Thank you for taking the time to visit our website and learn more about me and my passion. Here is a little of my story…

Read a long article about Scott's history and the National Center for Biblical Parenting HERE.

Who Are You?
My name is Scott Turansky. I'm 53 years old and I live in the town of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, just between Trenton and Princeton. I began working with parents when I directed a preschool in the early 80s. I saw that many parents lacked skills that would help them be most effective with their kids.

On Safari with my son Ben on a recent trip to Africa

As a pastor I was a student of the Bible. As a parent and preschool director I was a student of children and their parents. It wasn't long before I developed a love for helping parents and using the scriptures to do so.

Carrie and Scott

My Family
I met my wife Carrie in the mid-1970s and we were married in 1978. Carrie is a very creative person as seen in her art, cooking, and the way she makes our house a home. She is an author women's inspirational fiction with several books published. You can learn more about her at www.carrieturansky.com.

Hudson and Hayden, two of our grandchildren, are a treasure.

Carrie and I have five children. Josh is married to Melinda and they have three children, Hudson, Hayden, and Hanale. Josh is the director of operations at Calvary Chapel University and they live in Southern California.

I went on rounds with Melissa at the hospital in Sudan.

Melissa is married to Peter and they lived in Southern Sudan for several months of 2010 as missionaries at a hospital in Akot. Then they went to Haiti to help with the cholera epidemic with Samaritan's Purse. Melissa is a nurse and Peter is a leader/manager.

I was part of Ben's promotion to sergeant.

Ben works for the US State Department, currently stationed in Africa. Megan and Elizabeth are living at home and working full time, both as pet groomers.

Personal Passions
I love my family and enjoy communicating with them via twitter, facebook, cell phone, Skype, and personal visits wherever they are in the world.

Watching people grow in Christ is a highlight of pastoring.

I also love my church, Calvary Chapel Mercer County, where I am a pastor. Working with parents has always been a fascination of mine. I enjoy counseling with families several times a week, writing books that will help parents apply God's principles to practical problems they face every day, and teaching parenting seminars around the country. I also enjoy birding and studying leadership in its various forms.

My Approach
Since I'm in the scriptures every week I'm often getting new ideas of ways to help parents with their kids. In particular Joanne Miller and I have developed what we call a heart-based approach to parenting.

I find that most parents use a behavior modification approach that often misses the hearts of the kids. So, my goal is to communicate heart-based practical strategies to parents that are more effective to maximize their parenting.

Behavior modification basically says to kids, "If you do what I say you can have what you want." That whole approach appeals to the selfishness in kids. Unfortunately it usually backfires on parents when their kids say things like, "What am I going to get if I do what you say?" or "What's in it for me?"

All children are unique and every child needs training. In fact, I regularly tell parents that "your child needs therapy and you're the best therapist for your child if you have a good plan. I can help you develop a specific plan tailored to your child."

I enjoy helping parents with specific strategies for their unique parenting situation.

Education and Professional Background
I graduated from Portland State University with a BA in Speech Communication. I then went to Western Conservative Baptist Seminary where I received two masters degrees, one in Divinity and the other in Theology. While there I took every Bible course twice so that I could learn from different teachers. I also took 30 hours of Greek and 33 hours of Hebrew so that I could understand the Bible's original languages.

I then went to Fuller Theological Seminary where I received my Doctor of Ministry degree in Organizational Management and Strategic Planning. I use many of the skills I learned in that program as I try to help parents develop strategies for heart change in their children.

I've been a pastor since 1980. My first church was in Mililani, Hawaii, pastoring with my father for 8 years. He helped me learn to teach the Bible verse by verse and look for practical applications to apply the scriptures to people's lives.

Ed, Joanne, Carrie, and I enjoyed a cruise in the Caribbean last year.

In 1988, Carrie and I moved our family to Lawrenceville, New Jersey where I began pastoring a church with three other men, one of whom was my good friend Ed, Miller. We are still great friends today. While ministering there I met Ed's wife Joanne. Our families grew close and we have shared vacations and life experiences for over 20 years. Ed, Joanne, Carrie, and I still go on vacation together every year.

Future Plans Hopes and Dreams
I have a lot of goals and dreams for my life. As I look at the next five years here are a few of the things I'm working on or will be working on.

1 • Along with my wife, continue to be involved in the lives of my children and grandchildren.
2 • Continuing to develop Calvary Chapel, a multi-campus church.
3 • Write a series of books across developmental stages, each one with a different co-author. The books are for parenting infants, toddlers, preschoolers, early elementary, preteen, early teen, late teen, and then launching. I have co-authors working on all those books except the preteen one at this point and expect the books to be completed in 2011 with publication dates in 2012.
4 • Continue to teach live parenting seminars around the country. In 2010 Joanne Miller and I spoke in 42 churches all over the US and we've now trained over 80 presenters to also teach live parenting seminars.
5 • Develop Biblical Parenting University. The first class is done, eleven more to go.
6 • Start the Christian School Initiative with Christian school principal Rick Martin to provide Christian Schools solutions for the classroom that complement what parents can do at home.
7 • Continue to counsel families via webinars so that others can listen to me develop individualized parenting plans for specific parents.
8 • Write a new book on the 10 Traits of a Successful Family.
9 • Get my book, Be Free, a biblical understanding of the conscience published and out for people to use for their own personal spiritual enrichment. This is my first non-parenting book although I've written a lot of material on the conscience for the family as well.

May God richly bless you and your family!