AR religious trauma support group

Within the Assemblies of God, there’s a massive campus ministry called Chi Alpha (XA). The campus is present on more than 275 campuses across the US and has several chapters overseas. All of the staff members are “ missionaries” and pride themselves on the ministries pillars, “Worship, Family, Mission”.

In early June of 2023, a man named Daniel Savala was arrested for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy. After his arrest, police revealed that Savala was linked to several Chi Alpha pastors across north Texas. Savala (who was found guilty of sexual assault of a minion in 2000) was said to have been a spiritual mentor to these pastors and had several interactions with students from several different Texas Chi Alpha chapters.

Since the arrest, Chris Hudl (XA Baylor), Eli Stewart ( XA Texas A&M), and Eli Gautreaux (XA UTSA), and other chi alpha pastors have resigned or have been asked to step down due to their close relationship with Savala. They invited him to speak at events off campus, took groups of students to churches he was known to frequent, and even took groups of students to Salava’s home.

The chi alpha national office in Springfield, MI has not made a public statement regarding/addressing these events or the victims that have come forward.
But students and alumni continue to speak up! Several students have come forward on a public forum, detailing their abuse during their time in chi alpha. Mental, financial, spiritual, etc.
See website: https://xalionsden.com

Sources used for this post :

https://julieroys.com/investigations/chi-alpha-daniel-savala/

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/may/chi-alpha-daniel-savala-sex-offender-abuse-houston-ag.html

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/more-details-emerge-on-sex-abuse-scandal-that-snared-waco-campus-minister/article_ccea1980-fc2c-11ed-883a-b75931bb0ec1.html

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/more-details-emerge-on-sex-abuse-scandal-that-snared-waco-campus-minister/article_ccea1980-fc2c-11ed-883a-b75931bb0ec1.html

https://julieroys.com/texas-pastor-linked-chi-alpha-sex-abuse-scandal-dismissed-church/

XA & The Lions Den Daniel and the Lions DenThe Official Forum for Chi Alpha Spiritual and Sexual Abuse. Time to tell your side of the story.Dear former Chi Alpha leaders, University students, and Assembly of God church members, this forum is for you. We are a platform to tell your story of spiritual or sexual abuse fr...

Let's talk a little bit about why I decided to start this page...

I spent 3 years in college being a member of an evangelical campus ministry. I got sucked in by the promise of family, community, and being on a "mission". We all were convinced that God had sent us to this campus and it was our job to spread the gospel to as many people as week could. Which, as the first thought, doesn't sound too bad. But when the staff uses the bible to manipulate guilt trip and traumatize you- you start to feel differently very quickly.

It became very easy to feel like I couldn't keep up as a student leader. I was in school full time, working a part-time job, and I was still expected to attend a weekly service, host a weekly bible study, and attend a weekly meeting for leaders, as well as meet with the girls in my small group. If I ever complained about not having enough time to do any of these things, I was told that I wasn't "prioritizing god", if I ever mentioned struggling with my mental health I was told that I was "praying hard enough". The list goes on, but the bottom line is that I just couldn't keep up. There was constant comparison, and this pressure to uphold the image of the ministry.

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was 2020. There was so much going on during that time, and the entire country was talking about race after the murder of George Floyd. I can still remember the first time I saw that video :(.
Some black student leaders were asking out staff about addressing this situation publically, and even asking if our campus pastor would be willing to preach a sermon on racism. Long story short, they told us no, and they said/did nothing.
A ministry that I had given my time, money, and energy to didn't think enough of the people that looked like me, to speak up for us when we needed them to. That hurt!

They continued to ask us for tithe, to donate the multi-million dollar facility they were building, and for us to attend services. I quickly realized that it was always about the numbers for them and never the people.

I know I'm not the only one that has a hurtful story about a religious organization that I was a part of. In fact, a friend of mine recently had a post on her page gain a lot of attention from alumni of this exact organization. Comment after comment talk about the abuses and traumas that they experienced at the behest of the staff. That broke my heart. All of these people thought they were alone and that no one else had similar experiences. That's not true.

I want this page to be a place where people can come and see that. These organizations don't get to take advantage anymore. Their time is up!

Religious abuse is defined as “Religious trauma is the result of different experiences that occur in a religious community, within a church, or spiritual community that exposes the members to indoctrination messages, coercion, humiliation, embarrassment, and abuse.”

If you’ve experienced any of these things or you even THINK you have, welcome.
First of all, your thoughts, words, and feelings are valid.

Secondly, you deserve to be heard and have a place to connect with people you have had similar experiences. I hope this can be that for you.

Thirdly, talking about these things can spread information and bring awareness. All in hopes that we can reach people, educate them, and prevent them from going through the same things. So please share!

Lastly, God doesn’t love you any less because you’ve experienced trauma in the church. Anybody that tells you that is a liar. Don’t listen.