The Unlovely Truth

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Does your church or ministry struggle with physical, emotional, or spiritual safety issues? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison and I’m so glad you’ve joined me today. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission on this podcast is to find actionable steps to improve every aspect of safety in our houses of worship and beyond. We’re going to do that by investigating The Unlovley Truth about real crime news stories that are happening in real churches. I’ve got new cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

• Pastoral counseling crosses the line into spiritual abuse
• When the pastor is the victim
• A church that handled a tough situation right - mostly

Ezekiel 34:7-10 NLT

“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.

Even if shepherds lose their sense of responsibility to their flock - God does not. It’s bad enough when a neglectful pastor allows their congregation to be vulnerable to predators. It’s worse when those pastors themselves are the ones harming those they are meant to serve. God is very upfront in his assessment of pastors like this. He calls them His enemies. If you see a pastor abusing anyone in any way, please, let god work through you by speaking up. I know that can be scary and if you’ll reach out to me I will help you.

On the flip side, if we see one of our pastors suffering, we need to stand up for them as well. No of us should abandon anyone when we have a chance to help them stay safe.

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker or ask about my consulting services, please email me at [email protected].

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Was this spiritual abuse?

Pastor confronts gunman

Should sex offenders be pastors?

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Security issues are hiding in every church - do you know where to look for them? I’m your host, church safety coach Lori Morrison. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission here is to find actionable steps that will make our churches sanctuaries of physical, emotional, and spiritual safety. To give you tools to help make that happen in your church, we’re going to investigate real crime stories from real churches. I’ve got three cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in.

Highlights from this episode include:

• How teamwork solved a church burglary
• A man’s battle to address his clergy abusers’ actions
• How SBC churches can more effectively combat abuse

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at [email protected].

Ways you can support the work of The Unlovley Truth:

Share the episode

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.

Teamwork solves a church burglary

Man writes a memoir about his abuse by a priest

What's up with the SBC sexual abuse task force?

Let’s look at some wisdom from the Book of Proverbs this week.

Proverbs 11:14 NLT

“Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.”

Proverbs chapter 11 has a lot to say about people who reject wisdom, and things generally don’t go well for them. But those who seek righteousness gain blessings and are a blessing to others. When it comes to keeping your environment safe, whether it’s an entire nation or just your congregation, it’s best to have a lot of input when making policies and procedures for how you will protect your flock.

Are you including advisors of different ages, from different ministries in the church? Are you asking for help from professionals in the church safety arena? Are you working together to make decisions as a group, or does a very small number of people - or maybe even just one person - wield all of the power? If you’re not sure, I hope you’ll ask how your church does things and maybe even volunteer to help make it the safest place in your community.

Let me know what you think of this episode! Send me an email at [email protected] or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety at the intersection of faith and true crime.

This week’s episode touches on so many interesting topics. You’ll hear behind the scenes stories from a fellow private investigator, information about a celebrity investigation, tips on how to serve the deaf community, and what it’s like to have a family member murdered. My guest today has done it all. Of course, we will also take a look at a true crime case that I hope we can study some red flag examples so we can avoid the heartache that Becky Galsworthy and her family endured.

Blending families with teenagers is tough. Darren Galsworthy had two children with his ex-girlfriend Tanya when he ran into an old acquaintance named Anjie. Things between them got serious quickly. Anjie had a child too, a son named Nathan. It was obvious to Darren that the boy was possessive of his mother. But there was no way to know that possessiveness would lead to the murder of a family member. Our book this week is “The Evil Within” by Darren Galsworthy and our guest is former private investigator, Amazon bestselling author, philanthropist, and artist Connie Rowland.

This week’s Scripture is from the Old Testament:

Proverbs 14:22 CSB

Don’t those who plan evil go astray?

