Pivot: The Priorities, Practices, and Powers That Can Transform Your Church Into A Tov Culture - Special Release Day Episode - Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer
Sep 19, 2023
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Scot McKnight, a New Testament scholar, and Laura Barringer discuss their new book "Pivot" which focuses on transforming toxic church cultures into good ones. They address common questions about culture transformation and provide practical tools to evaluate and initiate change. The podcast explores the motivation behind the book, its impact on people's experiences, the writing process, and the importance of confronting toxicity and cultivating goodness in churches.
Assessing the current culture is crucial for identifying toxic traits and laying the foundation for change.
Building a coalition within the church through collaborative decision-making is key for genuine transformation.
Deep dives
Importance of Assessing Cultural Issues
A key point in the podcast episode is the importance of assessing the current culture in order to identify toxic traits and areas for transformation. The hosts discuss the creation of a tool called the TOVE Pool, which allows organizations to evaluate and understand their culture more clearly. This assessment helps lay the foundation for initiating change and implementing the concepts discussed in the book.
Identifying Toxic Elements in Church Culture
The podcast highlights the significance of identifying the invisible and below-surface toxic elements that can drive church culture. Drawing from the ideas of Edgar Shine, the hosts use the analogy of a peach tree to illustrate these toxic traits, such as competition, success measured by numbers, and abusive power. The hosts emphasize the need for leaders to honestly confront and address these toxic elements in order to create a culture of goodness.
The Role of Building a Coalition for Transformation
Another key insight from the podcast centers around the importance of building a coalition within the church for transformation. The hosts highlight the need for collaborative decision-making that involves the stakeholders in the church, rather than a top-down authoritative approach. By involving everyone and giving them ownership of the vision, churches can work towards genuine transformation. The hosts discuss the idea of spending time listening, understanding people's desires, and forming strategies that facilitate this collaborative process.
In this special release day episode, Cody Matchett interviews Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer on their new book, Pivot.
After the release of their groundbreaking book, A Church Called Tov, which recorded the stories of abuse and toxic church cultures at some of the most prominent churches in the United States, New Testament scholar and blogger for Christianity Today Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer heard from a flood of people who had experienced similar instances of abuse. After all they’ve seen and heard, they still believe it’s possible for church cultures to be transformed from toxic to tov—from oppressive to good.
In Pivot, Scot and Laura help churches to implement practices,establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that form goodness cultures. Readers will find answers to the four most common questions people have about culture transformation:
How can I transform the culture in my church or organization to make it tov?
I believe my workplace has unhealthy values. How do I initiate change?
How do I unleash a culture of goodness in my ministry?
I’m not in a position of church leadership. What are some red flags that indicate a toxic culture, and what can I do if I see them?
Pivot also includes the following practical features:
The “Tov tool,” a survey to help you discern your organization’s culture and to promote spiritual conversations
A “getting to work” section at the end of each chapter with questions and next steps for application
Transformation is never easy. But for the sake of the next generation, we must do it.
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