On Christian Deconstruction and Social Media

A phrase that’s become popular to describe…well, that’s a problem…it’s a phrase or term that is used to describe many similar things that really aren’t the same thing. So any given conversation about “Deconstruction” could involve hard, academic work in which false information is replaced by true information or it might also be used to

The Church as Other

Eugene Peterson once wrote a kind, personal response to a letter I had written to him, early in my story of being a pastor, and encouraged me to remember that my primary role in this life was to be subversive. I’m here to be other. That the Church and all who make her up are

Gossip, Control and Spiritual Abuse

There are so many stories. Almost every week a new podcast, website or TikTok channel launches that features a person, couple or group of people who have survived an abusive church/leader situation. I don’t think that the abusive system or abusive leadership is new but the opportunity for survivors to share their stories and to

When Church Leadership is Broken, chapter 8

The Bible Study Chapter: What does normal look like? (Links to Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven) There are a pile of memes about our expectation of pastors. They visually describe the qualities we look for in a pastor and usually are intended to reveal the

When Church Leadership is Broken, Chapter 7

Church Leaders Behaving Badly (Links to Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six) What are we supposed to do when a leader or THE leader of your local church or network or denomination behaves badly? In a perfect world this question would seem like a problem that would be so rare and so far removed

When Leadership is Broken, Chapter 6

(this is the book I’ve been writing…) (Links to Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five) The essential quality that can produce healthy leadership or restore healthy leadership when it’s been broken is character. The absence of character in leadership will make a mess of anything and everything else we might attempt. When character is present

When Church Leadership is Broken, chapter 5

(Links to Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four) CALLING There’s an old joke about a farmer who is feeling unsettled in his work. A church going man, he feels like God has something more planned for his life than what he’s doing. As he prepares for harvesting his soybean fields he prays

When Church Leadership is Broken, chapter 4

(Links to Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three) “The Essential Thing” There are a lot of needful things when it comes to leadership, especially when it’s broken, but there is only one thing that is essential. Over the next three chapters I want to unpack the three qualities that can produce healthy leadership or

When Church Leadership is Broken, chapter 3

(Links to Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two) “Awakening From the Western Dream.” The easiest answer to broken leadership is to blame the bad actors. If we can eliminate all the bad apples, we eliminate our problem. However, once we count all the bad apples we have to consider the orchard might just be toxic. When

When Church Leadership is Broken, chapter 2

“Breaking Leaders” Introduction here, Chapter One here. I had only been following Jesus for a few weeks when I felt called to go into ministry. In the church I was in, at the time I was in it, the starting place for ministry was Bible College. Off I went, with no idea what I was