Product Description

Secret Sin: When God's People Choose Abortion was written because abortion is one of the last great secret sins that remains ?in the closet.? And because the Church hasn?t been aware of the magnitude of this secret sin or how it affects those it touches, the Church has done little or nothing to help these people suffering silently in their midst to find healing in Christ. This book was written to pull back the curtain giving those within the Church an inside look into the world of the post-abortive Christian with the intent of spurring them on to begin reaching out to these hurting people with the compassion of Christ.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112168 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-01
• Released on: 2006-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 108 pages

About the Author
Mary Comm is the Founder and Director of In Our Midst Ministries and A Safe Place Abortion Recovery Center. She is the author of Secret Sin: When God's People Choose Abortion, an insightful look into the issue of abortion as it relates to Christians and the church today. Mary resides in Loveland, Colorado with her husband and two children.

Customer Reviews

Compassionate call for the Church to wake up and smell the coffee
"Secret Sin" is a fast read that packs a punch in the face of the Church's last taboo, reaching out to the post-abortive women and men in their midst. Sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday are a huge number of people who have been affected by abortion. Yet as a pastor of a large mainstream denomination told me, "You'd be hard pressed to find many people in the church who are compassionate towards those who have had abortions". And that's just a shame.

As you can see by my name, I may be somewhat biased in writing this review. Yet I assure you that no such bias exists. Mary has done a tremendous job of writing a book that handles the issue both passionately and with great delicacy. Rather than being a political call to action, she takes great pains to state that while she is obviously pro-life, her direct mission is not to save babies... but rather to bring awareness to the church that the post-abortive can also receive the love of Jesus Christ to transform their lives and turn their pain into promise. It is about offering love and forgiveness to those who have chosen to abort.

Making the case that abortion actually causes far more long-term problems than it solves, we discover that no less than one in three women in the church have had at least one abortion. And many of the problems that women face, such as eating disorders, drug and alcohol dependency, relationship problems and suicide actually stem from a past abortion.

The pro-life movement has spent the last 40+ years focusing on the lives of the babies that are lost, while neglecting the victims who continue to walk amongst us all... and in great numbers. The author contends that by making the Church a safe place for the post-abortive to find healing, it is the voices of those who have received this healing that will mount in number and be able to state boldly and without shame, "abortion hurt me". And when the voices begin to be heard, then and only then will the abortion holocaust become a thing of the past.

It is time for Pastors and layleaders to step up and open their hearts to those who are suffering from their choice to abort. It is time for the Church to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, just as he would do were he physically walking amongst the post-abortive in our churches today.

Kudos to Mary for writing this important book which I believe will be a groundbreaking effort towards bringing healing to the hurting and turning the tide of abortion in our culture.

Worth reading
I found this book to be well written, easy to read and very informative. As a post-abortive Christian I could relate to the points made concerning the "safety" of church in revealing the secret of abortion. I agree with the author that every pastor ought to read this book and embrace the idea of making God's house what it should be, a place of safety and healing for those struggling with any sin. It is a must read for anyone claiming to be pro-life in an effort to fully understand the far reaching negative impact abortion has on our society.

Defeat "Secret Sin" of abortion in your own church
No book could be much clearer and more resolute to debate such a controversial theme like the one of abortion. And the reason for such a clear and comprehensive way of exposing this argument is related to the point of view of those who have been experiencing (and suffering!) a post abortion process; women, men and their families, most of them members of Christian churches. And because many members of churches have been involved at least in one or more abortions, the author intends to address her own words to the churches themselves, so that they can understand the real sufferings of post aborted women, and defeating some "myths", whereby for example the one that only pro abortion women would have abortions.
The author also points out the lack of knowledge being around this matter, the reasons why churches have misunderstood post aborted women, and finally she gives some very useful and practical suggestions to Christian communities if and whenever they are intended to promote a ministry of help and inner healing inside them (that is the organization of the volunteers, their training, the proposal and the promotion of the eventual ministry).
What is more, all the subject of this book is dealt with an international perspective; the suggestions given in the volume could be also adaptable outside the US, in the western world. In fact the ways Christian churches have faced the consequences of abortion are almost similar in several countries and so the reading of these pages are also suggested to non-Americans. At the end of "Secret Sin" you can also have some useful names of associations to whom you can turn to in case of need after abortion(s).
Of course the book itself does not exhaust all the problem (it's just the beginning of it!), but it recommends some very good readings by which you can start researching or getting informed in this field, and/or feeling compassion and understanding for those who aborted. So finally the book is highly recommendable to pastors, priests, leaders or volunteers of whatever churches, Christian groups and associations to whom this trauma matters deeply.

Sabrina Pelazza