Dawn of Sunday: The Trinity and Trauma-Safe Churches
Ebook
Whether we realize it or not, our churches are full of those who have experienced and are living with the aftereffects of horror and trauma, whether as survivors, carers, or perpetrators. The central question of this book is simple: How can our churches become open to the Trinity such that they are trauma-safe environments for everyone? How can we join the triune God to become trauma-safe churches? While the reality is bleak, the church can dare to hope for healing because of the reality of God and the body of Christ. Using the metaphor of the dawn of Sunday, the authors propose a double witness to trauma that straddles the boundary between the deadly silence of Holy Saturday and the joy of Easter Sunday. While witnessing loss and lament we can also be open to the possibility of new life through God's trinitarian works of safety and recovery in the church. This involves adopting some basic principles and practices of trauma safety that every pastor, congregation, and layperson can begin using today. Creating trauma-safe churches is possible through God the Trinity.
“This book offers a pastoral theology that knows how to journey
through the pain and the horror of suffering, abuse, and bodily
trauma. Cockayne, Harrower, and Hill . . . provide
well-researched and nuanced perspectives on the effects of trauma
with strategies for how to engage the bodies and the stories of
those impacted. . . . For each of the contributors, even
in the darkness before the dawn, hope lingers and creates a path
toward life.”
—Chelle Stearns, Seattle School of Theology & Psychology
“Cockayne, Harrower, and Hill show us how the triune God gives us
solace in sufferings, hope amidst horrors, and strength in our
weakness. This is no empty therapeutic but theology for healing and
restoration after traumatic experiences. A terrific resource in
pastoral theology.”
—Michael F. Bird, Ridley College
“Moving beyond pat answers and reductionistic attitudes, the
authors demonstrate the resources of a Christian understanding of
the Trinity for the church’s handling of trauma. Despite often
failing their members, churches can and must have a positive role
in healing. This book charts a practical course through what is
often a very challenging pastoral terrain. It should be required
reading for pastors and religious workers, as well as for anyone
entrusted with the care of other souls.”
—Adonis Vidu, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
- Title: Dawn of Sunday: The Trinity and Trauma-Safe Churches
- Authors: Joshua Cockayne, Scott Harrower, Preston Hill
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781725291058, 9781725291034, 9781725291041, 1725291053, 1725291037, 1725291045
- Resource ID: LLS:9781725291058
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-01-18T21:40:32Z
Joshua Cockayne is a city center mission lead in the Diocese of
Leeds and an honorary lecturer in theology at the University of St
Andrews. He has published widely in philosophical theology on
issues related to spirituality, liturgy, and ecclesiology.
Scott Harrower is associate professor of theology, history, and
ethics at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. He is an Anglican
priest and is the author of God of All Comfort: A Trinitarian
Response to the Horrors of This World.
Preston Hill is assistant professor of integrative theology at
Richmont Graduate University which houses an Institute of Trauma
and Recovery. He is an ordinand in the Anglican Church in North
America.