Jagged Edges is an exhibition of printmaking, poetry, and music created by and for survivors of church-related abuse. The artists draw links between their own experiences and the story of Jesus as he approached his crucifixion.

Exhibitions Open: Tuesday – Thursday, 11am – 4pm and Saturday, 1pm – 4pm

Shieldfield Art Works, 1 Clarence Street, Shieldfield, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1YH

Church-related abuse can cause moral and spiritual injuries not only to the victims, who may feel betrayed by their faith, but also to others in the Church who, by not passing on a report of abuse or not responding to a disclosure with compassion, may have failed to act in accordance with their own moral values. Both victims and bystanders have also been betrayed by those in positions of authority who have perpetrated abuse or covered it up. These injuries involve a profound sense of broken trust, and they damage the social and pastoral relationships between members of the Church.

The stories of survivors of abuse, in which they have been betrayed by the institution of their religion with the complicity of its leaders, is a very familiar one to Christians; the stories at the heart of the Christian faith are those of the betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus with the complicity of the religious authorities. These commonly held stories, told in the New Testament in what are known as the Gospel Passion narratives, provide the contents of the form of Christian devotion known as the Stations the Cross. Early Christians created the practice of “walking the way of the Cross”, tracing the path from Pilate’s house, where Jesus was condemned to death, to Calvary, where he was crucified, and thus enabling participants to follow in the steps of Jesus and engage actively with his suffering. This form of devotion is still used in churches today, during the days leading up to Easter.

The Chaplaincy to Survivors in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle brought together Sarah, David and Peter, all of whom have personal experience of church-related abuse, to explore the following question:  What happens when survivors use the Stations of the Cross as a means to speak both to their fellow survivors and to those who let them down in the communities where they were harmed?In Jagged Edges each survivor has approached the Gospel Passion narratives from her or his own perspective and through a different medium – linocut prints, music, poetry – to co-create their own Stations of the Cross. The title Jagged Edges reflects the unique elements of survivors’ individual experiences, which overlap but do not fit neatly together; it reflects the dissonant combination of God’s love and the harm done in and by God’s Church in those experiences; and it reflects the fact that survivors often engage with the Church from the periphery because that is where they feel safe. The new Stations draw meaningful connections between the shared narrative of Jesus’s suffering and the lived experience of individuals harmed in Christian churches. They invite us to look at Jesus’s trauma and to see his story in a particular light: as a story of abuse and as a story of God’s love for and solidarity with those who have been abused. They are also an invitation from survivors to the rest of the Church and beyond to engage in the work of repair, reconciliation and recovery.

This exhibition was in the planning stages before the recent revelations in the press about the failures of the former Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York to respond to safeguarding and misconduct cases in ways that are in keeping with what we expect of Christian leaders. However, we acknowledge that this exhibition speaks directly to the hurt many in the Church of England are feeling as a result of these failings. When people in positions of authority betray our shared values, it can cause us harm on a moral and spiritual level. This is one way in which victims and others in the Church are harmed by church-related abuse.

This exhibition includes images of torture (crucifixion) and references to moral and spiritual injuries caused by church-related abuse.