When church has hurt you, how do you move forward?
Make space for healing.
Rediscover who you are.
Begin to hope again.
You hoped church would be a place where you could belong, grow and be loved. When you experience rejection, disappointment, control or broken trust there, the hurt can reach into every part of your life—including your relationship with God.
Perhaps you’ve tried to put it behind you, but something still feels unresolved. Perhaps you love Jesus, yet feel wary of His people. Or you find yourself wondering whether there’s still a place for you.
Dealing with Church Pain is a six-week course with Andrew Chapman, offering biblical teaching, prayer and practical steps to help you bring what happened to God and begin to move forward.
You don’t need to know where to start. You’re welcome to begin here.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” — Psalm 147:3
You can be honest about what happened
Sometimes the hardest part is feeling that you shouldn’t still be hurting.
You may have been told to forgive and move on before anyone really listened. You might worry that talking about your experience makes you disloyal, bitter or difficult.
On this course, we’ll make room to acknowledge the pain and explore its impact. You can bring your questions, disappointment and uncertainty to the Father.
There’s no pressure to share more than you want, minimise what happened or rush your healing.
Your journey through the six weeks
Week 1: Come Out from Hiding
Understand your pain and begin to bring it into the light.
We’ll explore what church pain is, why it can hurt so deeply, and how we sometimes respond by withdrawing, staying silent or telling ourselves it wasn’t that bad. This first week is an invitation to acknowledge your experience and bring it honestly to God.
Your next step: recognise where you’ve been hiding and what you’re ready to bring to the Father.
Week 2: What Do I Do with This Pain?
Explore forgiveness without dismissing what happened.
What does forgiveness mean when trust has been broken? We’ll explore bringing our grief and anger to the Father, expressing lament and entrusting justice to Him. Forgiveness does not excuse harmful behaviour, remove accountability or require you to return to an unsafe situation.
Your next step: begin to express what hurts and explore what releasing it to God could look like.
Week 3: When Pain Shapes Our Responses
Recognise the influence of hurt with compassion and honesty.
Pain can affect how we hear people, respond to leadership and approach relationships. We’ll gently explore patterns such as withdrawal, suspicion or the need to stay in control, asking Jesus to help us recognise what is happening beneath the surface.
Your next step: identify a response you want God’s help to understand and change.
Week 4: Making Room for Hope Again
Explore what healing could make possible.
It can feel risky to experience joy, trust someone or imagine belonging again. We’ll consider the signs of healing and make space for the possibility of a different future, without expecting you to move faster than you’re ready.
Your next step: begin to name what you would love to see restored.
Week 5: You Are Not What Happened to You
Rediscover your identity as the Father’s loved child.
Rejection, accusations and painful experiences can leave us carrying labels God never gave us. We’ll explore how to recognise those labels and receive His truth about our worth, identity and belonging.
Your next step: practise agreeing with what God says about you.
Week 6: What Healthy Church Can Look Like
Look ahead with discernment, boundaries and hope.
We’ll explore the qualities of healthy spiritual community and how to support people who have experienced church pain. You’ll have space to consider your own next steps and what it could mean to dream about spiritual family again.
Your next step: identify what you need in healthy community and how you want to move forward.
At the end of this course, you will…
Have had space to name your pain, explore its impact and practise bringing it to God.
We aim to help you:
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Understand your experience more clearly, with language to describe why it hurt.
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Recognise how pain may be affecting your life, including your relationships, expectations and responses.
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Understand forgiveness more fully, while maintaining healthy boundaries and accountability.
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Use practical prayer and reflection tools to continue your journey beyond the course.
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Challenge labels rooted in rejection or shame and strengthen your confidence in your identity in Christ.
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Recognise qualities of healthy spiritual community, so you can make thoughtful decisions about your next steps.
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Support others with greater compassion, without feeling responsible for fixing them.
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Begin to imagine a future with room for joy, connection and purpose again.
Healing looks different for each person. Six weeks won’t resolve every story, but it can give you a meaningful place to begin—or support the next stage of a journey you’ve already started.
What’s included?
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Six weekly live Zoom sessions with Andrew Chapman, combining teaching, stories and prayer.
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A digital course workbook to support your personal reflection.
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Weekly questions and practical activations to explore between sessions.
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Prayer and journaling prompts to help you talk honestly with God and listen for His encouragement.
Is this course for you?
This course may be for you if you’ve experienced hurt in church and want help working through it with God.
You might still attend regularly, have stepped away, or feel unsure where you belong.
Your experience may be recent, or something you’ve carried quietly for years.
You don’t need to have decided what your future relationship with church will look like before you join.
A personal invitation from Andrew
“I’d love to invite you to walk through these six weeks with me. What happened to you matters, and we’ll make room to be honest about it. My heart is to help you bring that pain to the Father, hear His truth about who you are and begin to discover what moving forward could look like for you. You can come with your questions and take this one step at a time.”
— Andrew Chapman, Founder of London School of Supernatural Ministry
A few things you may be wondering
Will I have to tell everyone my story?
No. You can reflect privately and participate without sharing details you want to keep personal.
Will I be pressured to return to the church where I was hurt?
No. We’ll encourage discernment and healthy boundaries as you consider your next steps.
What if I’ve already forgiven, but it still hurts?
You’re welcome. Forgiveness and the rebuilding of trust are different parts of the journey. Continuing to feel pain doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
What if I’m struggling with God as well as church?
You can bring that honestly. The course offers space to explore how your experiences may have affected your relationship with Him.
Is this counselling?
This is a Christian teaching and prayer course. It can be part of your support, alongside counselling or other professional help where needed.
You don’t have to work through this alone
If you recognise yourself in these words, you’re warmly invited to join us.
Make space over these six weeks to be honest, receive support and explore your next steps with God.
ANDREW
CHAPMAN
Andrew has a history with God that is centered on a growing revelation of the Father's affection towards us and postures his life to be in the light of that reality. Compelled to see people connected to their Father, he finds himself leading ordinary people in the day-to-day rhythms of life to experience the love of their Maker. Living a life of the supernatural as a natural part of daily life, led Andrew to found the London School of Supernatural Ministry. Using the full curriculum of Bethel's BSSM, this pioneering London-based ministry has been training people to hear clearly from God, take risks, and demonstrate the miraculous, bringing heaven to earth to transform culture.
From politicians, business leaders, and creatives, to mosques, hospitals and new age shops - over the last eight years, they have amassed countless testimonies of seeing the kingdom of Heaven breakthrough to heal, save and touch people from every part of society. Beyond LSSM Andrew has also trained many pastors individually and across denominations, both here and abroad, in how to create and grow a Kingdom culture. Andrew's passion is to see every Christian fully flowing in love, and power to see the kingdom of Heaven come in every situation you find yourself in.
