FLN Inside Out: After Church Hurt - 07/01/2026

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Church hurt is a deep hurt, like betrayal.

“There’s these layers and these waves of pain that come, not only from the direct wound from being sinned against, but the fact that it’s not addressed, and in the end you end up really

losing your community. And you’re in a place of, honestly, deep despair and confusion,” says church counseling pastor Timothy St. John.

St. John serves as counseling pastor at Lighthouse Community Church in Torrance, California and is the author of the new book After Church Hurt: Healing in the Care of the Good Shepherd.

“The way I define ‘church hurt’ is any unrepentant sin that is minimized, normalized, or promoted by a church culture and its leadership,” he says. “And I say, ‘church culture and its leadership’ because if the leader or the church body was willing to address the wrong,

there could be a path of healing within the church.”

An avenue of that healing, St. John says, is through believers who authentically represent Jesus Christ.

“It’s really going to have to start with someone who does represent Christ well coming alongside that person, and showing them--embodying the love of Christ, the heart of Christ,” St. John says. “It’s going to involve someone, really, who can reverse the impression, over time. Slowly give them a new impression of this is who Christ truly is: ‘I can give you a dynamic where you are honored and where your feet are washed and where you are loved.’”

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