A Letter of Support for Women Who Have Experienced Harm in Church

#bishopsbehavingbadly #womanattgewell I am a member of St. Paul’s Chattanooga and was the first reporter on the former Rev. Brad Whitaker.

I have expereinced harm in two churches I have served on two different occassions.

I was the victim of physical violence from a clergy person in charge of my discernment process and I quit, silenced by gaslighting. It took me years to reenter the process, and I was again gaslighted. The lack of transparency in the process creates the ideal situation for silencing women. I eventually sought ordination in another province of the Anglican Communion, but I've been banned from returning to TEC. I feel more hurt and betrayal than I did during my divorce. The church I loved does not love me and I'm having to come to terms with that.

Katie is an extraordinary and deeply trustworthy person who deserves the utmost respect and support. She brings integrity, compassion, and dedication to everything she does. It saddens me to know that she has not always received the respect and support she so clearly deserves.

Wow....doing research on this very topic! From one who is living it - it is very real!

I have both experienced this and heard hundreds of stories of women who have been abused.

I pray and call for justice for women victims of church harm. I pray, too, for healing for each victim.

I support my sisters in Christ and have definitely been in situations. Where is been women’s three months or where the liturgy has been about Mary and all the speakers are men and there are no women represented. I am luckily in a church that is more inclusive but understand all too well. I have a sister who works at a church where she’s had a train people under her to become her boss and she’s been in the role for 10 to 15 years. She can run circles around them but because she has a woman that would never consider her for the role. And this is 2026! Again, my church has been great, but it took a while to find one that was truly inclusive. So I support my sisters in Christ.

There has been a great deal of work done on this front, and a great deal of work ongoing, and I trust that you will stand on the shoulders of giants, and amplify the good left to be done in the world.

This is an important step forward in victim rights and destigmatization of survivors speaking their truth. Thank you .

As an adult who ended up leaving the faith, I can still say I benefited in many ways from growing up in Christianity. But evangelicalism had its toxic aspects even before they infiltrated the government to this degree, and many people, especially women, have been traumatized by faith leaders to an extent that’s hard to heal from. Signing for all the people who’ve been hurt far more than I was.

Assault is, indeed, a problem for the church. And it hasn’t received the attention it deserves. Sexual harassment, on the other hand, is often, laughed away and too easily dismissed as “harmless” and therefore enabled and perpetuated. Too many women, myself included, have been sexually harassed to varying degrees, and it need to stop. All forms of assault, harassment, or unwanted/uninvited sexual advances (including innuendo, wandering eyes, crude jokes, etc.) shouldn’t be tolerated. And the offenders need to be held accountable, including those in ordained leadership (male and female) who recognize the patterns and do nothing about it. The church isn’t a safe place. But it should be and can be if we stick together, demand action, and raise the bar for the rising generations of younger women and girls coming behind us.

It's beyond time for re-form.

Harmed and still being harmed.

I stand in solidarity. I pray for healing.

Prayers for the healing of the Church

I am an Episcopal Priest (Diocese of Vermont) serving the wider Anglican Communion on behalf of the Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society of The Episcopal Church. I am Dean of St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Nicosia, Cyprus in the Diocese of Cyprus & the Gulf. This Diocese is part of the Anglican /Episcopal Province of Jerusalem & the Middle East.

Contribution with shared account.

Justice and compassion!

Full and humble support