Living Out Freedom Conference

September 12th-13th, 2025

Joined by the Wilderness at the Smokies Resort

What is the Living Out Freedom Conference?

What does “Living out freedom” after spiritual abuse look like? It sounds nice, incredible actually…like an iced cold glass of water on a blistering hot Texas day, but how do we do it? How do we move from trauma responses to calm minds? How do we go from an intense fear of the faith to approaching it with curiosity? How do we transition from distrust and disgust of community to a rich life of imperfect yet trusted relationships?

Introducing: The Living Out Freedom Conference.

We can start here.

We can continue on from here.

We can learn prevention here.

We can come alongside others here.

There can be so much grieving, disentangling, healing, and rebuilding ahead of us. We can face so much resistance, so much pushback that dismisses us, blames us, silences us. But there’s a growing presence in the world that is getting stronger, as we root our feet into the ground and change the narrative by getting to know ourselves and our God for real. And these changes, change everything.

It changes our lives.

It changes lives in the next generation.

And it takes the power away from wolves.

So if you’re a survivor of spiritual abuse,

or you’re an advocate for those who have suffered.

If you’ve been on this journey for decades,

or you’re desiring to prevent potential harm.

Let’s take another step in the direction of Living Out Freedom.

Why is beEmboldened creating a conference?

Since beEmboldened was founded in 2020, it has been deeply encouraging to see an increasing number of resources popping up within the context of spiritual abuse throughout the United States and beyond.

As we’ve had the privilege to engage with various support options, we’ve noticed an empty space that we’re hoping to fill: a space for empathy and strengthening in both trauma and in knowledge of the Christian faith. An intersection of the two:

Who is God, really, and how can we know?
How does the Holy Spirit interact with us?
How do I read my Bible…when I’ve been beaten over the head with it?
Is there room for mental health in Christianity?
Can doctrine be right, but the approach be wrong, and if so, can I be upset about it?
Where on God’s green earth is there a healthy church and what does that even look like?
What’s up with all this forgiveness stuff, because I’m still suffocating over here?

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We have experienced trauma and we need to talk about how that affects our bodies, our lives, and our relationships. We also need to talk about the big questions we tend to have about God and the Christian faith.

These practical and important questions typically are not being asked from the place of a clean slate. Instead that slate has oftentimes been shattered and we find ourselves staring at the shards in our skin wondering how to move in any direction without bleeding out.

So, we want to talk about both. We want to provide a place to engage with these questions, coming from an educated lens on spiritual abuse. Because spiritual abuse changes these questions…they sound like the same questions as maybe a new Christian or an Atheist-seeker, but they’re not. These questions are loaded now. They’re pain-filled. And they matter in a new way, a deep way, sometimes a desperate way.

The Living Out Freedom Conference is for these questions, posed from this background. Whether you’re a survivor yourself, you love someone who has suffered, you’re a leader desiring to come alongside others, or you want to prevent spiritual abuse: this event has been designed for you.

Paul Copan (Ph.D., Philosophy, Marquette University) is a Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author. He is currently a professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University (Florida) and holds the endowed Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics. He is author or editor of nearly 50 books, including the very popular, strong-selling book Is God a Moral Monster? as well as its companion volume, the award-winning Is God a Vindictive Bully? Paul is married to Jacqueline, and they have six children.

Topics:

Reconciling the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New and How to Read Your Bible After it’s been Weaponized Against You

Dr. Paul Copan

A former atheist who came to faith, Mary Jo Sharp has experienced two worlds of American culture: growing up in the postmodern Pacific Northwest and then adulthood in the evangelical culture of the Southern Bible Belt. She first encountered apologetics in her own spiritual search while seeking answers, eventually becoming a professor of apologetics. Mary Jo is now the founder and director of Confident Christianity Apologetics Ministry. She has been featured in Christianity Today’s cover story “The Unexpected Defenders” and is an international author and speaker. Mary Jo's most recent written work is, Why I Still Believe: A former atheist's reckoning with the bad reputation Christians give a good God.

Topics:

Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy, and Orthopathy

Mary Jo Sharp

Naomi is the daughter of a pseudo-Christian cult leader. She was raised, yet hidden, within mainstream culture and public school education, where no one knew—or the few with a sense of something, stayed silent. She did not know this was the case until she was 28, from which point she has sought after truth with a questioning mind, adamant to never find herself so lost again.

Naomi holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University at Buffalo and is a licensed mental health professional in the state of Colorado. She also holds a Master of Arts in Christian Studies from Denver Seminary. Her areas of speciality include grief and loss, spiritual abuse, including cult abuse, as well as biblical and theological studies.

Topics:

TBD

Naomi Wright

Holly Pivec is a blogger, author, and speaker, as well as a pastor’s wife and homeschooling mom. She has a master’s degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University, where she also served as university editor for nearly a decade.

She has coauthored four books with Doug Geivett about the New Apostolic Reformation, including her two most recent: Reckless Christianity and Counterfeit Kingdom.

Topics:

The Holy Spirit: Disentangling Truth from Lies Part 1

Holly Pivec

Doug is a husband, father to two grown children, professor, author, and speaker. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy from USC and teaches at Biola University and Talbot School of Theology. Doug has written or edited several books and spoken on issues related to the New Apostolic Reformation, Christian apologetics, and the Christian life to audiences all over the world.

Topics:

The Holy Spirit: Disentangling Truth from Lies Part 2

Dr. Doug Geivett

Teasi Cannon is an author, speaker mentor, and lifelong learner who is passionate about helping others cultivate a sound and enduring devotion to Jesus. She holds a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Middle Tennessee State University School of

Education and Behavioral Science, an M.A. in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty Theological Seminary, and a certificate in Christian Apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary. She is a client mentor and board member with BeEmboldened, a non-profit that provides support in the prevention of and healing from harmful religious experiences.

Teasi lives south of Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and best friend Bill. They have three amazing children who all grew up far too quickly, a wonderful son- and daughter-in-love, and the most precious grandchildren the world has ever seen.For more about Teasi and her books, check out her website at www.teasicannon.com.

Topics:

How to Safeguard Against Revictimization

Teasi Cannon

Alisa Childers is the author of the bestselling book, Another Gospel?, in which she describes the years-long journey she took as she wrestled with questions that struck at the core of the Christian faith and found the truth. Her new book is called The Deconstruction of Christianity, which analyzes and responds to the growing Deconstruction movement.

She is a wife, mom, author, podcaster, and speaker. She was a member of the award-winning CCM recording group ZOEgirl. She hosts The Alisa Childers podcast, and the Unshaken Faith Podcast. Alisa’s story was featured in the documentary, American Gospel: Christ Crucified. You can connect with Alisa online at alisachilders.com.

Topics:

Live Your truth and Other Lies