Nancy serves as a leadership coach with the Slingshot Group and on the teaching team at Soul City Church in downtown Chicago. Previously, Nancy served as the programming director at Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago. She is also the author of An Hour on Sunday and Gifted to Lead. Nancy and her husband Warren have two adult daughters, Samantha and Johanna. Samantha is a writer and performer, and an associate pastor at a church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Samantha's creative work has appeared in theatres, churches, and non-profit spaces. She has taught at Northwestern's National High School Institute and Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, where she is the co-education director with her husband, Will. They are the authors of the new book Next Sunday: An Honest Dialogue About the Future of the Church **** you can get 30% off their book by clicking the link above and using the code MUCHMORE Code valid until 10/26/22 **** Take a few minutes to meditate on Acts 2:42-47. This passage gives us details about how the first church community lived and worshipped together. And then listen in to this conversation where we unpack the spiritual discipline of the Church and why it matters to our faith journey. Some highlights from our conversation: We talk about what why they wrote the book. And we hear from Samantha’s perspective what it was like writing a book with her mom. We discuss why the spiritual practice of engaging with a church community is different than other practices. And why is it critical in forming us as followers of Jesus. We talk about what threatens the church today – and what our role is in helping curb this threat. We talk about the brave and hard decision Nancy made to call our abusive behavior at her previous church, Willow Creek Community Church. And we also get to hear Samantha’s perspective on how that impacted her faith journey and her relationship with the Church. We talk about being a woman in ministry and how the abuses that are rising to the surface regularly could create a knee-jerk reaction to women serving in the church. Finally, we talk about being hurt by the church and what some next steps could be for those who have been wounded. You can follow Nancy on Twitter: @NancyLBeach You can follow Samantha on Twitter: @BeachSamantha Or visit her website at
https://www.samanthabeach.work/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.