About Andrew Bauman’s “Safe Church”

And why, oh why, did I read it?

Where to begin with Andrew Bauman’s latest Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities? Well, chapter 1 begins with a quote from Rachael Held Evans that muses, “Imagine if every church became a place where we told one another the truth.”

That is rich with irony as Evans was notorious for her apostasy from the Truth. And it is a good initial indicator that something is quite unsafe with Safe Church. Again and again, apostates and deconstructors are quoted and cited favorably. Among the rogues gallery are Evans, Beth Allison Barr, Rosemary Radford Ruether (among other things, a leader in Catholics for Choice), Angela Meyer (In a thinly veiled insult to Roman Catholics, Bauman describes her as “a Catholic priest.” She is one of the self-described “Roman Catholic Womanpriests” and therefore rightly excommunicated by Rome.), Sarah Bessey (Author of Jesus Feminist, she left her church after she became fully affirming.), John Pavlovitz, Peter Enns (pushed out of Westminster Seminary for undermining the authority of Scripture), Sheila Gregoire and more!

I will say the result is not as bad as one might expect — it is worse, much worse. But credit where credit is due, reading Safe Church can be enjoyable. I had trouble putting it down myself. Just as one cannot look away from a spectacular disaster such as a volcanic eruption or a plane crash, Safe Church held my attention. It may be my favorite hate read of all time.

It helps to have a bizarre sense of humor as I do. Where many will be appalled, I had a good laugh. For example, I still smile reflecting on this illustrative passage:

Listen to Your Body

Before we dive deeper into the Scriptures, let’s do a little emotional exercise. As you read the following two passages of Scripture, put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly, tracking what you feel in your body. Breathe deeply. One hint that a verse is being used for purposes it was never intended for is how we feel in our bodies when we read it.

Bauman presents the two passages, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, then asks:

Did you feel

nauseated?

ashamed?

numb?

angry?

shut down?

like you want to throw out all of Christianity in the trash can?

nothing at all?

Myself, I had a belly laugh at such a silly exercise. There are scriptures that rub me the wrong way, too. But I have enough humility and reverence for God’s word to know that when that happens, the problem is not with scripture or with traditional interpretation but with me. And I certainly don’t rub my belly during Bible study.

“Listen to your body” is one theme of Safe Church. So is the denigration of traditional interpretation of Scripture. Does Bauman deny the authority of Scripture itself? Well, he is rather passive aggressive on that. He cites numerous “trusted theologians” who should not be trusted and do not trust Scripture. He practically equates traditional interpretation and application with abuse. But, unless I missed it while laughing at him, he does not directly deny Scripture. It reminded me of the “I’m not touching you” game. Yes, it is passive aggressive and unmanly.

He is also passive aggressive in going right to the edge of smearing those who hold to complementarian interpretations of Scripture along with those who think the patriarchy of the Bible is actually a good thing. Sometimes he cannot help himself and does go over the edge and smear us as complicit in oppression and abuse:

Only 14 percent of congregations in America are led by women, according to the National Congregations Study. Though, as noted, women face oppression in a variety of sectors, this oppression is particularly prevalent in the Protestant church.

- Sociology professor Dr. Catherine McKinley writes, “If patriarchy is the tool, then sexism and misogyny are its handmaids.” Patriarchy and misogyny are forever intertwined; misogyny sets the table, and patriarchy forces women to remain there.

-
The experience of patriarchy by women in the church today follows women’s experiences of traditional Christian patriarchy, which is, as Rachel Held Evans so succinctly captures, nothing but the same old patriarchy of the non-Christian world. Both have caused many women to suffer. Beth Allison Barr details this conflation wonderfully in her book The Making of Biblical Womanhood.

- The rate of abused women in the church is debated, yet some research suggests there is a much higher rate of abuse (all forms of abuse) within evangelical churches that have an environment of gender inequality, which is known to drive domestic violence and abuse.

Oddly, that stuff did not anger me that much. It probably should as this smears any number of faithful Christian leaders of both genders. I guess being called racist, sexist etc. for years eventually makes one smile. I’m even thinking about forming Bad Anglican Men (BAM) myself.

But there is an important aspect of Safe Church that does anger me after reflection. Bauman trafficks in the vilification of men. Again and again he presents stories of alleged abuse at the hands of Christian men. A number of the stories are so bizarre they strain credulity. At the very least, these should not be presented as typical. When even secular society is figuring out that the vilification of men is harming men and society as a whole, Bauman doubles down.

While so doing, he dare writes:

Scripture is meant to be used as a scalpel that facilitates healing and leads us into the painful, holy act of repentance and transformation. Yet people often use Scripture as a hammer instead, looking to pound, shame, and control those who do not meet the proposed standards set by those in power. This is abuse—spiritual abuse, to be exact.

This while engaging in the tired pounding, shaming and vilification of men. Look in the mirror, Bauman.

Meanwhile, he informs us false accusations against men are “rare.” I wonder how many men would beg to differ. Oh, but if you follow the Billy Graham Rule to avoid false accusation and the appearance of sin, that is a “failure of church leadership.” Men can’t win!

Much of Safe Church is laughable. Its persistent vilification of men is despicable.

All this and more begs the question: why did I submit myself to this awful book? Why am I submitting my poor readers to this awful book?

On February 26th is scheduled in ACNA (the Anglican Church in North America) a zoom forum, “Imago Dei in the Church: Fostering Healthy Christian Communities Free from Sexism and Abuse”. Promoted by the ACNA provincial office, it is “sponsored by the Provincial Women’s Leadership Network and moderated by Bishop Alex Cameron of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.” It features Bauman’s Safe Church. Alex Farmer is another ACNA bishop on the panel.

What does this say to men and to traditional Christians who might be considering ACNA or are already serving in ACNA?

We are about to enter Lent this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. We all have areas where we need repentance and amendment of life. Lent is a particularly good time to work on these.

May I suggest, as a starting point, that the two bishops, the ACNA Provincial Office and all of the Anglican Church in North America repent of this forum, preferably before February 26th?