Responding to Abuse in Christian Homes

Domestic abuse is a horror. It lurks beneath the surface of our collective existence, sometimes raising its ugly head where least expected-in the church or within families of faith.

Are we-individually or collectively-ready to respond? What can, or should, congregations and their pastoral leaders do? And, as we survey the Christian landscape across the United States and Canada, are we as the community of faith stepping up to the challenge presented by violence in the family?

There is no easy answer to the problems that surface when abuse impacts the Christian family. But each of the authors contributing to this volume believes fervently that it is imperative that followers of Jesus and their spiritual shepherds respond to the cries for help. To respond well necessitates both knowledge and a willingness to act.

This book is here to help. It represents a collective effort to bring all of us a step farther in our journey of walking with Christ over a sea of troubled waters. None of us know as much as we should, but all of us can learn from one another. Throughout the collection we provide an opportunity to examine a diversity of perspectives, with the hope that each will in some way advance our understanding of the complexity of domestic violence issues in our midst-within our churches and the communities where our churches minister.


Nancy Nason-Clark is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Canada. She is the author of many books including, The Battered Wife: How Christians Confront Family Violence (1997), No Place for Abuse: Biblical and Practical Resources to Counteract Domestic Violence (2nd edition, 2010; with Catherine Clark Kroeger), and Refuge from Abuse: Hope and Healing for Abused Religious Women (2004; with Catherine Clark Kroeger).

Catherine Clark Kroeger was Adjunct Associate Professor of Classical and Ministry Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. With James Beck she edited Women, Abuse, and the Bible (1996), and with Mary Evans she edited the IVP Women's Bible Commentary (2002). She is a co-founder of Christians for Biblical Equality, and with her late husband Richard Kroeger, she wrote I Suffer Not a Woman (1992).

Barbara Fisher-Townsend is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Canada. Since 2005 she has been involved in the Lilly funded RAVE Project. She co-edited Beyond Abuse in the Christian Home: Raising Voices for Change (2008). At present, she is working on a co-authored book manuscript with Nancy Nason-Clark on religious men who act abusively.