For far too many Christians, the life we have been taught to live has exhausted rather than sustained our faith. For many others, we are simply exhausted from white-knuckling our way to righteousness. Many others are exhausted and worn out from the constant attacks by religious authorities. How do we respond to and discover goodness when our faith is exhausted? If you don’t try to understand women, you feel like you need to control them. Which you know, instead of putting the effort in to understand and glean the wisdom that is available, you go into control tactics, which we’re seeing in spades everywhere right now… You know, that was how I felt my entire career the men were standing and saying, “Now just calm down, no, just slow down.” And so, I mean, I had some that really respected me, but we need to we need to look at it differently because we’re losing so much. The church is losing so much of what God intended by the diminishment of women. - Dr. Janyne McConnaughey In this week’s episode, I sit down with Dr. Janyne McConnaughey to discuss her new book, An Exhausted Faith; her expert work on trauma and its relationship to spiritual formation; and her journey of coming to terms with her trauma and its impact on her spiritual life. Janyne is brilliant, funny, transparent, and a gift to the church! If you want to understand how our nervous system directly affects the ways we try to connect with God, you won’t want to miss this conversation. We examine the question of why so many churches are resistant to conversations about trauma and empathy, and the ways she has had to turn herself into a pretzel to gain acceptance by male clergy. Unexpectedly, we also take a deeper dive into the larger questions of gender mutuality in the church and how our communities are diminished when we have a limited imagination for who God calls and empowers. Janyne has several great books and resources to check out. Find links to her work below. (Here is a link to a video Janyne mentions - a short primer on understanding our nervous system and how it functions.) Dr Janyne McConnaughey, PhD is an award-winning author and a leading voice in helping the spiritually exhausted understand the intersection of trauma, the nervous system, and faith. Her most recent book, An Exhausted Faith: What If the Struggle Isn’t Spiritual? answers the question, “If it isn’t a spiritual problem, what now?” that was asked by readers of Trauma in the Pews: The Impact of Trauma on Spiritual Practices. Janyne’s passion for encouraging other survivors of childhood trauma began when she walked into therapy at the age of sixty-one. Realizing healing was possible for survivors, she first authored three memoirs, the Brave series, in which she described the effects of childhood trauma and her path to healing. Janyne builds on her forty-year career in teaching, teacher education, ministry preparation, and expertise in early childhood development to help educators, caregivers, and church ministry workers understand and apply trauma-informed practices. She is currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tabor College (Masters in Education: Neuroscience & Trauma) and served for five years as a Board Member for the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN), two as Board President. Janyne, her husband Scott, and rescue dog Weber live south of Seattle and enjoy spending time with children and grandchildren. Connect with Janyne’s Work Amazon Author Page Website Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drgregarthur.substack.com
