What happens when you invite a vocal critic onto onto the podcast?! Well, we’re about to find out! In this episode of the Church Disrupted Podcast, we invited a vocal social media critic to join the conversation and discuss how to build healthy churches. And not only is this guest a critic, he's a pastor! Yet, once we invited him to join the podcast, things took a really positive turn. When I checked this pastor and his church out online, what I found was a surprisingly healthy looking church! They are doing a lot of things right, and they seem to be the kind of church we wish there was more of. So, by the time we got to the actual podcast conversation, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised! In this episode, we are joined by Pastor and leader TJ Mauldin. We discuss everything from our disagreements online and the need to address spiritual abuse in the church, to creating healthy church environments and radical financial transparency. This was an honest, transparent, and extremely helpful conversation. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! THANK YOU to our podcast partner, the East TN Mentorship Association! Find out more information about what they do or connect with them at https://earnyoursanctuary.com/ . TELL THEM WE SENT YOU for a special rate that is ONLY for Church Disrupted Podcast listeners. Find out MORE about our podcast partners here: https://www.disrupted.church/sponsors. Want to support Church Disrupted financially? https://www.disrupted.church/give Find out more about the Church Disrupted Podcast at https://www.disrupted.church/. Please Subscribe and Share! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction 08:46 The Tension Between Critiquing the Church and Loving the Church 36:07 Low Control, High Accountability 47:26 Building People Up and Adding Value 56:36 Controversy and Conversation: Teleprompters and Sermon Scripts 01:14:29 Growing People for the Kingdom 01:26:37 Approaching Nepotism and Hiring Staff 01:37:18 Congregational Leadership 01:49:15 Addressing the Cycle of Abuse 01:58:30 Cultivating Intentional Relational Environments