Redeeming Power, Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church

Redeeming Power, Understanding Authority and Abuse in the ChurchPower has a God given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power. Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear eyed

Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power. Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

Publisher: Baker
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781587434389

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Diane Langberg (PhD, Temple University) is an internationally recognized psychologist with fifty years of experience. She speaks regularly on abuse and trauma all over the world and cofounded the Global Trauma Recovery Institute at Biblical Theological Seminary. For twenty-nine years, she directed her own counseling practice in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Langberg, Monroe & Associates, which includes seventeen therapists with multiple specialties, now continues this work. Langberg previously served on the board of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment) and cochaired the American Bible Society's Trauma Advisory Council. She has authored numerous books, including Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse, In Our Lives First: Meditations for Counselors, On the Threshold of Hope, and Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores.

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"This book is one of the most important works for a pastor, or anyone in a position of authority, to dwell on. Langberg's work laying out the relationship between power and abuse and contrasting it with how power is exercised in the person and work of Christ is foundational for any leader or ministry desiring to reflect the gospel. This book is a must-read for spiritual leaders and for every Christian as we seek to exhort each other to righteousness and use redemptively whatever authority we have in our own spheres." Rachael Denhollander, speaker, victim advocate, and attorney; author of What Is a Girl Worth?