045 - Matthew Paul Turner | The God We Give Kids Shouldn’t Have To Be Recovered From

On today’s episode, Meghan and Cortland chat with New York Times Bestselling Children’s book author Matthew Paul Turner. In this interview Matthew shares his story of growing up in fundamentalism, discovering Sandi Patty, and starting down the slippery slope of Contemporary Christian Music. Matthew spent years working as a writer in the CCM world as well as writing several Christian books. As his faith expanded he began pushing back against the fundamentalism he grew up in advocating for a more inclusive faith. After finding an audience among the progressive faith community Matthew began writing Children’s books. We know our listeners will appreciate hearing stories behind his children’s book that are LGBTQ+ inclusive and create space for wonder and divinity unlike the messages so many of us received in church as kids. In 2020, after years as an ally and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community Matthew publicly came out as gay. Since coming out, Matthew and his incredibly supportive ex-wife Jessica have been a shining example of how families can support each other and embrace authenticity as they discover and embrace their truths together. Please take a minute to check out his website and pre-order his book, I Am God’s Dream, that comes out this month! Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @HeyMPT and Instagram @MatthewPaulTurner. We start the episode with our usual #twitbits segment, but If you want to skip straight to the interview, jump to 23:10. As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media. Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan