The Long Journey Home

In my first year serving in Salvation Army ministry, I attended a continuing education session that addressed a variety of social problems that I might be encountering in my work. Those first few months of ministry had been eye-opening for the young girl from Tonawanda, NY and by the time of this training, I was right there with the instructor. Divorce - yep, we've got that in our church. Child abuse - I could name the kids, and had to fight the urge to take them home with me. Alcohol abuse - one of our members had been at our door that week, inebriated and belligerent. And sexual abuse - well, this was 1978 and not too many people were talking about it openly in the church yet, but hindsight tells me that was present as well.

Fast forward to 2011. Sexual abuse is no longer the taboo subject it was in the church of my childhood. It's a common theme in the stories of many women and at least some men who seek mental health counseling or pastoral care. Therapists understand the impact of the abuse on their clients, theologians see the presence of evil, the question of forgiveness and the promise of incarnational healing in its wake, and pastors face its spiritual and emotional fallout in the pews and in the church office.

How can these different disciplines bring their strengths to this serious subject? What might help connect the dots between theology, psychology and pastoral care? Long conversations over coffee would be a great idea, but not too practical between busy professionals living across the country. But Andrew Schmutzer has made it happen through a new sourcebook for those who want to understand and support the healing work of the Spirit of God. In The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused, Moody Bible Institute professor Schmutzer invited 27 clinicians, pastors, theologians and writers to a broad table of conversation as they contributed to a collaborative approach from psychology, theology, and pastoral care.

Published by Wipf and Stock, The Long Journey Home will be an invaluable resource for professional helpers and will also provide an accessible foundation for the caring friend or for the survivor of abuse.

[Ashland residents Dr. Morven Baker and Major JoAnn Shade,contributed to this volume]