Introduction from the Publisher: #MeToo. #ChurchToo. #pentecostalsisterstoo. Since 2018, hashtags and stories of sexual violence have appeared in all sectors of life from Hollywood to the Olympics; from politics to religion; from universities to seminaries; and among pentecostals. But amid all these stories of sexual abuse and assaults, one may wonder if any stories of healing from sexual violence exist. If so, what does healing look like, particularly among pentecostals who believe in divine healing? Is it a single prayer of faith or a conglomeration of healing factors? In true pentecostal form, See My Body, See Me systematically examines the healing stories of eight pentecostal survivors and the experiences of five pentecostal licensed counselors. It then combines these experiences of both males and females with Scripture, theology, psychology, and culture to provide a pentecostal perspective on healing from sexual violence. As a practical theological approach, See My Body, See Me also offers acts of ministry to provide healing spaces by way of three embodied praxes that are historically and theologically pentecostal: listening, waiting, and learning. See My Body, See Me is an invitation to participate in Christ’s healing ministry to see, hear, and believe survivors as God sees, hears, and believes them.

Interview with Dr. Pamela F. Engelbert

What is a short synopsis of the book?

Pamela F. Engelbert, See My Body, See Me: A Pentecostal Perspective on Healing from Sexual Violence (Pickwick Publications, 2024)

This book is divided into two parts: a) a description of how pentecostals heal from sexual violence, and b) an invitation to the church to provide a safe place for survivors. The first part recounts the healing journeys of survivor-participants while the second part offers specific pentecostal praxes to cultivate safe environments for survivors. This book draws from real stories of pentecostal survivors and licensed counselors. It then looks at those stories through the lens of psychology, culture, theology, and Scripture to form a fuller theological understanding of the healing journey from sexual violence.

What type of book is it?

Why did you write this book?

For a number of years, I had wondered how other pentecostals experienced healing from sexual violence because of my own healing journey. While walking and praying in 2018 or 2019, I sensed a distinct call in which I knew that I knew that this was the topic I was to research. Yet, I also questioned that call since I am a survivor of sexual violence. However, when a colleague said to me, “God gives us questions through our experiences,” I became more confident in pursuing this topic.

What is the meaning of the title See My Body, See Me?

For whom is the book intended?

This book is geared toward those who are pursuing higher education, particularly a master’s degree or a PhD. It is also for those in the academy because they are challenging pentecostals to be places of healing for survivors of sexual violence, and this is a response to that challenge. Yet, it is also for ministers and counselors from whom survivors request help. Finally, and maybe most importantly, it is for pentecostals who desire to nurture healing in the life of the one who says to them, “I was sexually violated.”

What do you hope people will take away from this book?

a) Since a survivor may be the person sitting next to you in the pew or leading on the platform, what are we doing about it?

b) Healing from sexual violence is not instantaneous but a long, unpredictable journey. How are we prepared for the long haul to walk alongside survivors?

c) Pentecostals are in a unique place to be safe places of healing for survivors because of our belief in healing. How are we participating in the ongoing healing ministry of the Spirit in a survivor’s life?

PR

Further Reading

The Long Journey Home An interview with Andrew Schmutzer about The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused.

Bradford McCall reviews Andrew J. Schmutzer’s article, “A Theology of Sexual Abuse: A Reflection on Creation and Devastation” that appeared in JETS 51:4 (Dec 2008).

Mara Lief Crabtree reviews Jennifer Cisney’s article, “Healing From the Pain of Sexual Assault” Enrichment (Spring 2009).

A Charge for Church Leadership: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse and Ministering to Survivors: Part 1 and Part 2. Excerpts from The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused.

Churches Bring #MeToo To The Pulpit

Andrew J. Schmutzer, “Sexual Abuse, by Any Other Name?”

Please join us for a short series reprinting chapters from The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused.

Beginning a conversation about sexual abuse is uncomfortable, but we feel strongly that this topic is something the church needs to address. We believe the testimonies of authentic recovery can help us embrace the pain of the hurting and make openings for God to bring healing.

Several terms, prompted by an asterisk (*), have been defined by pastors, therapists, and theologians that contributed to the book and are included in a select glossary. Please also continue the conversation with Andrew Schmutzer as he answers questions throughout this series.

An excerpt from The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused, edited by Andrew J. Schmutzer.

