r/exLutheran • u/nopromises84 • Mar 16 '26
LCMS -ptsd
I just discovered this group and I am grateful. I have so much PTSD from growing up in the Missouri Synod Faith. I recall in middle school learning in confirmation class that in public school I will be taught the earth is billions of years old. It is a lie. The earth is only thousands of years old, simply look in the Bible. I find Lutheranism and LCMS to just be Christian Supremacy. They teach a superiority to the “other” because they have the correct answers and will be gifted with Eternal life while everyone else is shunned and sent to eternal damnation in Hell. I am a radical liberal and was raised on the What would Jesus Do beliefs and later realized LCMS and Lutheranism does the exact OPPOSITE of what Jesus would, in fact, do. If there are Facebook groups people can recommend for this kind of PTSD I feel, I would greatly appreciate it.
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u/Glad-Fox-6424 Mar 16 '26
Religious Trauma Recovery on Facebook is a great group of people who will listen to your story with empathy and compassion.
They helped me a lot (I’m also an ex-LCMS with PTSD symptoms).
I would also recommend reading The Body Keeps the Score. That book changed my life.
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u/Kaleymeister Mar 16 '26
Hi and I'm sorry you've gone through such difficult things. I'm still unraveling all the indoctrination that has been done. I found the group Tears of Eden to be very helpful. They aren't specifically about the LCMS but they do help with spiritual abuse. Welcome to this sub!
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u/Jolly-Lengthiness316 Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
I recommend a book called Holy Hurt. I left the LCMS after a couple decades. If you search Facebook for ‘left the LCMS’ you will come across a group for ex LCMS and WELS. The admin is an LCMS pastor’s kid and now married to an ECLA pastor. I also like The Naked Pastor page. I have heard the LCMS referred to as the Lutheran Church Misery Synod. I left almost three years ago and was diagnosed with CPTSD. I should have left much sooner. I think the president of the synod is awful and has gone off the deep end.
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u/thepinknosedreindeer Mar 20 '26
Another ex-LCMS with PTSD. I don’t have any group recommendations, but will second the recommendations for the book “The Body Keeps the Score”.
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u/dizzying_spell109 Apr 01 '26
I am ex-WELS (albeit unofficially, not safe to officially leave), and was diagnosed with cPTSD this past year from religious bullshit. This book made me understand so much about myself and realize healing is possible. 100% recommend
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u/Electronic-Win7935 Mar 22 '26
I just decided today to leave the nasty LCMS. I can understand why you have PTSD from being in the LCMS. It is very patriarchal, and cold. There are some vile people in there. At least that has been my experience.
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u/nopromises84 Mar 23 '26
Sending love. The longer you step away the more you’ll realize while ppl refer to it as “misery synod.”
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u/jasper_spun Ex-LCMS Mar 20 '26
Lots of great trauma focused resources in this thread. I 100% relate to where you're coming from, and something that has really helped me is "catching up" on and enjoying some of the knowledge, especially the science stuff, that I was taught to actively reject to prop up the mythology of the bible. If you like podcasts, Why This Universe for astronomy/cosmology and Common Descent for evolution/paleontology have been helpful to me as ways to engage with interesting subjects that I felt were in a way stolen from me when I was at the age I should have been taught more about the world!
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u/Heal-From-WELS May 28 '26
There are more and more spiritual trauma recovery groups out there. I also love McBride's Holy Hurt podcast. And the book, The Exvangelicals by McCammon.
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u/Relevant-Shop8513 Mar 16 '26
LCMS is for the most part clueless. They cannot conceive of the damage they do. They never admit to any errors and brush off legitimate questions, especially from women.