After over a decade in vocational ministry, I came to a point where I couldn't keep overlooking. I couldn't just keep forging ahead. The accumulation of personal loss, broken dreams, and philosophical differences had taken their toll. "Church hurt" seemed like such a patronizing and anemic way to describe what I was going through, but I didn't know what else to call it.  ​​

​

I walked away from vocational ministry hopeful that there was something brighter ahead, and I still think there is. But I wasn't prepared for how hard the exit ramp would be.

Confusion. Disorientation. Loneliness and isolation. Feeling like no one could understand what I was going through. Struggling to find people who would listen without encouraging me into the ditch on either side of the road - scrapping my faith altogether or running back to a situation like the one I had just left. ​