A Church Called Tov
Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing
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4.3 • 13 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
“Scot and Laura do an amazing job of teaching us what a good church looks like.” —Beth Moore
What is the way forward for the church?
Tragically, in recent years, Christians have gotten used to revelations of abuses of many kinds in our most respected churches—from Willow Creek to Harvest, from Southern Baptist pastors to Sovereign Grace churches. Respected author and theologian Scot McKnight and former Willow Creek member Laura Barringer wrote this book to paint a pathway forward for the church.
We need a better way. The sad truth is that churches of all shapes and sizes are susceptible to abuses of power, sexual abuse, and spiritual abuse. Abuses occur most frequently when Christians neglect to create a culture that resists abuse and promotes healing, safety, and spiritual growth.
How do we keep these devastating events from repeating themselves? We need a map to get us from where we are today to where we ought to be as the body of Christ. That map is in a mysterious and beautiful little Hebrew word in Scripture that we translate “good,” the word tov.
In this book, McKnight and Barringer explore the concept of tov—unpacking its richness and how it can help Christians and churches rise up to fulfill their true calling as imitators of Jesus.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this powerful work, father-daughter team McKnight (The Jesus Creed) and Barringer use their experiences with misconduct by a pastor at their local church as a springboard to explore how toxic church cultures develop and persist, and how to nurture healthier congregations. The authors describe attending Willow Creek Community Church and the allegations of sexual harassment against pastor Bill Hybels in 2018, and they argue that a celebrity culture around a pastor (like the one around Hybels) is the single most dangerous sign of a toxic culture within a church, followed by loyalty to an institution rather than to fellow congregants. To protect against these tendencies, the authors recommend congregations seek to nurture empathy, grace, truth-telling, justice, service, and imitation of Jesus, as well as resisting top-down initiatives and "institutional creep" by making one's church service-oriented. The authors also suggest building empathy by using church services to tell the stories of marginalized people in the Bible, as well as in church and local history. Their vision of a church based on empathy, confession, and repentance provides a pathway for those seeking to create a more welcoming congregation. Churchgoers and aspiring church leaders will find much wisdom here.
Customer Reviews
Was hoping for more depth, less simplicity
Has some interesting points but is simplistic in its analysis and lacks any real depth on solutions. The book seems to belittle the complexity of leadership, responsibility and decision making. For instance it is easy to say more / complete transparency is the answer, but what happens when transparency to benefit a victim hurts innocent people in near proximity like kids? I was hoping for a bit more. Some good nuggets but fewer and farther between.