A Reading Group for “Domestic Abuse and the Church”

In April 2019, Martin Selbrede presented a three-part lecture series, “Domestic Abuse and the Church,” in North Alabama. In these lectures, Martin details the nature and anatomy of abuse, how an abuser pursues the process of grooming and manipulation prior to actual perpetration, and the all-too-frequent response of the church to ignore or suppress the victim. He also works through how the heart of God is directly against abusers, and demonstrates that Scripture requires us to strenuously pursue justice for the victim in order to bring about healing. After the three core lectures, Martin held an extended session of questions and answers from conference attendees covering a wide range of topics.

It’s a common temptation for us to take the spiritual riches that have been entrusted to us, listen to or read them carefully, recommend them to others, and place them on the shelf, letting what we have learned fade from our minds. But of course we have a responsibility to not bury our talents, and “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). The more biblical response must be to take what we have learned, put it into action in our own personal lives, and then teach it to others.

With this in mind, I set out earlier this year to take Martin’s lectures, delivered at the congregation I attend, convert them to a written format, and then organize and lead a study group on Sunday afternoons—working through the articles a few paragraphs at a time. The goal is to raise the level of education and awareness in our local congregation as to the issues of abuse, healing, and justice—and to be faithful stewards of the information entrusted to us in April 2019.

To convert Martin’s lectures from video format to a print format, I leveraged the whisper.ai transcription engine to transcribe all four of his abuse lectures in about an hour. Next, I worked through each transcript while listening to the original audio, adding citation information, Scripture quotations, and editing as I went so that the text was easier to read yet without losing any information. I also added subheadings to break up the content and make the reading experience flow better. I then printed off copies for participants at our local congregation. Every other Sunday after lunch, we gather together and read through the article—a few paragraphs at a time—followed by any discussion.

Speaking of the impact of Martin’s teaching, one participant commented,

We are learning that the church has for too long tried to stop their ears and close their eyes and hide from abuse situations when sadly abuse of all kinds is as prevalent inside the church walls as it is outside. It’s time the church be the church and protect the hurting who reach out.

A mother of several young children commented,

Church is no place to let your guard completely down to oppressors just because it’s a place of worship. . . . it can also be the perfect opportunity for abusers to sneak in and appear just like everyone else to gain trust with an alternate end goal in mind. We absolutely have to be able to spot the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Truth and justice for the oppressed is always of higher importance than keeping up a high and mighty façade of your church body. The church should be the place that anyone with trauma from abusers should find true refuge and dedication to reach justice for the oppressed from their fellow believers. No case is to be completely shut down because of someone’s high regard they’ve previously had for the person being brought into question. Especially, children should not be dismissed as immature or overreactive—and not fully heard and supported when bringing any concern to your attention.

Click to access Martin Selbrede’s lectures on Domestic Abuse and the Church.