Faith Culture

A practical framework for discerning healthy, unhelpful, unhealthy, and abusive behavior in faith-based relationships. I write from lived experience, more than twenty years of serving as a church youth leader, and ongoing learning about evidence-based safeguarding that names harm without undermining faith. Why Negative Behavior in Faith-Based Relationships Feels So Polarizing Whenever negative behavior in faith-based relationships comes up, responses often fall into two extre

Written by someone whose faith was pressured as a teen—and who later learned how easy it is to repeat the same pattern. Midway through my sophomore year of high school, I found another faith community that felt like home. But it broke my parents’ hearts. The years that followed were strained. During a waiting period after which I would be allowed to make a final decision, conversations were heavy and emotional. As other adults at school and church tried to influence me, some

It can be easy to see an unhappy camper as a problem to fix rather than a person to love. But what would Jesus do? Church-camp goers come in all forms—some youth count down the days to go, while others count down the hours until they can go home. Emotional stress at camp can come from changing friendships, shifting hormones, a faith crisis, or simply physical and social exhaustion (especially for introverts!). Whatever the reason, here are a few practical ways to anticipate a