Photo: Barbra Graber and Hilary Scarsella, the current staff of Our Stories Untold. Photo provided. 

On June 2, Our Stories Untold (OSU) announced that Rachel Halder, the creator and former director of OSU was leaving in order to pursue other interests. Hilary J. Scarsella, Nashville, formerly the public educator for OSU, has been named the new director, effective June 2. Barbra Graber, Harrisonburg, Virginia, will continue as editor.

Launched in 2012, OSU describes itself as “an independent network of people who have suffered sexualized violence, people who love people who have suffered sexualized violence, and people who are just plain fed up with the harm that sexualized violence does in our communities and around the world.” The OSU website has served as a place for survivors of sexual violence to tell their stories.

In a June 6 blog post introducing herself and the emerging vision for OSU, Scarsella outlined a vision

including a renewed focus on intersectionality. She writes, “Speaking of complexity, we all, myself included, need to do a better job of recognizing the ways that sexual violence is impacted by race, gender, sexuality, age, geography, ability, socioeconomic position, politics, theology, and so on. In the coming year, we’re going to make a concerted effort to facilitate conversations on OSU that look specifically at the intersection of race and sexual violence in North America and in the North American Mennonite church.” Scarsella also mentioned a new focus on providing resources and educational services for individuals and communities seeking to address sexual abuse in their contexts.

Scarsella says Our Stories Untold will also continue encouraging conversation and action regarding sexualized violence in the church and creating space for survivors of sexual abuse to share their experiences through the OSU website.

For a full account of the updated identity and work of OSU, see the “about” page on the website.

Scarsella is a survivor of sexualized violence and has a long history of advocating in the church for those who have experienced sexualized violence and those who are vulnerable to such violence in the future.

She is currently working toward a PhD in theology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, while teaching at Vanderbilt’s Divinity School. Her research focuses on the intersection of theology and trauma with respect to communities of faith. Scarsella holds a Master of Divinity from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and formerly worked as the Co-Coordinator of Mennonite Church USA’s Women in Leadership Project.