Restored
Voices
Collective
Breaking the Silence on Adult
Clergy Sexual Abuse
A Community for survivors of
Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse
We are a group of women who have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of someone who had both a fiduciary duty to care for us and who held spiritual authority over our lives.
In the wake of this betrayal trauma, many of us have suffered secondary abuse in the form of being silenced by the institution that was supposed to protect us and/or were blamed for our abuse. In many cases we experienced yet more trauma when those closest to us also refused to acknowledge our experience.
However, here at Restored Voices Collective, we have found hope. If you are 18 years or older, join us and experience restoration as you connect with other survivors, learn to understand your story in the context of adult clergy sexual abuse, and reclaim your voice.
Connect With Survivors
If you are in the early stages of confronting your abuse, you are likely feeling confused, isolated, traumatized and in need of an empathetic witness. Maybe you think you’re the only one?
As survivors of Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse (ACSA), we have found that connecting with other survivors gives us the opportunity to sit with, grieve with, care for and advocate on behalf of each other. It is from this place we have begun to find ourselves, reclaim our voice and experience healing.
We want this for you. You do not have to take another step alone!
Understand Your Story
When a woman is abused by a trusted Christian leader in a position of spiritual authority over her, it leaves her feeling profoundly disoriented.
Grooming, gas-lighting, psychological manipulation, and emotional and sexual mistreatment by her abuser create this disorientation, which is almost always compounded by the church and those close to her blaming her for the abuse.
We are here to walk beside you as you begin to understand your story in the context of Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse.
Reclaim Your Voice
As you move from victim to survivor, your reclaimed voice becomes your superpower and you can control when, where and how you use it.
Some of you may choose to use your reclaimed voice to become advocates and fight for institutional change. Some will educate friends or expose abusers to protect future victims. For others, reclaiming your voice will primarily mean the act of speaking the truth to yourself to counteract the lies society tells about ACSA.
Whatever your journey to reclaim your voice looks like, the community that you have found here at RVC is here to support you.
ACSA and Trauma
One of the founders of RVC shares her story and then gives a clear explanation of trauma and how it affects many victims of ACSA.
SBC Breakout Session
Dr. Heather Evans and Dr. Todd Benkert speak on ACSA and one of RVC’s own tells her story, focussing on the devastation she and her family experienced after their church’s poor response (institutional betrayal) to her disclosure of abuse.
Rachel on Recovery Podcast In two episodes, Chellee shares her story of ACSA.
Safe to Hope Podcast Tamra shares her story of ACSA followed by 5 episodes of commentary from a number of experts on ACSA and trauma including, Dr. Heather Evans and Dr. David Pooler.
My Abuser is Returning to Ministry Katie tells her story of being groomed and sexually abused by her seminary professor.
My Pastor Called It An “Emotional Affair,” But It Was Abuse (Part 1)
Moriah Smothers thought her emotional and physical relationship with her pastor, Patrick Garcia, was an affair, but a year later she understood it to be abuse.
Affair or Abuse? The Church’s Hurtful Response (Part 2)
Moriah Smothers tells of the shame and rejection she experienced from other church members when her abuse was mislabeled an “affair.”
“Abuse is always fruit borne by the abuser. It is never caused by the victim. All victims, children or adult, need understanding and protection, not blame.”
—Diane Langberg, Psychologist/Author/International Speaker