Racial Trauma in the Church

Guest Bios Show Transcript Are Black, Hispanic, and other people of color being traumatized in predominantly white, evangelical churches? And if they are, what’s driving it? Racism? Fear? Ignorance? Or, is it something else? Joining me for this episode of The Roys Report is Kyle Howard, a racial trauma and spiritual trauma counselor. He’s also become somewhat of a lightning rod for calling out what he sees as white supremacy in the church. Eight years ago, Kyle was a student at The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and training for the pastorate. He also was a lay leader at a prominent, and largely white, evangelical church. But that all began to change in 2014 when Kyle started speaking out about racial issues following the officer-involved chokehold death of Eric Garner. Suddenly, Kyle says he got notes from fellow seminarians saying, “I thought you were one of us! Why are you talking about this?” Kyle says he was also accused of the sin of pride. And the church gave him an ultimatum: stop talking about racial justice and criticizing Donald Trump—or you’ll lose ministry and pastoral opportunities. The years-long ordeal took a huge emotional toll on Kyle and left him with post-traumatic stress he’s still dealing with. But what’s the solution? And how can the church better love and care for people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds? Our conversation bravely covers ground that’s often unexplored, with God’s word and His unconditional love as our guide. This Week’s Guest Kyle Howard Kyle J. Howard currently serves the church as a trauma informed soul care provider and public theologian. Though Kyle's soul care ministry is comprehensive, he is most publicly known for raising awareness of abusive power dynamics in the church as well as providing care for survivors of both spiritual and racial abuse. Kyle attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently holds an Associates in Biblical & Theological studies, a Bachelors in Christian Counseling, and a Masters with a concentration in Historical Theology. He is married to Vy Howard and they currently live in Atlanta along with their four children. Show Transcript SPEAKERSKYLE HOWARD, JULIE ROYS JULIE ROYS 00:04Are black, Hispanic, and other people of color being traumatized in predominantly white evangelical churches? And if they are what’s driving it? Racism, fear, ignorance, or something else? Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to recording the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And joining me on this episode is Kyle Howard. Today Kyle is a racial trauma and spiritual trauma counselor, and he’s become somewhat of a lightning rod for calling out what he sees as white supremacy in the church. But eight years ago, Kyle was a student at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and training for the pastorate. He also was a lay leader at a prominent and largely white evangelical church. But that all began to change in 2014 when Kyle started speaking out about racial issues following the shooting death of Eric Garner. Suddenly Kyle says he got notes from fellow seminarians saying, I thought you were one of us. Why are you talking about this? Kyle also says he was accused of the sin of pride, and the church gave him an ultimatum; stop talking about racial justice and criticizing Donald Trump or you’ll lose ministry and pastoral opportunities. The years-long ordeal took a huge emotional toll on Kyle and left him with post-traumatic stress he says he’s still dealing with, but what’s the solution? And how can the church better love and care for people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds? I’ll dive into that with Kyle in just a moment. But first, I’d like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson Universi