I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical podcast.

Latest Episodes:

078 - Oh No, Ross & Carrie Were Teenage Fundamentalists May 25, 2023

Show notes

Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy have a hugely popular podcast where they join religions, undergo alternative medical treatments, and hunt for ghost, goblins, demons, and deities...so you don't have to! If it has an extraordinary claim attached to it, they'll check it out and report on it. In this episode, Brian and Troy talk with them about their teenage fundamentalism and what they have discovered about some of the wild claims of Christianity and other religions.

You can connect with Ross and Carrie through their website: ohnopodcast.com and their podcast: Oh No, Ross and Carrie.

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

Trailer: I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical Podcast. May 11, 2023

Show notes

Brian and Troy used to be loyal Christian megachurch leaders. They’re not anymore. This honest and often hilarious podcast peeks behind the curtain at the weird, the worrying, and sometimes traumatic world of Evangelicals & Pentecostals.

Shortlisted for the 2022 Australian Podcast Awards.

Find out more at iwasateenagefundamentalist.com/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

077 - I Blew the Whistle on my Dad’s Church with Kit Kennedy (Leaving Part 17) May 11, 2023

Show notes

Clare Heath-McIvor is an exvangelical blogger and podcaster who has been operating under the pseudonym 'Kit Kennedy' since a dramatic and shunning-esque exit from her pastor father's church in 2016. In 2022, she and her ex-husband (a gay conversion therapy survivor) became whistleblowers for a 60 Minutes Australia political and religious expose on her father's City Builders Church and its tactics in Australian conservative politics.

Trigger warning: This episode touches on issues concerning depression and suicide. If you are in Australia and require support, please reach out to 1800RESPECT by phone or online at www.1800respect.org.au/ or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

You can connect with Clare at www.unchurchablepodcast.com. If you want to explore her whistleblowing story, then see the links below:

60 Minutes Australia - Praying For Power: Caring church or crazy cult
The Age Newspaper #1 - Liberal Party Candidate Agent for Ultra-Conservative Church, Family Says
#2 - Speaking in Tongues, Exorcisms and Control: Life in City Builders
#3 - Inside City Builders, the Pentecostal Sect with Lofty Political Goals
#4 - Ultra-Conservative Candidate won’t sit in the party room if elected
#5 - Shame on you: Liberal Party figure caught using fake 007 pics and fake identity for dirty tricks

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

076 - Keith Green Arranged My Teenage Marriage (Keith Green Part 2) Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

Following on from Episode 072 Was Keith Green a Cult Leader?, we interview Sharon Madere. She was 'led to the Lord' by Keith and experienced the 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' experience with Keith in the 1970s. She lived at the Last Days Ministries commune in California and later in Texas in the 1980s. In this episode, Sharon tells her stories and claims Keith Green arranged her teenage marriage to Martin Bennett, one of the three elders of LDM.

Correction: In this episode, Sharon says she remained with LDM until 1985. She wishes to correct this and state she stayed with LDM until early-1987.

You can find their podcast here: Feet of Clay—Confessions of the Cult Sisters and follow Tracey & Sharon on Instagram.

Melody Green's biography of Keith Green and memoir of life at Last Days Ministry, No Compromise is available here.

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

075 - Brian Walks Away from his Marriage...and Jesus (Our Stories Part 29) Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Following on from Episode 53 - The Cairns Christ, Brian recounts the breakdown of his marriage and the end of his faith in Jesus. Ladies and gentlemen, Brian has left the building.

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

074 - Armageddon Isn’t Coming with Bart Ehrman Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

No one had as profound an impact on Troy's deconstruction as Dr Bart D. Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An expert on the New Testament and the history of Early Christianity, he has written or edited thirty books, numerous scholarly articles, and dozens of book reviews. Six of his books have been on the New York Times Bestseller list. Brian and Troy talk to Bart about his own teenage fundamentalism and his upcoming book, Armageddon: What the Bible really says about the end. In this conversation, Bart delves into the most misunderstood—and possibly the most dangerous—book of the Bible, Revelation.

You can connect with Bart via his blog: The Bart Ehrman Blog, his website: Bart D. Ehrman, and his podcast: Misquoting Jesus.

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

073 - I was a Pentecostal Theologian with Shane Clifton (Progressive Christians Part 5) Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

Shane Clifton taught Theology and Ethics at one of Australia's leading Pentecostal Bible Colleges from 1999 to 2018. During this time Shane had an accident that left him with a C5 spinal cord injury (quadriplegia) which radically altered his life and his faith. After a lengthy and traumatic fight over academic freedom and his support for LGBTQI+ inclusion in the church, he left the college and his Pentecostal denomination. Shane is today an honorary associate at the Centre for Research Development and Policy at the University of Sydney and Director, Policy with the Australian Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation against People with Disability.

You can connect with Shane via his blog: Shane Clifton – Riding the current.

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

072 - Was Keith Green a Cult Leader? (Keith Green Part 1) Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

Keith Green was one of CCM’s most revered and loved music superstars of the 1970s and 80s. Spoiler alert! Tracey Phalen thinks he was a cult leader! She was a member of Keith and Melody Green's Last Days Ministries in the 1980s. She joined as a teenage fundamentalist and left after five years of living and serving on the Texas ranch. In this episode, Tracey shares her story and helps Brian and Troy deconstruct Keith Green and Last Days Ministries.

You can find their podcast here: Feet of Clay—Confessions of the Cult Sisters and follow Tracey & Sharon on Instagram.

Melody Green's biography of Keith Green and memoir of life at Last Days Ministry, No Compromise is available here.

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

071 - Fear of Hell (The Afterlife Part 2) Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

In this first episode of Season 4, Brian & Troy unpack some of the most problematic and ridiculous aspects of the doctrine of eternal torment, aka Hell. They also give some suggestions on how to overcome your fear of Hell.

The resources suggested in this episode are:

Christian

Post-Christian

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.

070 - Falling Out with a Teenage Fundamentalist Dec 25, 2022

Show notes

Elgen Strait is the host of Falling Out, a podcast about and for people who grew-up in, and later left, abusive cults. Elgen was born and raised in the Unification Church, a.k.a. the Moonies. Elgen invited Troy & Brian on to his special Christmas episode, where they swapped stories and examined the similarities and differences between the Pentes and the Moonies. They also talked about how both groups celebrate Christmas and some of the wackier beliefs.

You can find Elgen's podcast here: https://pod.link/1550448436

---

Transcript of the episode is here.

Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf

Email: hhandhillsong@gmail.com

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone and Recovering from Religion is here to help. Please visit: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

---

We're now on video on YouTube here.

Want more? Check out our exclusive Patreon episodes here.

Our blog is here.

Join the conversation and connect with others here.

The transcript of this episode is here.

All our other links are here.

Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your faith? You are not alone, and Recovering from Religion is here to help.