Title: Healing Traumatized Churches: A Journey Towards Healthy, Faithful Resiliency in Drama Format
Author: Pastor Ronald H. Wean
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 1951193814
Pages: 202
Genre: Christian Dating & Relationships
Reviewed by: Liz Konkel
Hollywood Book Reviews
Ronald H. Wean is an ordained pastor with vast experience in trauma counseling and working in organizations focusing on mental health and substance abuse. The book has a unique structure with a dramatic format that contains scenes that provide mediation and thought-provoking reflection while also being a resource for Sunday School or Bible Study. Healing Traumatized Churches: A Journey Towards Healthy, Faithful Resiliency in Drama Format focuses on the church’s handling of trauma and being a resource for healing relationships through advice, commentary, and reflection with compelling messages, play stylized scenes, commentary for mediation, and written through honest experience. Ronald H. Wean’s experience is incorporated through each chapter with the writing stemming from advice and discussion which allows you to take your own time, contemplate the words that Wean offers, and ponder your own answers to the questions included within each chapter.
The book will offer people guidance for handling trauma within their relationships and the church, which aims to help readers reach wholeness and growth past trauma. The writing of the book is stylized from the standpoint of experience which is seen through the commentary and advice. The tone of the book is one of understanding and non-judgment with the goal simply to help people and churches strive for healing and contemplation. The book is structured with the goal to provide an easy format to help people be able to look at their trauma and take the steps toward healing from the perspective of the church and relationships. The book aims toward encouraging and helping people find a way to have healing conversations which a tone that provides an air of comfort so readers have the chance to feel safe facing their own trauma, and help spark conversation with people in their lives or their church.
Three primary goals are at the focus of the book which commentary and scenes revolving around creating a framework for healing, to establish ways for churches to support healing conversations, invoke reflections and present the truth about trauma. Wean writes openly about trauma by commenting on ways which keep people from dealing with trauma by not talking about it and not trusting anyone with it. The book pinpoints the five steps of healing; which are focusing on healing versus burying trauma, surrendering what the thought of reality should be, talking honestly, asking for help, and making the choice to heal. The book is rooted in faith and provides a path to help people move forward together which shows a commentary on a living testament that proves with God people can overcome trauma.
The drama format creates a flexible style making it the ideal resource for personal meditation, group study, and Sunday School classes. The style provides discussion opportunities which work in a variety of settings such as a class, personal study, and family discussion. The dramatic style makes for easy meditation breaks down each chapter into commentary, reader’s theatre provides a dramatized scene, questions, and possible responses to the questions. The scenes introduce the fictional characters of John, Mark, and Lucy who are seen in a variety of situations that pair with the commentary of each chapter.
Healing Traumatized Churches provides a unique approach to understanding trauma and mediating on steps toward healing within the lens of relationships and the church in a unique dramatic structure that allows for mediation, reflection, conversation, and discussion.