Upcoming “Church Hurt” Podcast Offers Practical Ways to Heal
03 February 2023 |
Melissa Schiffbauer has become a huge digital content creator on Instagram and YouTube, tackling topics of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) life and the Bible from a practical, relatable perspective. Now she and co-creator Darryl Williams will be collaborating with the North American Division (NAD) to create a new podcast this March titled “Church Hurt.”
According to her post on @unmistakablymelissa, the podcast plans to include current Seventh-day Adventist-identifying Christians who left the church at some point in their lives (physically, mentally, or both), yet ultimately returned.
This mirrors Melissa’s own experience as she has publicly shared her struggle with faith throughout family illness, personal pain, and a less-than-smooth spiritual journey. Some of her experiences have been captured in interviews with Gabriela Yareliz and Voyage ATL.
She asks the question: Should YOU stay? And if so… HOW do you stay?
“We will not hold back as we discuss things like church politics, common doctrinal misconceptions, legalism, and much more,” says Melissa. “Most importantly we are aiming to encourage and motivate SDAs to be the positive, Christ-like change we wish to see in our denomination. The real question is: if some of us left the church, why did we come back?”
Melissa shares that the desired outcome for listeners of the “Church Hurt” podcast is to present practical ways church members can heal from their negative church experiences, without feeling that they must leave or give up on the church altogether. It attempts to connect with its audience through a story-telling/interview process.
Ultimately it is desired for this podcast to foster a theme of redemption—both for the people who were/are hurt in the church and also for Seventh-day Adventist church culture as a whole.
Mark your calendars for March 2023 and be sure to follow these socials on Instagram for updates on the new podcast:
@churchhurtpodcast
@darrylwilliamsny
@unmistakablymelissa
