Heavy Yoke: Theology, Power and Abuse in the Church

Description:

What we believe about God becomes the basis for how we think about ourselves, as leaders and individuals, and how by extension, we think about and treat others. But the relationship between doctrine, practice and power is not always straightforward. The Christian call to humility when applied to people of global majority heritage or those living with disabilities, can simply add to their marginalisation. Servant-leader language has often been tarnished by the many leaders who adopt this as a mantra despite abusing their power in practice.

In A Heavy Yoke, Selina Stone lifts the lid on the ways Christian theology can, often unwittingly, uphold existing power structures to the detriment of the flourishing of the whole church. Engaging and timely, the book calls for a more rigorous and critical understanding of Christian theology and how it is shaping Christian leaders, churches and organisations.

Review Quotes:

The misuse of power is so integral to the experience of spiritual abuse... This book, which seeks to explore how power works in and through theology and how this power can be abused, is both timely and important. ... [It] is refreshing in that it actively seeks to be accessible, to write in a way that encourages and invites those of us without a theological background to the table and in so doing not only educates but also challenges us and allows us to explore our own theologies. Whilst the book rightly explores abuse of power and takes time to explore this in depth, it also comes from a position of hope, we can do and be better.

This book is a wise and unflinching analysis of the abuse of power across all church traditions. It describes the tangle of human failings and inadequate theology which has harmed so many people so profoundly. It challenges our understanding of some things we hold dear, such as obedience, humility, calling and holiness. We need to listen to what its author has to say, to listen to those whom the church has harmed, and to listen to God, whose creative and lifegiving breath, as Selina reminds us, is the true nature and definition of power.

'A Heavy Yoke' is insightful and courageous in exploring some of the most complex and challenging aspects of how power is sometimes used within the body of Christ. Selina Stone encourages us to look more closely at our theologies and how they have sometimes enabled, facilitated and been used to justify the unthinkable. This book holds a light to some of the darkest places we have found within our Christian communities in recent years and causes us to helpfully question the basis for such abuses of power and people. I thoroughly recommend this book. It won't be an easy read, but it is enlightening, thought-provoking and necessary.