Welcome to Survivor Sanctuary's new website!
Survivor Sanctuary

More than 20% of churchgoers are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, but sadly, church is the last place that most victims of abuse feel safe to go for help. I'm Kelly Downing, a survivor and advocate who wants to see that change. Survivor Sanctuary is a community for survivors of sexual abuse who are navigating the road to healing, and for anyone who wants to be a part of the major heart renovation the church needs so that our faith communities can truly become sanctuaries for survivors.

Recent Episodes

March 21, 2024

Episode 127: One Church, Three Sexual Predators

Ignite Life Center, an Assemblies of God Church in Gainesville, Florida, has been in the news since last summer due to repeated arrests for the sexual abuse of minors. So, how do three predators end up in the same church? We…
March 7, 2024

Episode 126: Florida Keys SBC Pastor Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Teen Girl

This story hits close to home, as in, just down the road from where I live. A Southern Baptist pastor in the Keys has been arrested after a 15-year-old girl says he plied her with alcohol and assaulted her on a couch inside …
Feb. 29, 2024

Episode 125: Why Survivors Protect Their Abusers

A common theme among survivors of clergy sexual abuse is victims feeling a responsibility to protect their abuser from being "found out." On today's episode, we're taking a look at Tammy Woods's open letter to Mike Bickle of…
Feb. 22, 2024

Episode 124: Mike Bickle Accused of Sexually Abusing Girls Ages 14, 15

The plot has thickened in the IHOP KC / Mike Bickle saga, with two women claiming that Bickle began sexually abusing them when they were only 14 and 15 years old, dating all the way back to the beginning of Bickle's ministry…
Feb. 15, 2024

Episode 123: Paige and Andy Weber on International House of Prayer (Part 2)

Today we're finishing up our chat with Andy Weber and Paige Weber, MA, MO-PLPC, EMDR, former staffers at International House of Prayer, where founder Mike Bickle has been accused by multiple women of grooming and sexual abus…
Feb. 8, 2024

Episode 122: International House of Preyer? Andy and Paige Weber Share Insight on Mike Bickle and IHOP

The allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse by International House of Prayer founder Mike Bickle keep piling up, and on today's episode, we chat with Andy Weber and Paige Weber, MA, MO-PLPC, EMDR, both of whom served on s…

Recent Blog Posts

Was I Sexually Abused as a Child?

It may seem like a no-brainer to a person who has never experienced sexual trauma, but whether your experience was actually sexual abuse can be a common question for survivors of sexual abuse. This can be true for a number of reasons, including the …

5 Reasons Your Pastor Should be Talking about Sexual Abuse

“I wish I had talked about sexual abuse from the pulpit.” It was one of the first things my dad said to me when he woke from an induced coma after having a massive hemorrhagic stroke on January 29th. He was exactly one week retired from…

The Problem of Abuse in the Church is Much Deeper than Leadership

An abusive religious leader is removed from his position of power. A victim, traumatized at his hands, is finally vindicated. Women, long ready for change within a denomination that has historically diminished them, organize a protest through hashta…