The Catch with John Fischer

John Schenk has spent 14 years in print journalism followed by 29 years with World Vision International in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Afghanistan and Pakistan in Central Asia as a writer, photographer, video shooter, narrator and teacher. His specialties include journalism, human trafficking, vulnerable children and Islam.

Terry Scott Taylor is an American songwriter, record producer, writer and founding member of the bands Daniel Amos and the Swirling Eddies. Taylor is also a member of the roots and alternative music group, Lost Dogs. Taylor is highly regarded for his songwriting skills. These often include allusions to and reworkings of material ranging from Elizabethan poets to modern authors like C.S. Lewis and Frederick Buechner. He is currently based in Vancouver, Washington.

Dr. Ruth Williams has been an esteemed thought leader and advocate in ophthalmology for over three decades. She has been described as an inspired, optimistic and forward-thinking leader with the highest of integrity. Dr. Williams has served as president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, expanded Young Ophthalmologist programming and advocated for increased representation of young ophthalmologists, a strategy for developing new leadership that is now modeled by ophthalmology organizations globally, and she is currently the Chief Medical Editor of EyeNet Magazine. Dr. Williams leverages her speaking to intertwine clinical medicine and the evidence-base with philosophy, culture, trends, and possibilities for the future of clinical care. She has given invited and named lectures at medical conferences and academic departments around the world.

Bryan Burton is Senior Pastor at Hope Community Church Lakeland, Florida, and an Affiliate professor at Fuller Seminary. Brian is a thinking Christian who has studied at Fuller, Princeton, Bethel Seminary and Regent College. He is involved in mission work around the world and its helping his congregation figure out how to live as hope-filled Christians in the midst of a pandemic. We will discuss the state of the church in America.

Susan Burton is a leader in the criminal justice reform movement, founder of A New Way of Life, and outspoken voice to end mass incarceration. Following the tragic accidental death of her five-year-old son, Susan’s world collapsed. Her loss snapped the final tether of resilience burdened by a past of pain and trauma. She descended into an emotional abyss of darkness and despair, but living in South Los Angeles, Susan didn’t have access to the resources she needed to heal. Without support, she turned to drugs and alcohol, which led to nearly 20 years revolving in and out of prison.

Drawing on her personal experiences, she founded A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL) in 1998, dedicating her life to helping other women break the cycle of incarceration. ANWOL provides resources such as housing, case management, employment, legal services, leadership development and community organizing on behalf of, and with, people who struggle to rebuild their lives after incarceration.

Harold M. Best is Emeritus Dean of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. He is also a past president of the National Association of Schools of Music. He is the author of numerous articles on the relationship of Christianity to the fine arts, worship, issues in arts education, culture, and curriculum. His book Music Through the Eyes of Faith was published by Harper San Francisco in 1993. Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts was released by InterVarsity Press in 2003. He also contributed to Exploring the Worship Spectrum, published by InterVarsity in 2004. His latest book, Dumbfounded Praying, published by Wipf and Stock, was released in January, 2011. In his retirement years he continues to stay active writing and speaking.

A native of Dallas, Lauren has worked representing indigent defendants in the federal criminal justice system since 2014. She served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Dallas from 2014 until 2019. In June of 2019, she left the Defender's office to go into private practice. She feels like her vocational calling is to love and walk with individuals caught up in the criminal justice system, give them zealous representation, and to tell their stories in the hopes that people will see that they are more than just the worst thing they've ever done.

Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE) -- the largest family-owned theme park corporation in the United States that Peter Herschend co-founded along with his brother, Jack -- includes a number of theme parks in the Southeastern United States including Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri; Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; and Stone Mountain in Atlanta. In all these venues, employees are treated as family, and the company cares for the whole person, giving each one respect as an individual. Story after story, including an “Undercover Boss” CBS Television episode starring then-CEO of HFE, Joe Manby, shows how the spiritually-fed values of a company apply to everyone on board from what many would consider the least to the greatest.  There is no distinction.

Mark is founder of Canterbury Partners, an integrated purpose-driven organizational strategy, culture-building, and talent development firm. For 25 years, Mark has served as an organizational strategy, branding, change management consultant, and purpose-driven coach for a host of different corporate and ministry environments. Join us in this interview where we talk specifically about dealing with trauma in our lives and in our culture.

Tommy Coomes has been in the forefront of Christian music since its inception in 1970 during the Jesus movement. He was part of the legendary group, Love Song, and went on to produce music, write and record, lead his own worship band that hosted Promise Keepers events and Franklin Graham crusades worldwide, and he's been a record company executive. Tommy has an inside and outside perspective on what is right and wrong with the Christian music industry. His perspective is necessary and we are privileged to be able hear it in this interview.