Everyone Deserves a Safe Space

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A sanctuary is a sacred space that can also be a place of refuge.  Sanctuaries can be a place to experience profound truths and relationship with God and creation, but for too many people, the sanctuary became unsafe.  Their trust was abused by religious leaders or other believers.  Their sacred Scriptures were misinterpreted against them, which is common among people in the LGBTQIA+ community.  These experiences can become religious trauma. 

 

Project Sanctuary seeks to heal the pain of religious trauma by providing healing spaces for people who have experienced religious trauma as well as by raising awareness and sensitivity toward this issue.   

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What We Do

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Currently, Project Sanctuary hosts monthly events—on the second Tuesday of the month from 7:00-8:00 PM—for people who want to explore healing religious trauma.  Events are Sound Healing and Healing Circles. 

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Sound Healing 

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Sound Healing events, held in a church sanctuary, are facilitated by trauma-informed practitioners who utilize gongs, tuning forks, and singing bowls, which are empirically proven methods of releasing stored trauma. Participants are invited into stillness and calm by lying flat on floor mats and supported by bolsters and blankets.  A sound healing practitioner will lead the session using tones from the instruments, and each session closes with a brief time of sharing, which helps participants process and integrate their experience. 

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Healing Circles 

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Healing Circles are for those people who are not yet ready to physically enter a sanctuary or who want to talk with others to process their experiences.  Held in-person or online via Zoom, Healing Circles are led by trained volunteers who accompany participants as they share their truth and access their own inner guidance to move toward healing.  ‍

 

A Healing Circle is an invitation to discover a deeper way of being together and is protected by agreements:
1. Treat each other with kindness and respect.
2. Listen with compassion and curiosity.
3. Honor each other’s unique ways to healing and don’t presume to advise or fix or try to save each other.
4. We all hold stories shared in the circle confidential.
5. Trust each of us has the guidance we need within us, and we rely on the power of silence to access it.

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Additional Support

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Project Sanctuary partners with LGBTQIA+ Faith Alliance and SQSH (St. Louis Queer Support Hotline) and is prepared to recommend resources for those who want to explore further healing through talk therapy.  Sessions are hosted through Gethsemane Lutheran Church, though participation in any other church or religious program is not expected.  Our mission is for participants to know they are loved for who they are, as they are.