An apology to victims of domestic violence in the church

by Graham Joseph Hill | Dec 15, 2023 | Church & Ministry, Women in Ministry | 0 comments

An apology to victims of domestic violence in the church

Dec 15, 2023Church & Ministry, Women in Ministry0 comments

I’m sorry for the way many Christian men have treated women in the name of faith.

I’m sorry for the way these men have twisted Scripture and faith, and used these as justification to hurt and control women and families.

I’m sorry that many Christian leaders haven’t confronted these behaviors and the beliefs that are at the root of this violence.

I’m sorry that many of us have turned a blind eye to domestic violence in our midst, or sought to excuse such violence (and our own responsibility for this suffering) when someone shines a light on it.

I’m sorry that many of us have tried to explain away our actions, and been defensive, and made excuses.

I’m sorry and sad that we Christian leaders have sometimes behaved in ways that have made your suffering and shame worse.

I’m sorry for the way we’ve often failed to listened to your experiences, as women.

I know that apologies are only as good as the actions that follow.

I will do everything I can to listen to women and children and their experiences, and to uphold their safety, rights, and value, and to challenge the church and other men to do the same.

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Graham Joseph Hill

Graham Joseph Hill (PhD, Flinders University) is Director of Research at Stirling Theological College (University of Divinity) in Melbourne, Australia. He has planted and pastored churches, and been in theological education for twenty years. Graham is the author or editor of 6 books including Global Church (IVP, 2016), Healing Our Broken Humanity, (IVP, 2018, with Grace Ji-Sun Kim), and Salt, Light and a City (Cascade, 2017). He also directs The Global Church Project.

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Books

Don’t forget to buy Graham Joseph Hill’s books:

Healing Our Broken Humanity
Global Church
Salt, Light, and a City (second edition)

Healing Our Broken Humanity book

GlobalChurch book

Salt Light City book

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Graham Joseph Hill OAM PhD

"Exploring Christian Spirituality, public life, and the common good"

I’m an Adjunct Research Fellow and Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University, and I hold a PhD in theology from Flinders University. I’m the author of more than twenty books, including Salt, Light, and a City, which was named Jesus Creed’s 2012 Book of the Year in the church category. My book Healing Our Broken Humanity (co-authored with Grace Ji-Sun Kim) was named Outreach Magazine’s 2019 Book of the Year in the culture category, and World Christianity was shortlisted for the 2025 Australian Christian Book of the Year. In 2024, I was honoured to receive the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for my service to theological education. I live in Sydney with my wife, Shyn.

My qualifications include: OAM, Honours Diploma of Ministry (SCD), Bachelor of Theology (SCD), Master of Theology (Notre Dame), and Doctor of Philosophy (Flinders).

See my ORCID publication record: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6532-8248

See my Substack: https://grahamjosephhill.substack.com/

I explore the links between Christian spirituality and public life, shaped by a high view of Scripture, core historic Christian beliefs, and discipleship in the Way of Jesus. I affirm the Nicene, Apostles’, and Chalcedonian creeds as faithful expressions of orthodoxy. My work is grounded in the authority of Scripture, the centrality of Christ, the life of the Triune God, and the gospel’s hope for personal transformation and the common good.