Kenneth J Garrett

Hello! I am a native of Portland, Oregon, where Sharon and I live today. After a twenty-year career as a paramedic here in Portland, I attended seminary and eventually became pastor of Grace Church, in downtown Portland, where I have now been for over twenty years. So, why did I write "In the House of Friends"? Because my family and I are survivors of an abusive Christian church. Recruited in 1984 with a promise of "discipleship training" and preparation for vocational ministry, I instead found myself embroiled in an abusive church led by a malignant, narcissistic pastor. In 1996 we walked away from the church, and began the long, often difficult journey of recovering from spiritual abuse. I developed quite an interest in the study of cults, leadership, and healthy group and family dynamics along the way. I return to seminary to earn a Doctor of Ministry degree. My study focus was on spiritual abuse as it occurs in Christian churches, despite the orthodoxy of their beliefs. Sharon and I help out other survivors of spiritual abuse, often from setting outside of the Christian faith, and we started the Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education, an informal, bi-montly meetup for survivors to get together to learn about spiritual abuse alongside other survivors. Along the way, we also become friends! I wrote "In the House of Friends" with the goal of providing a source of solid information about spiritual abuse taken from my studies and my own experiences in an abusive, cult-like church. I wanted to create a book that I could put in the hands of a survivor right after they'd walked out of their abuse; something easy to read, but packed with relevant, helpful information. I also hope that the book is helpful to people who have friends and family members in abusive groups, and are just looking for some good information about such groups. . .and for a bit of hope! Thanks for stopping by! Ken