An open letter to AMBS re: the service of lament
A service like the one you had at AMBS is an amazing undertaking. I’m sure it was difficult to plan, and as I’ve seen in your responses on social media, you knew from the start there was no...
View ArticleTrauma and Lack of Nuance
“There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” —Audre Lorde My assailants told me I was cute, that I was beautiful and small, that I was sweetness, that my...
View ArticleSex with a pastor: An affair or abuse?
Representing the Anabaptist Mennonite Chapter of SNAP, Dr. Cameron Altaras delivered the following speech at the Annual SNAP conference in Alexandria, Virginia on August 2, 2015. More than 300...
View ArticleLoving Pain into Speech
These last many months, I have slowly allowed myself to acknowledge anew the depth and endlessness of the heartache I carry within – heartache for the ways we human beings tear at each other’s bodies...
View ArticleHave we learned anything from the John Howard Yoder cover-up?
*The piece originally appeared as as a blog post on TheMennonite.org on December 12, 2015. ———————————- On December 1st, Mennonite Church USA’s (MCUSA) Executive Board staff cabinetannounced the...
View ArticleComing home to our bodies: trauma and justice
This piece is a cross-post, originally published on January 29, 2016, on the Brethren Mennonite Council website. My senior year of high school, I was talking to a school counselor about an experience I...
View ArticleHow storytelling helped me heal | Healing from Sexual Abuse Vlog, Ep. 5
<—– This is a photo of the trees and me being supermodel Awesome. Down below is a video (vlog post) of the trees and me being not supermodel but superhero AWESOME. Seriously. One year ago there was...
View ArticleNow We Are Free
This may be an unfair assumption, but many people are probably only reading this post to hear about my experiences with Luke Hartman. My story is so much bigger than him though, and writing this post...
View ArticleGood Intentions Aren’t Enough: How church authorities slid my sister’s sexual...
Lauren Shifflett, recently shared the story of the sexual trauma she experienced in her life including how Luke Hartman coerced her into a sexual relationship, then stalked and threatened her when...
View ArticleFallen to Freedom
In 2006, I approached my Pastor and shared with him that I felt that there was something missing between God and I and I wasn’t sure what it was. I asked if we could meet. He answered, “Sure, no...
View ArticleEmbodied, embedded knowing: A farewell to Our Stories Untold
After launching this blog on June 5, 2012 and spending nearly 4 years working for awareness and healing around the topic of sexualized violence in the Mennonite Church, it is time for me (Rachel...
View ArticleIntroducing Hilary and new directions for Our Stories Untold
Dear EVERYONE, I’m truly sad to say goodbye to Rachel in her OSU role even as I trust she is making a decision that is right and good and full of grace. Rachel has been a powerhouse blessing when it...
View ArticleOSU Call to Action! We need 15 minutes of your time!
Dear friends and supporters, On June 14, 2016 Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Education Agency published their joint plan for pursuing outside investigation into “the Hartman situation.” On first...
View ArticleCall to Action Update…
(…or what we didn’t say in an attempt to keep it short, and are now saying anyway because not saying it is being used to discredit our concern) Wow. Here’s a big, hearty thank you! to all of you who...
View ArticleDr. Dwight Krehbiel’s Letter to Patty Shelly: a response to our Call to Action
In my role with Our Stories Untold, I have the privilege of knowing that in response to our Call to Action there are people all over the continent who are voicing their concern to those in positions of...
View ArticleDo Not Let Your Heart Beat Hope
“I’m going to destroy you, and I know exactly how.” That’s the sentence that started a two-year run for me, one from which I’m still recovering, of a feral, terrified, and isolated existence. That’s...
View ArticleThe Perception of the Problem
Teach and model mutuality between men and women and challenge the ongoing legacy of patriarchy in the church. – From “What we will do…As church institutions,” in “Churchwide Statement on Sexual Abuse.”...
View ArticleWhy We Name Names
This is post 1 in OSU’s first blog series. Its theme is SNAP Mennonite’s MAP List (Mennonite Abuse Prevention List) and the broader issue of naming church workers (lay or ordained) who are credibly...
View ArticleAbuse Databases and Religious Culture: A Catholic perspective on addressing...
This is the third and last post in OSU’s current blog series on SNAP Mennonite’s MAP List (Mennonite Abuse Prevention List) and the broader issue of naming church workers (lay or ordained) who are...
View ArticleSexual Abuse in Black Adolescence and Childhood
This is the third post in OSU’s fall blog series on sexualized violence and race. Today’s post is offered by Kishundra D. King. She is both a crisis counselor who works with Black women and children...
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