Pastor as Healer: Trauma, Memory, and Redemption in the African Church

The Pastor as Healer is a courageous and deeply pastoral work that addresses the silent wounds carried by both shepherds and sheep within the African Church.
In this expanded Second Edition, Dr. Moses Nsubuga Sekatawa calls pastors, church leaders, and believers to rediscover a neglected biblical calling: not only to preach truth, but to participate in God's healing work among the wounded. Drawing from Scripture, pastoral experience, and the lived realities of African communities marked by trauma, loss, abuse, displacement, and unspoken grief, this book confronts pain that is often spiritualized, silenced, or ignored.
Across sixteen carefully crafted chapters, Dr. Sekatawa explores themes such as wounded leadership, sleepless souls, childhood trauma, absentee parenting, educational harm, women's hidden suffering, spiritual abuse, and the ministry of lament. Each chapter weaves biblical theology with pastoral insight, offering reflection questions, prayers, and practical ministry applications that equip leaders to respond with wisdom, compassion, and courage.
This Second Edition deepens the book's biblical grounding, replaces illustrative material with scriptural narratives, and strengthens its call for the Church to become not a theater of perfection, but a hospital of grace. Here, pastors are invited to heal not from denial or performance, but from honesty, presence, and dependence on Christ-the Great Physician.
The Pastor as Healer is an essential resource for pastors, counselors, church leaders, theological students, and all who believe the Church must be a place where wounds are acknowledged, stories are heard, and redemption is patiently pursued.
If you shepherd others while carrying your own scars, this book was written for you.