A Mentimeter poll of the participants. (slide from webinar)

"We gather tonight as leaders and learners who carry a lot—stories from our own lives, stories entrusted to us from those that we serve alongside—members of our congregations, our communities, our family systems, friends' systems, and beyond," said Bishop Lanette Plambeck. "We also carry the weight of a world that feels tender and fractured in this moment."

These words set the tone for the "Safer People, Stronger Church: Practicing Trauma-Informed Leadership" webinar held on November 18, 2025. Trauma-informed leadership development is one of the areas Bishop Lanette has been prioritizing in the Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area.

"It is a way of leading that recognizes the impact of trauma on individuals and communities, and it's a way of saying what has happened to us and to our communities matters, and so does how we lead in response," explained Bishop. Lanette.

Participants are guided into a trauma-responsive posture that shifts the fundamental question from "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?" and a grounding belief that every person we meet carries the image of God even when their behavior doesn't reflect it.

Amanda Hodge and Leslie Mulder provided the webinar teaching. Amanda serves as the Director of Family and Youth Ministry for First United Methodist Church in Sartell, Minnesota – also known as Love First Church – and is co-chair of the Trauma Responsive Church Initiative there. She is also a student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Leslie Mulder is an organizational development consultant and has co-chaired the Trauma Responsive Church Initiative at First UMC with Amanda. Her graduate research on organization change in U.S. Protestant churches informs her partnership with congregations to build trauma-responsive, resilient ministries.

Presenters shared about this work in their own church. (slide from webinar)

The presenters shared background on the development of their Trauma Responsive Church Initiative and explained that trauma is widespread, embodied, and not limited to severe events. As the presenters explained, the American Psychological Association defines trauma as any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, disassociation, confusion, and other disruptive feelings intense enough to have long-lasting negative impacts on the person's attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of their functioning.

"We also found that sometimes naming trauma just as simple as calling it 'overwhelming emotional experiences' makes it an easier access point for us to all realize that we are all affected by trauma in our lives," explained Hodge. "This doesn't become about comparing our experiences to other people's experiences. It's about realizing that we all suffer and that we all respond to suffering in very different ways."

It is this commitment to healing that drive Hodge and Mulder in their ministry and work with trauma-informed care.

"The trauma-informed ministry that we're passionate about is about seeing our shared faith through the lens of trauma. That means our own trauma as well as others' traumas," shared Hodge. "And when we do that, we can more clearly reflect the love of God to a hurting world."

Using frameworks from psychology, public health, and theology, they outlined the "Four Rs" of trauma-informed care, based on SAMHSA (the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). Those Four Rs are: Realize, Recognize, Respond, and Resist re-traumatization. They also lifted up an example from Jesus' own life and ministry, which modeled trauma-informed care. One such example is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, highlighting dignity, agency, and compassion.

"Through this story and so many others in the Bible, it's telling us that Jesus is teaching a trauma-informed ministry," explained Hodge. "He's teaching us to see a person beyond the label that they are given, to see people with dignity, to offer voice and agency any chance that we get, to name pain for people without adding the necessary layer of shame, and to invite people into restoration and not exclusion. This is the Gospel. This is Jesus showing us a path of trauma-informed ministry long before we had that particular language to put to it."

Leading out of our scars and not wounds is one aspect of Leading Self. (slide from webinar)

The presenters framed the essential competencies of trauma-informed leadership around three areas: leading oneself (regulate before you lead, do your own healing, use power with humility), leading others (make safety a habit, build trust with transparency, lead with empathy and accountability), and leading systems (review practices through a trauma-informed lens, shape culture through storytelling and rituals, evaluate engagement through lives transformed, not just attendance).

The session ultimately emphasized sacred hope. "There is no story or congregation or leader or even system that is beyond the reach of God's restoring love," said Hodge. "Repair is possible. As a church, our histories are very real, but this is not the end of our story, and that is our foundation. Together, we are claiming that we serve a God who moves towards the wounded people, a Christ who knows trauma in his very own body, and a Spirit who keeps nudging us towards the work of justice and healing, and we do that best when we do that together

 As Bishop Lanette emphasized in her opening words, "Friends, it's not about having every answer, but it is about leading in a way that increases safety, trust, dignity, and connection in ways that reflect the heart of Jesus who saw the people, listened to them, and met them with compassion and truth," said Bishop Lanette.

You can view the entire webinar here.

Additional resources and information about upcoming events can be found on our website.