02/05/2013

Congratulations to Pr. Ron Wean on His New Book, "Healing Traumatized Churches"

Congratulations to The Reverend Ron Wean on publishing his first book, Healing Traumatized Churches: The Journey Toward Healthy, Faithful Resiliency.

Pr. Wean has served as a pastor at Mighty Fortress Lutheran Church in Kettering, Ohio for 20 years, as well as a Pastoral Employee Assistance Counselor at Miami Valley Hospital where he primarily works with people experiencing trauma in First Responder Communities such as, police and fire fighters. In addition to being a licensed mental health counselor, he has specialized training in healing the traumatized and the trauma exposed.

It was these backgrounds that lead Pr. Wean to look at how traumatic situations within a congregation affect the overall health of that congregation. “What I saw through that lens were the same post trauma symptoms in churches that I see every day in first responders—except for one important difference, the first responder communities have structures in place to debrief, process, and heal and transform their trauma exposure. Churches, however, have no such healing plans, leaving faith communities compromised with signs and symptoms of post trauma reaction,” said Wean. His book, “Healing Traumatized Churches,” seeks to provide church communities with the language, framework and a structure to begin healthy conversations about the trauma that lead to healing and a witness to the community of the healing power of God.

Healing Traumatized Churches is appropriate for both lay people and clergy. It is structured as a three act drama with each scene being introduced by commentary regarding trauma healing. The book illustrates the journey from being a survivor of church trauma to being a thriver. The book works well in Sunday School classes where participants act out each scene and then proceed to a discussion of the material.

Healing Traumatized Churches: The Journey Toward Healthy, Faithful Resiliency is published by Xulon Press and may be ordered at http://christianreading.com/rwean.