Thread by @samanthapfield

Me today, watching the #gc2summit on #churchtoo:

Kicking this thing off by singing the lyrics of "Amazing Grace"- a song about the repentance of a middle passage slave trader- I think is going to be pretty emblematic for today.

God loves us even thought we're BAD is probs going to be a major theme. #churchtoo #gc2summit

"Nothing can be healed without you, without your spirit."

Uh. False.

#gc2summit #churchtoo

"We didn't pay any of the speakers, and that's proof of how much they care" (paraphrasing)

🙄

#GC2Summit #ChurchToo

Lindsay Olesberg begins with the Rape of the Concubine.

[braces for impact] #gc2summit #ChurchToo

"Displace" is such a weird word to pick to describe "conquer and annihilate," Lindsay. (Talking about the city that would eventually become Jerusalem).

#gc2summit #churchtoo

Credit where credit's due: Lindsay says "male-to-male rape is about dominance" and acknowledges it's "not necessarily about sexual orientation." Side-eyeing the "not necessarily" there but that's as far as she's going to get in this room.

#gc2summit #churchtoo

Wonder if anyone today is going to talk about how *all* rape is about aggression and dominance, not just male-on-male rape? Or are we going to see language about how rapists are "overcome by lust" when they're raping women?

#gc2summit #churchtoo

She keeps calling the concubine's owner her "husband" like concubines aren't a form of sexual slavery.

Interesting, that. It's almost like wives being their husband's property isn't something they're going to interrogate. 🤔

#gc2summit #churchtoo

"I'm also guilty of selective editing." -talking about how the Levite covered up his blame. This is an example of sin-leveling. She wants to "judge" the man who threw his concubine into the street to save himself, but she "edits" her own stories too, you see #gc2summit #churchtoo

The concubine is not "abandoned by God" because her story shows up in the Bible, Lindsay says.

That's the hermenuetical version of "praising God" because the wildfires in California left a Bible or a cross untouched. #gc2summit #churchtoo

She went through this entire story without every once talking about how the Levite was a religious leader who participated in an institutional cover-up of his own culpability, which is one of the *most significant* problems that prompted #churchtoo

#gc2summit

Next: Christine Caine on "why your story matters."

Christine claims that evangelical Christians didn't want to hear about sex trafficking because it would expose their own "addictions and bondage."

The rampant problem with sexual abuse in the church is not about "addictions" or "bondage." #churchtoo #gc2summit

Framing abuse as "addiction" or "bondage" makes it about unconscious unwellness, instead of a deliberate choice not to value victims. #gc2summit #churchtoo

She talks about how there's consequences for the "silence" of sex abuse survivors, but completely skips over how all the fears she just listed are LEGITIMATE in the Church. A woman who's afraid of being shamed is afraid of something that will *probably* happen to her. #churchtoo

Christine wants the Church to create a safe space where victims are valued and not shamed ... sadly that's not going to be possible as long as the whole foundation for their sexual ethics is rooted in shame. #churchtoo #gc2summit

"With us, abuse stops. With us, addiction stops." -- Christine Caine

Rape and sexual abuse isn't an effing addiction. #churchtoo @gc2summit

Now we're listening to Beth Moore and "Here's What You Need to Know about this Movement in Your Churches."

Pretty sure Beth Moore just called Tarana Burke (founded of #metoo) "Tamara Burke."

... and still no mention of @emilyjoypoetry or @hannahpaasch, the ones who launched #churchtoo

#gc2summit

"If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one."

Wonder if she'll back up her pithy soundbites by actually listening to survivors. #churchtoo #gc2summit

She's blaming the Church's inability to deal with sexual abuse because we confuse "sexual immorality with sexual criminality."

Oh somebody please unpack that so I can keep listening @emilyjoy, @C_Stroop

Beth: Jesus is not only intent on the Church's "fidelity and purity" but also her "witness."

We're never going to get anywhere for as long as we keep saying keeping the church "pure" is connected to its "witness." That's why all these cover-ups happen in the first place, Beth.

Beth Moore wants her church to be a safe place where she could know she wouldn't be blamed and shamed for the abuse she suffered.

Never going to happen as long as evangelicals grip #purityculture in its dying hands. #churchtoo #gc2summit

"Jesus heals, as long as we, the blind and lame, draw near of our own admission." -- Beth Moore. Uhuh. What are we "admitting" to, Beth, person who's used those stories of healing as metaphors for repenting for sin?

