At the age of 12, Elizabeth had experienced her first bout with church hurt. A mother of one of Elizabeth’s playmates spread lies about her that went through two churches and three schools of which were her church home and school respectively. This woman was a believer and very vocal in her faith. As a result, Elizabeths parents felt very comfortable having Elizabeth in her presence. Yet she had experienced extensive peer abuse at the hands of fellow believers and not so much from the world. At the age of 13, Elizabeth felt as if she had nowhere to turn because she was shut out of the Christian community around her. As a result of this abuse, Elizabeth developed a strong dislike for the Lord and Christianity itself. She felt abandoned by God. Christianity was “something to be tolerated” yet had no value to Elizabeth. This led to her finding solace in the world where she lived until the age of 32 when the Lord started calling her back to Him. At the age of 43, Elizabeth found her way into a local bible study which led her back into the Lord’s presence and the Body of Christ. Elizabeth became reacquainted with God, Christianity and learned that all along the Lord had never really left or forsaken her. He had her go through what she did so she could help others who were abused by their peers and also to help others who had been hurt by their churches and fellow believers. Elizabeth credits God in all things and is grateful to have lived through what she did because it's made her the individual she is today.
Elizabeth Bennett McKinney is Pioneer and Forerunner in the field of Bullying. In 1993, she started her work in the field through research and theory development. In 2001, her website Peer Abuse Know More! went live and it was the first in the United States that outlined the problem through definition (the 5 W's of Peer Abuse), theories and gave a basic description of Bullying on a clinical level calling it abuse. She coined the term Peer Abuse (which later broke down into the term Peer on Peer Abuse) and put extra emphasis on the adults who survived childhood abuse in this area. She has spoken throughout the United States and internationally. In 2001 she was recognized by the National Who's Who Registry for her work in Bullying and in 2013 was nominated for the Shorty Awards in the category of Activism. Elizabeth was “bullied” for 27 years, and the Lord took her “mess” and made it a “mission”.
In 2011, Elizabeth learned she could have not just an intellectual but personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and she started growing spiritually at this point. During the Summer of 2017, Elizabeth came to the end of herself and learned this journey on earth was no longer about her but about Jesus Christ and the fact that he purchased Her life to use for His glory. In 2023, she was called into Ministry where for 15 months she shepherded ladies who were homeless in areas such as chapel, case management, counseling & helping them get basic needs met. She is currently working on a book on the issue of Church Hurt which plagues our churches today. The Lord recently led her in this area where once again will touch on her Bullying work except this time in the church. There are many who are experiencing this type of hurt in their congregation and it is creating stumbling blocks as a result. Many are turning against God due to this type of abuse and it is not God that we should be turning against or each other. He is our rock, anchor and will see us through any storm we are in. Our enemy is Satan, and we need to start to stand against him and not each other and certainly not the Lord. Satan is the bully!
Elizabeth authored the eBook Peer Abuse Know More! Bullying from a Psychological Perspective and is currently back on sale. Please email Elizabeth at churchhurtinamerica@gmail.com to get your copy or you can purchase using Pay Pal.
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