But those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

Nathan’s actions as they are described in our book for this week are a perfect example of this passage. Notice that God isn’t calling out just those who DO evil things, but those who PLAN to do evil things. James 1:15 says, “Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.” Our thought lives matter because they influence our actions. When we think on things, and plan to take good action, the Bible promises that we will find loyalty and faithfulness.

I want to tie that into this week’s practical action step. When we see someone struggling with dark thoughts, or we notice anyone being obsessed with violent song lyrics, movies or video games, we need to check in with that person. It may not be an issue, but they might be having thoughts that will give birth to deeds with life-altering consequences. We've got to watch out for each other so we can keep ourselves, our families, and our communities safer.

For another mesmerizing episode about family dysfunction, listen here.

Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at [email protected].

Visit Connie’s website.

Read more about Becky's life.

For safety tips and Scripture, check out my new book, “How to Kick Fear to the Curb” on Amazon.

If you or someone you know has ever been the victim of sexual assault, you’ll want to hear the story of my guest Lisa Saruga. Lisa is herself a survivor as well as an advocate for others.

We all work hard to create just the right balance in our lives between work, spouses, kids, church, maybe caring for aging parents, hanging out with friends and more. Small stresses can cause big disruptions, right? Imagine how your life would be disrupted by a call from a detective about a cold case from 35 years ago. A case you never thought would be reinvestigated. A case that changed your life forever.

It’s easy to wonder where God was in all of this. I certainly don’t want to imply to anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault that just reading a verse or two will fix everything, but I do hope that these words from Isaiah 43:2-3a can give you some comfort:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior...”

Have you ever felt like you were about to drown in the water of your life? What about walking a path that has flames burning all around? Just try to remember that even when the waters are at their highest and the flames at their hottest, you aren’t alone. God not only sees you there - He tells us in these verses that He is there with us. Even if you feel like no one in your life is willing to be there for you - God is.

National Sexual Assault Hotline
Available 24 hours
1-800-656-4673

Season 2, Episode 17: I Thought He was My Friend - "Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town" by Jon Krakauer

Season 3, Episode 30: No One Believed Her

Season 1, Episode 17: A Survivor's Journey - From Victim to Advocate

Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at [email protected].

Connect with Lisa here

Can you remember going off on your own for the first time? Whether you were getting your first apartment, joining the military, or going off to college, it was probably exciting but also a bit scary. Today we are going to talk about how we can look out for signs that someone is struggling with a big change in their life - maybe even a change they are so poorly equipped to handle that they explode in violence.

Our book this week is The Events of October and our guest is pastor, writer, speaker, and resident counselor David Brannock. He’s going to talk about specific steps we can take to look out for each other when we experience big changes after we dive into today’s case.

I’ve got a couple of different passages I want us to think about today. The first is Proverbs 22:24-25, from The Amplified Bible: “Do not even associate with a man given to angry outbursts; Or go [along] with a hot-tempered man, Or you will learn his [undisciplined] ways And get yourself trapped [in a situation from which it is hard to escape].”

I also want to share Titus 3:10-11 with you from the New Living Translation: “If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them.” This passage is dealing with people trying to cause divisions in the church, but I think the principle of the lesson certainly applies to relationships as well.

I want to challenge everyone - even myself - to find someone who needs to be encouraged to distance themselves from an unhealthy relationship. They may not see the red flags that you can, or even if they do they may just need that nudge that will move them to action. Even if they get mad at you like Maggie did with her friend who wouldn’t room with her if she stayed with Neenef, we need to plant those seeds that just might blossom in time to prevent another tragedy like Maggie’s. There are links below to other episodes about violence in relationships, as well as links to other helpful resources. I hope you’ll share them with anyone who needs to see that they are not alone and that there is hope.

Listen to Season 2, Episode 37: Why Do Abuse Victims Stay: "Every Breath You Take" by Ann Rule

Listen to Season 1, Episode 2: A Twisted Faith

Buy the book here

Connect with David Brannock here

Send me YOUR feedback on the podcast here