Not everyone walks away. Some stay – not in fear, but a deep desire to cleanse the sanctuary of corruption. These are the reformers: survivors who believe their presence holds value, even if the institution betrayed their trust. This section is for those who wish to engage from within – pastors, congregants, faith leaders, or lifelong believers who refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice. Reform isn’t about saving face, but resurrection. Sounding alarms amidst the smoke and mirrors. 

Here, we’ll explore tangible ways to encourage accountability within faith communities. This includes education on religious trauma, guidance for recognizing harmful theology, frameworks for trauma-informed ministry, and survivor-informed policies prioritizing transparency, consent, and safety. We’ll also highlight the importance of listening – not defending – making space for stories that challenge the status quo. Survivor accounts are not for the faint. In an effort to provoke positive change, however, they are absolutely necessary. 

Faith, when genuine, does not register denial, rather inspires courage. If the collective church is ever to be reconsidered family-friendly, to start, it must recognize fear-based grooming as child abuse leading to long-term psychological harm. In listening to learn – not respond – churches might resign from performance and consider the work of repentance. Again, survivors are not enemies of faith, but veritable prophets carrying sacred signs – no leader is anointed nor system holy that prioritizes power over people. 

Indeed, it’s a peculiar kind of courage to stand within walls of wounding, and still choose to labor toward restoration. Reformers are not wide-eyed dreamers, but weathered truth-bearers, carrying scars of betrayal and the unyielding belief that what was once sacred might be repurposed.

Consecration begins by excavating decay. Not just the public scandals initiating headlines, but insidious toxins festering beneath the surface: spiritual deflection, hierarchical domination, theological misogyny, and the vapid hush surrounding harm. This work involves unmasking evil in darkest of corners – inner chambers of the ministry implied. Exposing how seemingly noble motives do not necessarily negate destructive patterns.

True reformation reaches beyond softened language or surface-level apologies. It calls for deep structural introspection. Examining power structures that shield leadership from scrutiny. Dismantling purity doctrines which substitute shame for righteousness. Putting an end to scriptural misuse as a veil for injustice or banner against accountability. Equipping communities with discernment to distinguish genuine conviction from psychological coercion, spiritual guidance and oppressive control.

For clergy and shepherds of faith, reform demands humility – not the staged variety that sidesteps accountability, but that which descends from the pulpit to dwell in another’s grief! Cultivating spaces that elevate enlightenment over magnetic personas. The church must refrain from the cult of personality, providing platforms to failed charismatics, and aspire instead to be a refuge. Not some venue serving performance and power, but birthplace of higher love, redemption and belonging. 

Education is essential. From seminars on Religious Trauma Syndrome, to book circles exploring the stories of survivors. Scriptural studies reframed through lenses of the marginalized. Trauma-responsive preparation for ministry leaders. These initiatives are not threats to sacred tradition. In fact, they’re the very tools which make healing possible, restoring integrity to spiritual leadership. 

Let it be clear: no reform is legitimate unless it centers the harmed. Theology must descend from clouds of abstraction and anchor itself in human experience. And if any congregation dreads survivor testimony more than the wrongdoing it reveals, it has mistaken reputation for righteousness. One cannot claim to be triggered by survivor stories while also gladly “Eating of the Flesh and Drinking the Blood…”

Those who speak prophetically have always unsettled the status quo – not from irreverence, but in defiance of spiritual corruption. Reformers do not come to destroy the church, but cleanse it – to scatter the profiteers and upend the altars of hypocrisy, just as Christ once did.

To those of stirred conscience within pews – know this: silence will never safeguard what deserves to endure – but love can, and courage will. Reform is not rejection. It’s devotion daring to demand better.

And that, dear souls, is the sacred work.

– ReLOVution