The FINAL episode of Season 10 arrives featuring Jenai Auman! Don’t forget to rate the show and share it widely! In this episode….
This conversation revolves around themes explored in Jenai’s book “Othered,” focusing on her experiences navigating toxic church environments and the subsequent journey toward healing and liberation. After introductions, Jenai and Rohadi dissect the dynamics of gaslighting and DARVO within toxic church environments, shedding light on the emotional turmoil and internal fractures caused by oppressive church systems. They delve into Jenai’s personal narrative of betrayal and resilience, emphasizing the profound cost of leaving toxic communities while highlighting the transformative power of reclaiming agency and identity. Throughout the conversation, they underscore the importance of boundaries and cultivating genuine belonging outside of oppressive structures, ultimately revealing the potential for liberation and renewal found in embracing one’s “otherness.”
Episode Summary:
- Introducing Jenai and chatting about the topic of her debut book, Othered, including her experience with toxic church leadership. (Start to 00:04:00)
- We explore concepts such as gaslighting, DARVO (deny, attack, reverse victim and offender), and the cost of leaving toxic communities. (00:04:00 to 00:15:00)
- Jenai shares her journey of betrayal, self-discovery, and eventual liberation from a church community that demanded conformity and erasure of identity. (00:15:00 to 00:26:00)
- We discuss the concept of “otherness” and how it can bring the ability to see systemic injustices and offer transformative change. (00:27:00)
- We reflect on the journey toward forgiveness of church leaders who perpetuated harm, while maintaining boundaries of own well-being. (00:27:00 to 00:38:00)
- Our discussion closes themes of resilience, healing, and the possibility of finding new forms of belonging and community outside of toxic environments. (00:38:00 to end)
About Othered: Finding Belonging with the God Who Pursues the Hurt, Harmed, and Marginalized:
God’s people are meant to be a blessing to others. Yet in the Scriptures, throughout history, and in our own times we too often see the people of God causing harm to people on the margins. Rather than caring for the widowed and the orphaned or loving the sojourner, too often we see abuse of power that breaks spirits and inflicts lasting harm.
For anyone who has felt left out or pushed out of the church, Othered is your invitation to find spiritual rest and belonging in a God who loves, restores, and blesses the outcast and the marginalized. Jenai Auman draws on her experience growing up as a biracial kid in the American South as well as working within toxic ministry environments to reveal a hopeful, trauma-informed way forward. This book illuminates how hurt and betrayal in the church are longstanding problems that God neither sanctions nor tolerates. It offers holistic responses to the grief, anger, and trauma that come with being ostracized or oppressed by the church. And it shows how God provides shelter and provision in the midst of the wilderness.
Jenai emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, embracing one’s identity, and seeking genuine belonging that does not require self-erasure or conformity. Find her book and order details on her website. Sign up for her Substack newsletter. Also find Jenai on social media including Instagram and Threads.
Find Rohadi online too on Instagram and Threads.
