This episode is coming to you for such a time as this.  With spiritual abuse, abuse of power, and sexual abuse becoming such common news in our time, we have to admit that there are many churches with cultures and systems that are unhealthy and even harmful.  If you are a pastor, a church leader, a congregant or just want to be a part of making a difference in a way that helps others flourish, listen in closely to the research and the harsh reality of what is happening on our watch. There is hope of how to do better, and how to be a part of creating goodness cultures together.   Our guests today are a father and daughter co-author duo who walked through a painful reality at Willow Creek church in Chicago, and that experience led them to want to help others.  

Dr. Scot McKnight is a world-renowned speaker, writer, professor and equipper of the Church. He is a recognized authority on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and the New Testament. His blog, Jesus Creed, is a leading Christian blog. Dr. McKnight’s books include The Jesus Creed, The King Jesus Gospel, The Blue Parakeet, The Real Mary, and Junia is Not Alone.  A sought after speaker, he has been interviewed on several radio and television programs as well as spoken at numerous local churches, conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and around the world. Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese. 

You can find him, along with the other 50.5K followers on twitter at: @scotmcknight 

Laura Barringer is a teacher of primary-grade students. She is the co-author of Sharing God's Love: The Jesus Creed for Children and wrote a teacher lesson and activity guide to accompany the book. She is also co-author of A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing. Laura is a graduate of Wheaton College (IL) and currently resides in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Mark, and three beagles. 

You can find her on twitter at:  @laurambarringer 

Buy their book and highlight it as many times as I did, because A Church Called TOV:  Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, will likely be, outside of the Bible, the most important book you read this year.  Let's be TOV and create TOV systems and TOV churches together so we can all flourish. 

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