denominations how to prevent abuse and harm from being done in the church. He is illuminating the ways in which collective trauma has been hindering the church from being the Body of Christ. He is caring for pastors through an increased awareness around secondary traumatic stress and burnout. In all these ways, he is bringing hope and healing to his church. We are so thankful to be part of this work, and we could not do it without you.
Every time you read an email, share an instagram post, make a donation, or add Restor(y) to your prayers, you are helping us join God in the work he is doing to write a new story for the church. You are choosing to cling to hope, and in doing so are refusing to allow abuse and harm to have the last word. You are reclaiming the beauty of the church. You are reclaiming the goodness of the church. Thank you for your relentless hope. Because of your continued support these are the stories we get to tell as we close out 2024:
300 Leaders Were Trained: We got to journey with pastors, therapists, denominational leaders, and others as we helped equip them to minister to those who have experienced spiritual abuse, prevent secondary traumatic stress in clergy, reimagine church health relationally, and recognize the impact of collective trauma on congregations. These were some of our favorite moments this year as they continued to remind us of the many people who care deeply about preventing harm from being done in the church.
5 Individuals Have Taken Our Becoming a Trauma Informed Church Course: Early this year, we created an online course that people could take at their own pace to begin to introduce the idea of what it means to be “trauma informed” in ministry. We are delighted that 5 people have chosen to take that course and are prayerful it has been a blessing to them.
3 Podcasts Have Interviewed our Director on the Work of Restor(y): There are so many wonderful organizations working to bring health to the church. We are so thankful for the many different ways we have been able to partner with others in this very important work. We are thankful for the podcasts that have been willing to speak with us around the topic of collective trauma and we are hopeful that those conversations have moved the church towards healing.
1 Church Has Completed our “Congregational Suffering & Resiliency Assessment”: This year we launched our “Congregational Suffering & Resiliency Assessment” a detailed survey designed to help churches identify their places of pain as well as their areas of resiliency so that they might flourish as a congregation. We are so thankful for the congregation that embarked on the journey of participating in that assessment and we are prayerful that it will be a resource that will bless many, many more faith communities.
2024 was truly a beautiful year of ministry. It is an honor to get to hold the stories of the hurting, to get to equip leaders to do better and work for healing, and to get to imagine with so many what a healthy church just might look like. We pray that as we move into 2025, God will continue to open doors for us to partner with him in the restoration of his church. Thank you for being on that journey with us!
As we move into this next year of ministry, we would love to ask you to consider partnering with us through prayer or giving.
We pray every day at 2:34 as a way of holding to the promise in Jeremiah 23:4 which says that God will place shepherds over his flock who will care for them so that none are missing and the people of God will no longer be afraid or dismayed. Would you set your alarm for us and choose to pray each day at 2:34 for the restoration of the church and the healing of those who have been harmed? Prayer is our most essential work, and we would be delighted for you to join us in that.
Finally, the work we do is not possible without your generosity. If you feel led to give, know that your donation is fully tax deductible. Any amount is helpful in supporting the work that we do. You can give here. Thank you for your partnership in this journey of working for a healthier church.
