Education Forum with Mark Harris on Trauma Informed Pastoral Care
Pastor Mark writes, “From the ages of 11 to 15, I was progressively groomed and led into a network of pedophile and child pornography by a charismatic man who was well known to my family. He was the director of an Outward Bound type school that worked primarily with adjudicated youth. Through progressive stages, I encountered a dozen men who sexually abused me, and made me the subject of child pornography. In the course of extensive therapy as a young adult, I took part in the prosecution of some of these men. My recovery from trauma took place over the next two decades, although I would hesitate to say that it is ever over. Recently, I graduated from Lancaster Theological Seminary, and I am well on my way to being ordained in the United Church of Christ. For now, I am a working Pastor, leading a small church as an authorized minister. I am working on a book about my experiences and see my path in ministry as including working with survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as survivors of other trauma. I feel strongly that the story of Jesus offers much to those who are recovering from traumatic experiences.”
Pastor Mark is the pastor at Salem UCC in Lancaster.
(2 hours Boundary Training Credit)