Over the past couple of months there has been a fair amount of chatter on the Internet about Christ Church and our Pastor, Douglas Wilson. People who have never been to our town, never been to our church, never met our pastor or elders, and never met us, have been maligning us all in countless ways from small (and large) Twitter and Facebook pulpits across the country. Men who run ministries supposedly designed to help victims are instead attacking us and the place we have found healing (yes, Boz Tchividjian, we hear you yelling from Virginia at us and our church, and it hurts and angers). Admittedly, it hasn’t been a huge crowd doing all this yelling, but it has been a loud one, and sometimes volume is all it takes to spread false impressions. There are voices out there telling us that our church is an unsafe place, telling us that our pastor hates women, telling us that our community favors the abuser over the abused.
We did not want to open up and share with the mob. We did not want relive the worst parts of our lives on Facebook and Twitter. However, the accusations have not stopped, and the church and leaders we love continue to be maligned, so we feel compelled to speak.
We have had enough.
We are women, strong women, with our own stories to tell.
We are not a paint-by-numbers group. We are all ages, coming from different places, with unique histories. Like so many women, many of us have abuse in our pasts. Some of that abuse has been as bad as abuse can get. Some of it is was less violent, but still left a haunting, nagging pain that is impossible to shake without help. Like so many women, we have needed time and counsel to heal. Like so many women, we have found that healing in Jesus Christ and the gospel preached in His Church. For us, that healing has specifically happened at Christ Church of Moscow, Idaho. For us, God has used our pastor, Douglas Wilson, as a faithful minister of His grace. We are thankful for our community and blessed beyond measure.
We will have a voice.
We see judgements and condemnations from afar.
They are wrong.
We did not want to blog our histories. We did not want to open old wounds and relive the darkest moments in our pasts. Our pastor does not need us to. He has not asked us to. But given that he stands mob-accused of not caring for us, of not tending to us, we would be selfish not to speak at this point. As we post, some identifying details will be changed to protect the identities of women who have decided to share, but our truth remains.These are our stories. By God’s grace, through human means in the town of Moscow, Idaho, these stories which have all run through the valley of the shadow of death, now point toward joy.