LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
4 Promises for Church Leaders Healing Trauma in Congregations
CLED 700
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Ministry Department of Christian Leadership and Church Ministries
By
Henry Edwin Shikuku
Lynchburg, Virginia
10/2022
4 Promises for Church Leaders Healing Trauma in Congregations
The penultimate danger of unaddressed trauma is the ability to distort and dehumanize
both its host and their perception of others. Therefore, each of us must embrace our own
trauma, be attuned to corporate trauma, and begin to do the work of healing, for all. If we are
to manage our collective complex present trauma experiences, there are four promises church
leaders must choose. The four promises are appropriate for systems encountering ongoing,
continuous, complex present trauma, whether that trauma is related to race, environment,
economic factors, culture, politics, or sex. These promises are designed to reallocate authority
of our personhood to ourselves, instead of allowing the trauma we experience to rule our
existence.
1. Leaders promise to be fully present in their trauma.
There are six basic and universal emotions: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, disgust, and
surprise. Life has instructed us to suppress our core emotions and replace them with responses
we deem acceptable to others, though inauthentic to ourselves. As leaders, we are quick to
hide our core emotions for the sake of appeasing an assumed norm. The problem, however, is
magnified when it involves leaders because not only does the continuation of this act present a
personal emotional injury, but, because leaders serve as models, it also signals to others that
they, too, should hide their true emotional responses. Leaders perpetuate this cycle by not
being true to themselves.
The ability of a leader to express their core emotions is an asset. It promotes confidence in
others who were sensing something but were unable or unwilling to lean into it. In response to
Mary’s weeping, Jesus wept openly, boldly in the presence of all those who followed him (John
11:35). Consider the freedom in realizing what it means for us collectively if Jesus can weep
openly.
In addition to being fully present in their trauma, leaders can create a culture of mental
health advocacy through preaching and teaching the importance of receiving counseling and
providing resources to local therapists and counselors. Knowing who the counselors and
therapists are in a congregation and where/how to access services in a community is critical in
forming an atmosphere of openness where being fully present is honored.
2. Leaders create rituals that allow congregations to begin to heal.
When we don’t address trauma or we try to deny its existence, we sculpt for ourselves a
dysfunctional and toxic reality because trauma is embodied. How we think about something
and what we do with those thoughts regulates how we experience the world both tangibly and
intangibly. Healing is also embodied so we must find creative ways to shake off trauma and
embody healing. David was so filled with elation over the return of the Ark of the Covenant that
he danced so much that his clothes couldn’t restrain him (2 Samuel 6).
It is important to create rituals that honor the embodied resilience and healing we carry
while acknowledging the trauma we have experienced. Invite your congregation to participate
in healing rituals such as stretching, dancing, exercising, shopping, or walking to enjoy nature.
Many people find healing through journaling, so allow time for journaling in small groups, Bible
studies, and worship. The goal is to create rituals that help the congregation shake off the
embodied trauma and begin to experience embodied healing.
When a congregation I served experienced the sudden death of one of its young adults,
they wore yellow and released yellow balloons during a memorial to honor the young adult’s
life and the vibrant life they lived. While this act may seem simple, it was an opportunity for the
congregation to participate in a ritual of healing through solidarity. Another option for creating
rituals is for congregations to sponsor resilience days where masseuses or yoga instructors,
healthy food chefs, comedians, musicians, etc. are invited to the church to serve both the
congregation and community.
3. Leaders create circles where people can heal while still in their trauma experience.
Trauma can only be fully understood and expressed through community where we give
definition to our experiences and align them to the norms around us. Healthy circles are
imperative for engaging trauma and finding resilience. In order to heal, we have to do the hard
work of allowing ourselves to be present in healthy, life-giving spaces — healthy, life-giving
circles that are not toxic from unresolved trauma.
Congregations can create healing circles: communal and healthy practices that foster
healing. Healing circles are opportunities for people to gather in a circle and to be present for
one another, model empathy and vulnerability while also receiving those same gifts from
others in the circle. Some common questions for discussion in healing circles are: What do you
need to say? What do you need to hear? What will you leave here? What will take with you?
4. Leaders promote the sharing of trauma stories from positions that promote health.
Telling the story from the perspective of a survivor rather than from the perspective of a
victim empowers the person and allows the storyteller to take authority over the story. Ask
“Who is the narrator of this story?” and “If there was another voice that could tell this story,
what would it sound like, what would it say?”
My wife and I practice what I call “cupcaking.” Every time we overcome, complete, survive
and excel in something we intentionally stop and have a cupcake to honor the achievement.
Congregations can encourage people to sharing trauma stories from a position that promotes
health by structuring an event or series of events where the focus is on celebrating and
honoring resilience and survival, not dwelling on the trauma itself. By celebrating and honoring
resilience and survival, the stories by those receiving the cupcake (or whatever tangible
meaningful object represented) will shift to a position of health.
