Sarah York Books

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Serving a congregation after clergy misconduct can be the most dangerous ministry no one talks about.

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When a beloved minister is exposed for sexual misconduct, the damage does not end with his departure. It lingers—quietly shaping decisions, distorting relationships, and setting the stage for further moral injury.

In Trouble in Paradise, Reverend Sarah York tells the story of her eight years as senior minister of a prominent congregation after such a betrayal. York becomes what is known as an afterpastor—a role marked by impossible expectations, buried truths, and systemic resistance to change.

With candor, compassion, and hard‑won insight, York challenges the comforting myth that misconduct is rare or isolated and reveals how secrecy, misplaced loyalty, and unresolved trauma can quietly sabotage a faith community. Blending memoir and organizational wisdom, Trouble in Paradise is both a gripping personal story and a cautionary tale for religious institutions of every tradition.

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Author

Sarah York is an author, spiritual director, and retired minister living in Asheville, North Carolina.

In addition to graduating with honors from Wake Forest College (B.A.), Duke University (M.A.T.), and Harvard Divinity School (M.Div), Ms. York holds an honorary doctorate from Meadville-Lombard Theological School and a certificate in spiritual direction from the Haden Institute. She has authored or contributed to several books, including Remembering Well: Rituals for Celebrating Life and Mourning Death and Into the Wilderness.

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Questions for Discussion

What would you have done if you found yourself in a situation where you were, like the author, under attack after only one year of serving a congregation where there had been clergy misconduct? Join with other ministers, lay leaders, or religious officials to read and discuss Trouble in Paradise. Questions for Discussion and Reflection follow each chapter.

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Testimonials and Reviews

—from the Foreword by Deborah Pope-Lance

“Sarah York is the first afterpastor I know with sufficient will, courage, fortitude, and collegiality to tell the story of serving in a ministry in the aftermath of a predecessor’s misconduct. Her reflective memoir is one minister’s story. And it will resonate with many. York’s report of her afterpastor experience validates the experience of an untold number of colleagues who have served or will serve as afterpastors.

        

Rabbi James Rudin, KSG, DD, Senior Interreligious Adviser, The American Jewish Committee

Sarah York’s important book should be required reading in every seminary. It is a brilliantly written cautionary tale telling how a congregation becomes a toxic house of worship when its spiritual leader commits acts of sexual abuse and the obstacles an ethical and skilled minister faces in her attempts to bind up the traumatic wounds her predecessor has left behind.