Also by this author: The Heart of Anger: How the Bible Transforms Anger in Our Understanding and Experience, Mental Health and Your Church: A Handbook for Biblical Care (A Ministry Guide to Mental Illness, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Addiction)
Published by Good Book Company on March 1, 2025
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life
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Wise and compassionate guidance for you and your church on how to support people who have suffered trauma.
Many of us long to serve and be there for those who are suffering from trauma, but we don't know how to do so in a way that is caring and helpful.
This book enables Christians, and especially pastors, elders, and ministry leaders, to understand what trauma is and how it affects people, including their experience of church, so that we can lovingly support those who are suffering from it.
Author Steve Midgley trained as a psychiatrist before being ordained, served as Vicar of Christ Church Cambridge for 18 years and is now the Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK. He writes with wisdom and compassion to summarize current understanding in this area, gives a biblical perspective, and makes lots of practical suggestions about how churches can be sensitive to, and be there for, those who have experienced trauma.
This book will help whole church communities to help and care for those who are struggling with trauma.
Dr. Steve Midgley has previously contributed to the co-written book Mental Health and Your Church, and this book is a helpful follow-up. This book focuses specifically on trauma, and the first section of the book explains what trauma is like for sufferers and how trauma connects with biblical teachings. Midgley shows that even though the word ‘trauma’ is not in the Bible, the concept certainly is, and that the Bible has helpful resources for traumatized people, as well as the church leaders and caring friends who want to help them. Midgley also shares fictional case studies to show ways that people with different types of trauma might struggle to engage with church.
The second part of Understanding Trauma explores what our current medical understanding of trauma is, and how this connects with biblical teaching. Midgley highlights the significance of how trauma impacts relationships, and he writes about ways that the church can come alongside sufferers and help them through caring, compassionate relationships. The final section explores ways that churches can help trauma sufferers, both through thoughtful and considered elements of worship services, and through community life. Midgley also warns readers about common pitfalls, raising awareness about ways that churches often fail sufferers and hurt them more.
Understanding Trauma: A Biblical Introduction for Church Care is a straightforward, helpful guide for ministry leaders and church members who want to better understand how trauma affects people, and how they can help. The writing is clear and easy to understand, and the author did a wonderful job of covering a lot of trauma-related topics at a high level. He is never too vague, and he also avoids overwhelming the reader with too much information. This is a very helpful, wise book that I would recommend to Christians who are interested in learning more about the subject.