Back2School Champion: Steve Tracy

Name: Steve Tracy

Hometown: Portland, OR and Phoenix, AZ

Occupation: Professor of Theology and Ethics at Phoenix Seminary; co-founder (with my wife Celestia) of Mending the Soul Ministries

Church Affiliation: Imago Dei Community (Portland, OR)

What course(s) do you teach about sexual and domestic violence?
At Phoenix Seminary, I teach an entire elective course on abuse and devote several class hours to addressing domestic violence and sexual abuse in two required ethics courses. I am also blessed to teach some of these same courses at the Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo, a bilingual Christian university in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Why do you think it’s important for theological schools to offer this kind of training or teaching?
There are many compelling reasons for training seminary students about abuse. First of all, abuse prevalence studies show that a high percentage of our population has experienced physical or sexual abuse. In North America, approximately one-fourth of women will experience at least one physical or sexual assault by an intimate partner in her lifetime.

We also know that physical and sexual abuse is profoundly damaging and is causally linked to numerous long-term harmful conditions and behaviors, including PTSD, depression, promiscuity, and chemical addiction. Abuse, therefore, is directly or indirectly linked to many of the most pressing pastoral needs our students will face.

Furthermore, our students themselves have often experienced abuse and need help understanding and addressing what happened to them if they are going to be effective, healthy, church leaders. For example, Celestia and I co-teach a course on intimacy (or the theology and practice of relationships). The first assignment in the course is to do a personal family of origin assessment. We do not specifically ask the students to assess abuse, in particular, but emphasize general patterns of healthy and unhealthy behavior in their family and how that has impacted them. Each semester, a high percentage of the students report having experienced or witnessed abuse in their family of origin. Generally these students have told no one else at the seminary and often have not addressed the impact this abuse has had on them.

Another important reason theological schools must address abuse is that, generally speaking, the church hasn’t and still isn’t dealing properly with abuse. Celestia and I have given hundreds of presentations in the classroom and in churches on abuse. We often ask our audience if they have ever heard a sermon or a Sunday school lesson on domestic violence or sexual abuse. We’ve never had more than 10% of an audience raise their hands.

When a church is forced to address abuse, it often missteps out of ignorance, fear, or patriarchy. This explains why abuse survivors, who are all around us in our churches, are often reluctant to go to church leaders for help.

One of our former Mending the Soul board members, Peggy Bilsten, served for many years on the Phoenix City Council. During her tenure, she helped initiate a research study of women in our city shelters to improve services to battered women. Roughly 85% of the women surveyed identified themselves as Christians, 57% said they attended church, 35% indicated they had experienced physical abuse in a past relationship, and yet only 7% felt they could confide in a church leader if they felt unsafe due to their partner’s abuse. Clearly, we need to proactively prepare our students to change these unfortunate patterns by equipping them to respond boldly and wisely to abuse in their church.

What has surprised or challenged you as you teach this material?
For over three decades, Celestia and I have been engaged in various types of vocational Christian ministry. Without question, abuse ministry—including abuse education—has been the most challenging (and the most rewarding) of all the ministries we’ve experienced. Abuse creates soul damage, including high levels of toxic shame. It creates confusion and pain for those who try to help victims, so it is challenging to teach students about abuse, as it can trigger past trauma. Finally, one of the greatest challenges we’ve faced domestically and globally when educating others about abuse is patriarchy. Until one comes to recognize the prevalence and malevolence of patriarchy, it is difficult to understand, let alone deal with, abuse in the church.

What gives you hope as you do this work?
Engaging daily in abuse ministry can certainly be daunting, but it has given Celestia and me tremendous encouragement and hope. Countless survivors teach and bless us with their courage. Watching survivors grow and heal—be it our seminary students in Phoenix or former child soldiers in the Congo—gives us great hope in the power of Christ to transform and redeem evil.

Finally, while the failure of the church to address abuse can be demoralizing, the longer we teach and train on abuse the more we have witnessed faith leaders here and around the world begin to step up and engage this issue. Over and over we have been delighted to witness numerous church leaders and sometimes whole denominations make dramatic changes to address abuse once they are given quality education and practical tools. There is much reason for hope and much reason to keep pressing on!