Our Story & Name

Hagar’s Voice was launched in response to one particular case of clergy sexual abuse in which Danielle Strickland played the role of advocate for a victim who wished to remain anonymous & instead asked to be referred to as “Hagar”.  This was a reference to a Biblical character who, though a woman and a slave, was actually the first person to name God on record.  Hagar was a survivor of abuse herself and yet she named God, “The God who sees”.  We think this is a particularly poignant reference for this moment in Church history as the Spirit provokes the unearthing of a pattern of abuse in religious institutions.  “The God who sees” can refer to what God sees in the darkness & brings out in the light for healing, but in a more literal translation of this original name for God, we believe God still SEES the victims of abuse.  Like Hagar experienced, God sees, stands with, comforts, supports, and guides survivors to restoration.

As one survivor of clergy sexual abuse raised her voice & found advocacy with her trusted friend, other survivors responded with encouragement, solidarity and found their own voice to share their stories with Hagar’s Voice.  What is emerging is the obvious need for a place for survivors to raise their voice, to receive support & assistance in finding the resources they need to recover and be restored, and for a collective voice to rise and speak truth and wisdom into the religious institutions of our time.

Hagar’s Voice is our chosen name because we take inspiration from that original Biblical character and her experience with the God who sees, and as a way to pay honor to the present-day survivor who found her voice and in courageously raising it, made a path for so many others to do the same.