Welcome to my passion project
My heart has always been with kids, teens, and the Church—this is where I’ve served for the past thirty years.
As a child, attending church with my family and a close-knit K–8 religious school nurtured my faith in Christ.
As a teenager, other experiences led me to this work.
​
Today, I serve as a church camp resource for youth leaders within my faith community in several areas of California. I’ve also served as a program leader, camp director, and religious educator for high schoolers.
Outside of church, I’ve worked in early childhood education and with a nonprofit dedicated
to implementing evidence-based programs for delinquent youth.
My name JEN
Nice to meet you, and thank you for visiting this site!
You may be wondering who I am, what this site is about, and whether everyone is truly welcome here. The answer is yes.
​
I’m Jennifer Weaver—a mom of three grown children I’m grateful to share close relationships with, and an empty-nester married to my best friend of more than thirty years.
​
As a teen, I had impactful experiences in my childhood faith community that stayed with me. Years later, when my husband began serving as a lay leader at church and our kids were becoming teens, some of that resurfaced. Suddenly, places where I’d felt joy for years were flooded with unwanted emotions. Working through that opened my eyes to the challenges that can arise in faith-centered relationships—and to our Savior’s power to heal.
​
More recently, I’ve seen some of what I experienced as a teen described as coercion in my church’s youth protection training. Now, I’m gathering the insights and resources I wish had been available back then—and the kind of support I needed while mentoring the faith of my own teens.
​
If you’ve ever felt confused, pressured, or uneasy in relationships where faith played a part, you may find encouragement here.
​
Our Savior cares deeply about relationships connected to faith and belief. With His help, we can overcome all things as we learn to reflect Him.
Your friend in faith and hope,
Jen Weaver
“You may have noticed definitions of spiritual abuse that seem to condemn entire faith communities. Remember how Jesus ate with ‘sinners’?
He kept everyone at the table.
Just as Jesus Christ never gave up on people, I believe He doesn’t give up on families—or on entire faith communities—either. He cares deeply about us all. No one is beyond His reach.”
—Jennifer Weaver
The Book
The Girl Who Dropped Jesus
is my upcoming memoir about faith, belonging—and the subtle ways fear, humor, beauty, and shame shape both faith and family. From childhood mishaps like dropping Jesus in church to barely surviving a faith change at a religious high school, my story is one of being caught between two faith communities and three generations—and my Savior’s power to heal spiritual wounds.
