When Trauma Comes to Church — What Pastors Get Wrong and How to Care Well

Posted on November 11, 2026 
Filed under Resources

From The Pastor’s Heart this week –

“When trauma comes to church, how should pastors respond? And what happens when our well-intentioned pastoral care actually makes things worse?

How should pastors care for people whose lives are overwhelmed by suffering?

What do we say when someone asks, ‘Where was God when this happened?’ When is it right to speak of hope, and when might even that be too much?

What happens when someone’s trauma leads them to hurt other people? How do we take their suffering seriously without excusing behaviour?

We talk about lament, shame, the temptation to rush in with answers and what it means to rebuild.

Darby Strickland is a biblical counsellor with the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation and author of When It’s Trauma.”

– Watch or listen here.

Related:

Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (USA)