CHURCH HURTS AND?
In pain, I pushed back. “But Dad, the church stuff really hurts and I’m not ready for all of that again. I mean, church hurts!”
His response was very clear and powerful:
“And?”
I want to help challenge, inspire, and encourage you in your life as we discover what comes after "And?"
Dr. John Bash
I come to this work through my own pain and struggles with the church and my spirituality. In 2015, my 29-year-old son dove off a boat into the Colorado River, hit a sandbar, and became a Quadriplegic. What do you do when you're in trouble? Call Dad.
Johnny went through surgery and rehabilitation and began to accept his new life in a wheelchair. I drank. It wasn't as if I hadn't struggled in my life before, but this one was it. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have the Bible and a life of prayer to back me up, but I drank. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have friends and encouragers, but I drank.
Eighteen months later, I decided to learn from Johnny. I called Dad. Actually, I think He called me, but I answered. My Heavenly Father said, “You’ve had enough to drink and I’m not done with you yet.”
If you've been hurt by the church, it's tough to live a spiritually engaged life. That's why we created Church Hurts And, a podcast that shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about church, religion, and spirituality, with a dash of recovery thrown in. Once you get real about your own story, you're free to engage the vibrant spiritual life you were created to live.
CONSULTING
In both the profit and non-profit world, I have consulted in leadership, fundraising, and strategic planning for the past twenty years. In addition to consulting, I work with Standing Stone Shepherds, serving as a shepherd to shepherds.
EDUCATION AND EARLY WORK
I have a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as a Master of Divinity Degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. My bachelors degree is in Philosophy from Westminster College. I have planted three churches, including Covenant Presbyterian Church of Chicago in downtown Chicago and Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown, Maryland. In the 1990s, I served as a teaching pastor for a Southern California megachurch. After college, I followed my call to church work as a Youth and Singles Director in Key Biscayne.
FAMILY
I have three beautiful grown children, Johnny, Kaitlyn, and Tim.
Johnny was always a guy on wheels, whether it be a skateboard, roller hockey, scooters, motorcycles, trucks, or cars. One dive off a boat into a sandbar landed him on wheels in a way no one expected. A C-6 Quadriplegic, Johnny thrives as a designer of amazing homes and Airbnbs, most often with his puppy Ava at his side.
Kaitlyn is the baby and manipulated Dad from day one. As a child, the “bright and morning star” led around her two older brothers and drove everyone nuts until she discovered drugs as a teenager. After six years of struggle, her recovery story is inspiring. Now she thrives as a new mom, wife, and recovery specialist in San Clemente, California. Her husband Lindsey helped bring perfect granddaughter Cooper into the world, and he spends his days developing and managing Recovery Centers and Sober Living homes for addicts.
Tim came to the Bash family as a sixteen year old from the Juvenile Services department in Maryland, when John was building a church there and Kaitlyn was just a year old. He kept his clothes in a trash bag for a year, never daring to unpack, wondering when he would be passed on to another family. Eventually, he unpacked. Johnny and Kait never remember life without their older brother. Tim is a mortgage banker in Orange County, California with two amazing teenage boys, Robby and Blake.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
about Church, Religion and Spirituality,
with a dash of recovery thrown in.