A church should be where an insecure sixteen-year-old girl feels welcome and safe. Tragically for some, the church can become a place of great harm. My co-host, Mark M. Bello has written about this issue in his award winning novel, Betrayal of Faith, based upon his own experience as a young attorney representing victims of clergy abuse.

Our guest today has experienced clergy abuse, first hand. In her own book, Let me Prey Upon You, Sandy Phillips Kirkham details how a charismatic youth minister preyed upon her, betrayed her in the most vile way, and shattered her faith, leaving her broken and separated from the church she once loved.

From their very first meeting, the new youth minister slowly and methodically turned the sacred relationship of a trusted spiritual leader to one of abuse: sexual, emotional, and physical. When his actions were discovered, he was simply moved to another church, leaving Sandy to pay for his deeds. She was not his first victim, nor would she be his last.

Sandy moved on with her life, got married, had children, and successfully concealed her abuse for twenty-seven years-we’ll find out why. Her healing process began in 2004 when she decided to seek justice from the pastor and the church. Let me Prey Upon You details her journey.

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