Episode Details

Nobody in ministry wants to talk about power. We talk about humility instead. But ignoring your power doesn't make it go away. It just makes it dangerous.

In this episode of the Church Staff Book Club, Jonathan Malm and Jason Young dig into Chapter 8 of The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero: "Acknowledging Power and Boundaries." Jonathan calls it his favorite chapter in the book and possibly the one that explains more of what goes wrong in churches than any other.

🎧 What We Cover in This Episode:

• Why "unexamined power becomes harmful power" and what to do about it
• The 6 sources of power every church leader carries (whether they know it or not)
• Why the Me Too movement is really a story about unacknowledged power
• How megachurch pastoral abuse happens and why it's not just a megachurch problem
• The blurry lines between pastor, friend, boss, and discipler and why they matter
• Why pastors are so lonely (and why it's actually structural)
• What healthy boundaries actually look like in church staff relationships
• Why "no" is a complete sentence and why ministry leaders can't seem to say it

📖 We're Reading: The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero Follow along chapter by chapter with us each week!

💬 Key Quotes from This Episode:
"We don't talk about power because it feels dirty. We talk about humility because it feels clean."
"Unexamined power becomes harmful power."
"Every yes and no has a cost."

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