There is a mystery to sexuality that demands respect. The most treasured relationships in Scripture—personal, national, and divine—draw deeply on sexual imagery: “as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you” (Isah 62:5b, cf. Rev 21:2, 9).1 Paul’s language to the Corinthians also employs sacred motifs of sexuality: “I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” (2 Cor 11:2b). Appropriately, Brueggemann states:

[F]aith that must resort to the most erotic imagery to speak about a covenantal relationship that operates at the deepest levels of trust and intimacy is useful indeed … the outcome of such usage is a relationship glorious in its intimacy and costly in its brokenness. The Bible understands that sexuality is the ultimate arena of cost and joy.²

So how does a sexually abused child carry both cost and joy into their adult life? How does a young woman anticipate her marriage—“glorious in its intimacy”—when her own father has sexually betrayed her during her years of nurture, leaving his child with a defining experience “costly in its brokenness?” Sexuality may be “personal,” but it is never private.³ Whether in brokenness or gloriousness, sexuality functions within a grand web of embodied relationships that are fragile, connected, and enduring.

Sexual Abuse, Scripture and Theology: A Messy Obligation

In this chapter we focus on a *biblical theology of sexuality primarily through the texts of creation (Genesis 1–3). Secondarily, we will observe how sexuality and its desecration reverberates through Scripture: in narratives of sexual violation (e.g., 2 Samuel 13), in Jesus’ prescriptive model for human sexual behavior (Mark 10:6–9), and in Paul’s letter of moral exhortation (1 Thess 4:1–8). Throughout, however, our chief interest is in the significance of the relational dynamics that surround sexuality and its violation, including agency, consequences, *intergenerational transmission, and the way sin, evil, and community are portrayed in violence that is sexual in nature.

Using a biblical theological approach enables us to highlight literary, historical, and thematic trajectories in these texts. Further, a combination of these elements, within the context of Christian faith, forms a “plausibility structure”⁴ of Scriptural reading that is sensitive to the on-going truths of these biblical stories—both the horizontal and vertical realities of human sexuality.⁵ After all, the “horizontal dimensions of biblical theology cannot be separated from the vertical ones: love of neighbor is practiced within the claim divine love makes upon humankind.”⁶ Note this relational dynamic that James K. Mead highlights in his useful definition:

Biblical theology seeks to identify and understand the Bible’s theological message and themes, as well as how the Bible witnesses to those themes and to whom and by whom it declares that message. The outcome of such investigation will lead us to hear what the Bible says about God’s being, words, and actions; about God’s relationship to all creation, especially humankind; and about the implications this divine-human encounter has for relationships between human beings.⁷

The literature on gender, sexuality, and *sexual ethics is a veritable explosion⁸ as there are diverse groups, approaches, and issues at stake.⁹ Adequately addressing people who have a history of *sexual abuse (SA) is a complex undertaking. It requires a multiplex approach: an interplay of social-sciences, pastoral *empathy, and relational categories capable of addressing the “attack-factor” of physical violation, *intrafamilial betrayal, biblical *anthropology, and the *disorganized relational associations that can be both cause and effect. Along with the victim’s psychological damage are also composite issues of *spiritual incest and theological trauma—healing for victims often requires “chasing down” the God who never showed up or worse, sat passively by!¹⁰ In fact, the complexity of issues surrounding SA—chaos at numerous levels—is part of the reason our understanding of SA needs a more holistic articulation and implementation, making trans-disciplinary studies like this necessary.

Enrichment Spring 2009.

Jennifer Cisney, “Healing From the Pain of Sexual Assault” Enrichment (Spring 2009), pages 108-112.

Jennifer Cisney, a counselor, executive board member of the American Association of Certified Christian Sexual Addition Specialists, member of the the American Association of Christian Counselors since 1994 and survivor of sexual assault, recognizes “the progress the church has made in dealing with emotional pain and struggles in Christians.” The author, however, questions why she “can count on one hand the number of workshops that have addressed [the] critically important issue” of the “devastating and traumatic event” of rape and “why . . . society and the church are so reluctant to address it.”

Jennifer Cisney

The author, in addition to integrating issues related to rape in contemporary context with instances of rape in certain scriptural passages (i.e., 2 Sam. 13:19), addresses several of the misconceptions concerning sexual assault: (1) the belief that rape is not a widespread problem; (2) the misunderstanding that rape always involves sexual attack by a stranger, rather than by a date, acquaintance or other known person; (3) the error in believing that if serious physical injury does not result, the victim will be free of long-term effects of the attack, and other misconceptions. She is careful to cite important current statistics from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. For example: (1) One in 6 women is sexually assaulted in her lifetime; (2) someone in the US is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes; (3) victims of sexual assault are 3 times more likely to suffer from depression; 6 times more likely to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol; 26 times more likely to abuse drugs and 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.