#churchtoo #gc2summit

omfg she just said "we know better let's do better" and then walked off stage

Now we'll be hearing a word from Eugene Cho on "Here's How you Ought to Respond to Survivors in your Church."

"We desperately need more women in positions of leadership in the Church."

But not queer women. Not me. Not even the women who started #churchtoo which is the entire effing reason you're standing on that stage, Eugene.

He's going off on a huge metaphor for #churchtoo being "Samaria."

Where are you going with this

Christians need to be willing to "walk through Samaria." Samaria = #churchtoo in this metaphor, remember, and apparently it's a place where you can get the crap beaten out of you and left for dead on the side of the road? Or Something?

Eugene Cho: "we have to treat women and their whole bodies with respect."

But not queer bodies. Eff queer bodies. #churchtoo #gc2summit

It's weird how Eugene's harped on how we need the "pastoral, prophetic gifts of women in the church" but hasn't once talked about how sexism/misogyny is the driving problem in why churches cover up sexual abuse and silence victims #churchtoo #GC2Summit

He did close on a brief mention of "structural systems" but still-- no clear line from "sexism/misogyny/patriarchy is what drives the male exploitation of women's bodies and what keeps abusers in power." #churchtoo #GC2Summit

Second session starts with a panel on "A Clinical Understanding of the Pain & Path to Healing" with Wheaton professors.

Stetzer said there's some kind of document on the website that's for feedback. I couldn't quickly find it, but if someone can find the link I'll share it.

Panelist recommends "The Body Keeps the Score" and the "Tea Consent" video, says "there's nothing you can do where the penalty is rape."

Another panelist mentioned the "ministry of presence," weeping with those who weep, and struggling with theodicy. #churchtoo #GC2summit

"There's no set formula for responding to trauma."

It's not surprising to me that the panel discussion with counselors/2 WOC is going the best of everything I've seen so far. Almost like it might matter who you invite to speak at these things. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #churchtoo #GC2summit

Up next: "Bully in the Workplace: The Hidden Harassment" with Margaret Diddams, provost of Wheaton.

sooooo... it's probably a good thing to talk about bullying and differentiate it from harassment and how ugly and miserable toxic work places can be .... but why are we talking about it at a summit on sexual abuse in the church? #churchtoo #GC2Summit

I also want to point out one huge, glaring problem with what's been talked about so far at the #GC2Summit.

Most speakers have so far assumed that sexual abuse is something that happens "out there" and that the Church needs to be a "safe space" for victims/survivors.

There's been ONE comment on "what do we do when pastors are abusive ones?" and it got a one-line answer before the panelist pivoted to something else.

THE WHOLE DAMN POINT of #churchtoo was to call out what is happening INSIDE churches. By pastors. Deacons. Missionaries.

#GC2Summit on #churchtoo:

Moving on to "Finding Enchantment in the Imago Dei" with R. Yorke Moore.

"Wouldn't it be great if Christians were known for what we're FOR?"

I dunno, dude, wouldn't it be great if you recognized that queer bodies also bear the imago dei? #churchtoo #GC2Summit

Moore just claimed that our culture is so filled with "fear" that we can't even post our Grandma's brownie recipe without being told we're doing something wrong.

My eyes just rolled back so far in my head they're stuck #churchtoo

Moore says creation is a "plurality of heterogeneity."

jfc this talk needs so much unpacking I can't keep up. #GC2Summit #churchtoo

"Being enchanted with the other is the basis of transcendence."

"We have to transcend dialog about 'justice' ... press into ideas of beauty and transcendence."

"Millions are marching in the streets for a justice this world will never be able to give us."

"There is only one great justice issue, and that is treason against the almighty God." //
"We should cower in fear and trepidation under God ... embrace a posture of wonder."

I can't EVEN with this talk. WHAT IS HAPPENING. #GC2Summit #churchtoo

To be clear this is all York Moore, not Beth Moore.

"Heterogeneity" is about "complementarity": "God has created gender as a durable category that spans from creation to the eschaton." -- York Moore #churchtoo #GC2Summit

... and then he throws out he thinks women belong in church leadership?

Dude. I need to tell you something about your hermeneutics and cognitive dissonance. #churchtoo #GC2Summit

Christians should be "fueled by the vision of dissimilarity." This is some real #mutualsubmission #egalitarian bullshit.

It's lunch time now, breaking for 60 minutes. #churchtoo #GC2Summit

This thread has gotten really long, so I'm going to start a new one once we get back from lunch.

Here's the start of the second thread for the afternoon sessions:

https://twitter.com/samanthapfield/status/1073302759913517056