Reduced to its simplest form, The Dysfunctional Church maintains that: -The Catholic church is an addict, an institutional addict.
- It's addicted to preserving the male, celibate, clerical model of the church.
- Many Catholics exhibit patterns of classic codependency which reinforce this addiction.
- The result is a dysfunctional church unable to confront a problem many members know is there.

Michael Crosby breaks the silence to talk openly about the abuse of authority in the Catholic church. He does this in a way that offers comfort, hope, and challenge to the frustrated but caring members of its family.

He traces the historical gathering of powers by the hierarchy into its own hands and its ramification for today. Applying the approach that Matthew's Jesus took to the church leaders of his day, Crosby brings the discerning light of scripture into the dark corners of growing addiction.

The Dysfunctional Church is a clear, loving, and unequivocal intervention. The author calls on church leaders and all other codependents in the church to face their addiction and seek recovery through spiritual conversion. Acknowledging that he himself is a recovering codependent, he invites us all to turn to God to fill the "hole" in our wholeness. This involves coming under the authority of a higher power as well as finding support in prophetic communities modeled on the Twelve Steps.

For those who left the church in anger, Crosby's analysis invites compassion; for those who remain in frustration, it offers hope; and for the many who feel condemned to the church's use of authority, if offers a way of recovery.