As a biracial Filipina-American “othered” her whole life, Jenai Auman discovered a new and disturbing level of “othering” in the place she should have felt the safest: her church.
“Never in my life have I felt so alone as when I was singing hymns of thankfulness and grace alongside church leaders who were actively working to push me out,” she writes. Her crime? Holding toxic and controlling leadership of her megachurch accountable. “When people with tremendous power—especially spiritual power—believe they are “not enough” they’ll use their power to other the neighbors around them. And to alleviate their anxiety and insecurity, they call it faithfulness.”
Hurt and traumatized though she was, Auman does not settle into a victim mentality. Instead, she forges a path of healing for herself and others, pointing readers to the hesed of the God who compassionately clothed Adam and Eve in the garden and will also pursue each of us with his tender care. “He continues to seek those cast out of his sanctuaries because the othered bear his image too.”
For anyone who has been hurt and othered in a church setting, Auman’s book is an essential companion on the road to healing. She points the reader to lament and other practices that help us process what has happened to us to move forward. Church systems and structures and people might fail us, but God never will. Othered helps those who feel cast out and marginalized to reclaim the goodness of their lives, hidden in Christ. Readers will find healing and new wholeness as they learn to walk with God, generate life, and cultivate a spacious place of connection wherever they go next. (Baker Books)
About the Author
Lorilee Craker, a native of Winnipeg, Man., lives in Grand Rapids, Mich. The author of 16 books, she is the Mixed Media editor of The Banner. Her latest book is called Eat Like a Heroine: Nourish and Flourish With Bookish Stars From Anne of Green Gables to Zora Neale Hurston.