Church Abuse Recovery... a basic roadmap for overcoming loss

When you’ve experienced church abuse, or any significant loss, it’s easy to get stuck in a form of exile where you feel lost and disoriented. This post offers a brief roadmap to help people find the path to recovery.

church, faith, God, grief, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichApril 24, 2025loss, trauma, restoration, recovery, churchabuse, griefandloss, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, abusivepastor Comments

Is Your Pastor "The Voice of God" to You?

The recent upheaval in Daystar Ministries has caused people to question how we hear the voice of God and the role of spiritual oversight. In this post I offer an alternative view to what is often too quickly accepted as truth.

Tackling Church Wounds with Christy Boulware

This is my second post with some of the questions and answers from when I was interviewed by Christy Boulware for her podcast. We looked at spiritual abuse and women in ministry.

abuse, church, faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichFebruary 29, 2024christyboulware, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastor, abusivechurch, womeninministryComment

Church Hurt Podcast with Christy Boulware

I join Christy Boulware on her podcast to kick off her new series on “Resilience in the Pews: Tackling Anxiety and Church Wounds. In this post I answer a few of the questions that she posed to me about spiritual abuse.

Christianity, church, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichFebruary 22, 2024christyboulware, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicfaith, abusivepastor, spiritualabuseComment

When GOSSIP becomes a spiritually weaponized accusation

Spiritually toxic leaders often weaponize the accusation of gossip to shut down complaints. But what does the Bible say about gossip? Accusing someone of gossip is often a tactic of spiritual abuse.

faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMay 26, 2023gossip, spiritualabuse, church, abusivepastor, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicfaithComment

Toxic Pastors and Why They Are Not Confronted

If toxic pastors are so bad, why are they so rarely confronted? Here are ten reasons people fail at confronting a pastor. See if you can relate.

church, faith, Christianity, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichJune 21, 2016bad pastors, how to confront abusive pastors, howtoconfrontyourpastor, confrontingapastor, confrontingabusivepastor, abusivepastor, spiritualabuse, badpastors, toxicpastors Comments

I Left My Toxic Church...Now What?

After being abused spiritually, some people give up on church. Others dive right back into church. Before you return to church there are a few things to consider.

abuse, toxic churchF. Remy DiederichFebruary 20, 2016spiritualabuse, toxicfaith, abusivepastor, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicchurch Comments

How to Reclaim Your Church from Spiritual Abuse

You are a leader in your church and spiritual abuse has just been exposed. What do you do? How do you “clean house” and get your church back on track? This post offers you a guide for the process.

abuse, Christianity, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMarch 14, 2015church, confronting toxic pastors, marshillchurch, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastor, toxicchurch, toxicfaith, confrontingchurchpastors, howtoconfrontyourpastorComment

You Can Smell Spiritual Abuse

When a church can admit that they have been abusive, they need to eradicate it from the roots. Any remaining scent of abuse will be quickly picked up by people who have experienced an abusive church.

religion and spirituality, faithF. Remy DiederichMarch 11, 2015spiritualabuse, toxicfaith, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastor, religioushurtComment

Don't Minimize Spiritual Abuse

It’s hard to admit to abuse. It’s tempting to minimize it. But when a church or pastor is found to be spiritually abusive it needs to be exposed. Don’t minimize spiritual abuse.

abuse, church, pastors, toxic churchF. Remy DiederichMarch 9, 2015abuse, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, abusivepastorComment

How to Recover From Spiritual Abuse, by F. Remy Diederich

When you’ve experienced spiritual abuse, it can be so devastating you may not feel like you will ever recover. But God is faithful. He can renew your spirit if you give him the opportunity. This post will give you some direction to let that happen.

abuse, faith, religion and spiritualityF. Remy DiederichMarch 5, 2015churchesthatabuse, spiritualabuse, churchhurt, churchabuse, toxicfaith, booksonspiritualabuse, abusivepastorComment

Spiritual Abuse Checklist, by F. Remy Diederich

Sometimes a checklist is necessary to confirm what we think is true. Here is a spiritual abuse checklist to help you determine if you are in a spiritually abusive church or organization.

abuse, church, pastors, toxic churchF. Remy DiederichMarch 2, 2015spiritualabusechecklist, spiritualabuse, abusivepastor, abusivepastors, badpastors, signsofspiritualabuse Comments

How to Confront a Toxic Pastor in a Toxic Church

The church is supposed to be a blessing to the world. A pastor should be the greatest champion of grace and truth. There is nothing more perverse and distorted than a toxic pastor. Learn how to confront an abusive pastor.

The Toxic World of the Insecure Pastor

Insecurity drives many people into leadership, including the ministry. What are the toxic characteristics of an insecure pastor. This article mentions twelve of them.

insecurity, ministry, pastors, shameF. Remy DiederichOctober 29, 2014insecure, insecurity, pastor, shame, toxic, abusivepastor, churchhurt, toxicfaith, spiritualabuse Comment

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