UNITED STATES
Religion News Service
Rachel Marie Stone | Mar 14, 2014
After being raped and repeatedly sexual abused by her pastor, Samantha Nelson was suicidal; her husband Steve Nelson returned home “countless times” just in time to save her life after she’d attempted to take it.
Stories of religious leaders abusing children or minors are more common: conservative Christian Bill Gothard, for example, recently resigned from the organization he founded, Institute in Basic Life Principles after many stories detailing his sexual harassment and abuse of young women and girls came to light.
Less commonly — but no less devastatingly — sexual harassment and abuse is perpetuated by clergy on adult women. That’s what happened to Samantha Nelson.
With the support of her husband, Samantha eventually found healing and grace. She went on to earn credentials in Christian counseling and to found a ministry — The Hope of Survivors — that raises awareness of clergy sexual abuse and offers help to survivors.
In a telephone interview in 2012, Nelson told me, “the devastation of this abuse is that it is so poorly understood, and survivors are subject to all kinds of insensitive behavior — such as being asked, ‘didn’t you like it?’ But because of the power imbalance, this kind of thing can never be a consensual relationship.”
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