Counselor Dr. Andrew J. Bauman has some things to say in his new book, Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in the Christian Community.
“This book is my attempt to elevate the voices and stories of women who have been silenced within Christian communities, many of whom have been deeply harmed, abused, neglected, and disregarded within the church where they worked, volunteered, and in many ways dedicated their entire lives to serving.”
Bauman covers chapters from “Why We Must Listen to Women” and “Jesus’ Relationship with Women” to “Speaking Man to Man.”
In “Why We Must Listen to Women,” Bauman says, “Modern-day church leaders have continued the pattern of silencing, blaming, and gaslighting women for the trauma they have caused or allowed in their communities.”
However, Bauman doesn’t shy away from the challenge of doing the listening. “Pursuing this truth isn’t enjoyable; listening to women’s experiences has been excruciating for me at times.”
Bauman even notes his defensiveness at times for being a man.
Chapter six, “Problematic Theologies and Teachings,” checks the Christian habit of overusing the word “biblical” without doing some in-depth work on checking if it’s biblical or not. Bauman explores how patriarchy limits both men’s and women’s abilities to serve.
So, why Dr. Bauman? Why would he probe these long-standing wounds? Maybe because of his own wounds. Bauman tells his dad’s story—how his dad, a pastor and an admin at a Christian college, let sexual addiction break the author’s family into smithereens.
Bauman doesn’t stop with his dad’s story, though. He tells of himself—how he, himself, struggled with this same addiction. Like his father, Bauman served as a minister until returning to school for a counseling degree at Dr. Dan Allender’s Seattle School of Psychology and Theology.
Safe Church is Bauman’s seventh book. His other titles include grief book A Brave Lament, The Psychology of Porn, and The Sexually Healthy Man. (BakerBooks)
About the Author
Cynthia Beach authored the 2024 novel, The Surface of Water, and the writing book, Creative Juices for Writers. She co-directs Scriptoria Workshop with Newbery-winner Gary Schmidt. In 2025-6, she will serve as Artist in Residence in Dundee, Scotland.