By Lindsay, Meg & Sarai
Lindsay, Meg, Sarai & friends - a bunch of former church kids who came of age in 80s and 90s American Evangelicalism - are Holy Ghosting. In each episode, we share our youthful experiences
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The podcast currently has 61 episodes available.
Welcome, Ghosties! This episode, "It's Good To Feel Good," brings the amazing duo of Julia and Jeremiah from the Sexvangelicals podcast to talk with Meg & Sarai about the journey from sexual repression to liberation, shedding light on how purity culture has shaped our views on intimacy and desire. We get INTO IT today, sharing personal stories and things we've learned about reclaiming bodily autonomy, exploring pleasures beyond shame, and challenging conventional norms like monogamy.
Sexual liberation and healing from trauma are not just topics; they’re pathways to deeper self-discovery and healthier relationships. Whether you're navigating these waters yourself or just curious about the conversation, there’s something in this episode for everyone.
Find the Sexvangelicals, Julia & Jeremiah, at Sexvangelicals.com
Have you ever known some hetero Christian married couple who were together a real long time and then one of them is like, “oops, I’m gay!” and they break up? A lot of us have known folks in this position. And we also remember the fallout and the “prayer chain” (read: gossip train) buzz when these woes befell our brethren.
By the way, is there such a thing as “sisthren?” or “siblingthren?” There should be. We digress.
Long story short, this podcast is hosted by a sisthren of “oops, I’m gay!” women in their 40’s. Lindsay, Meg, and Sarai have all experienced different journeys in discovering, accepting, and embracing their queerness. In this episode, our Holy Ghosting triumvirate share the ways their paths wound from compulsory heteronormativity toward full awareness of their unique sexualities.
In this episode topics include feeling like imposters, finding acceptance and love in the LGBTQIA2S+++ community, and navigating the aftermath of a lifetime of mandatory sexual repression.
Content Warning: welp. These broads definitely talk a lot about LGBTQIA2s+ history including discussion of internalized homophobia, general homophobia as disseminated by the evangelical right wing from the 80’s until…um, right now, and honestly, the hosts are wont to talk about sexual trauma kind of a lot. Listen with care, and if it’s not an episode that feels good to you, take a beat and take good care of your beautiful human self.
Just when you thought your hellacious heroines, Lindsay, Meg & Sarai, couldn't possibly have more to say about YWAM, BAM! A fourth episode! This time, the call is coming from inside the house, so to speak, because Ghosties like you are sharing their YWAM experiences.
Hang out with us as your Ghostie compatriots get brave and tell us the wild tales from their days traveling the world on God's dime. You'll have all the feelings there are to feel.
Before you listen, know there are some contents that may be disturbing to some people. Content Warnings: sexual assault, animal cruelty, religious trauma, attempts to colonize the world for Jesus or something
Ahoy, Ghosties! Set sail with us on the turbulent waters of YWAM's Mercy Ships as Karen Alea, from the Deconversion Therapy podcast, joins us for a deep-sea adventure into religious deconstruction. From the highs of missionary zeal to the lows of financial strain and the choppy waves of communal living, Karen shares her journey of finding land after leaving the evangelical archipelago.
In this episode:
Grab your life vests and join our crew as we explore how to keep your head above water in the sea of spiritual uncertainty.
👻 Support the Journey: Like what you hear? Show your support by subscribing, sharing this episode, and dropping us a review. Every bit helps us keep the conversation flowing and the community growing.
Find Karen on the Deconversion Therapy Podcast
In this episode, Karen shared about a 10-step prayer ritual she had to go through every time she prayed. The same person who came up with the Plumb Line made this gem. Enjoy!
Protect your peace: CW: Suicide, Depression, dark thoughts, religious ocd
Anna Gazmarian shares her spiritual and mental health journey with Lindsay and Meg.
Get Anna's book, out now! Devout: A Memoir of Doubt
Meg opens up about her experiences in YWAM. You don't want to miss this episode in our Youth With A Mission series.
In this episode, we dive into the not-so-wonderful world of Youth With a Mission, aka YWAM. We chat with our pal (and Lindsay’s sister), D.L. Mayfield about the history and horrors of the cult-like organization that began with one white guy's vision of young people sweeping the globe for Jesus. (Totally not creepy, right?)
Fast forward a few decades and YWAM is one of the largest missions organizations on the planet, with 1100 locations in 180+ countries and over 18,000 (unpaid!) staff.
It should come as no surprise to our listeners that YWAM is super problematic.. We get into all the cultiest aspects of this organization - from their Discipleship Training School to the forced trauma bonding that they call “Plumbline”. YWAM’s entire model is recruiting young people - before their prefrontal cortexes are fully formed - and they make it VERY hard to leave. If you do manage to escape the cult of YWAM, chances are you’ll be left with zero real-life skills with a side of religious trauma.
We’ll be back in a few weeks with a part 2 where we hear from friends and listeners about their about their firsthand encounters with YWAM. (Spoiler alert: the reviews aren't exactly glowing.)
Links
-Check out DL and Krispin Mayfield’s brand new project, Strong Willed (all about recovering from religious authoritarian parenting) -
-DL Mayfield on Instagram - @d_l_mayfield
-Tiktok - @dlmayfield
In our latest episode we jump into the turbulent waters of gendered messages and purity culture with a critical eye on the Christian advice book, 'For Young Women Only'—or as we like to call it, “How to NOT Cause a Guy to Stumble.” Published in the early 2000s, this book perpetuates harmful beliefs about gender, sexuality, and the role of women in the church, echoing through youth groups and beyond.
We dissect the enforced performance of masculinity, the unjust objectification of women's bodies, and the dangerous overlap of rape and purity cultures that unjustly places blame on women. Our discussion goes deeper, challenging the control exerted over thoughts and visuals, the male gaze, and the relentless standards set by modesty teachings and visual temptations, all underscored by eyebrow-raising survey results from teenage boys.
This episode is an unflinching conversation about the impacts of sexual assault and harassment, underscoring the urgent need for autonomy, consent education, and a seismic shift in attitudes toward women's bodies and choices.
Get ready, Ghosties, to break free from the shackles of high-control religion. It's time to unravel the mess, advocate for bodily autonomy, and maybe, just maybe, start healing.
What happens when a homeschooled horse girl feels “god put Africa on her heart?” Well. It could be a lot of things. In fact, your own fave Ghostie Hostie, Lindsay, was exactly this kind of girlie. And yet! Just as two paths diverge in a yellow wood, so do our choices take us to different places. Lindsay, for one, went on a medical mission to Uganda, wore scrubs, and - shockingly - didn’t perform a single medical intervention that would require training, certification, or licensure.
For Renee Bach, the white missionary who is the subject of Savior Complex an HBO Original Documentary Series, she chose a path (hopefully) less taken and went full speed ahead providing services that were way beyond her training and competency - with dire results.
Join your thrilling throuple, Lindsay, Meg, and Sarai, as they discuss the second half of the Max docuseries, Savior Complex.
Listen to Part One of our Recap Here
They get down and dirty into the accusations surrounding Renee as No White Saviors picks up momentum online, talk a whole load of shit about Renee’s doting mother, Laurie Bach, and wrestle with the centering of white voices and behaviors that are rife within this story (including ours!)
While it’s useful, at times, to wrap our minds around something by defaulting to narratives with good guys and bad guys (or…good homeschool horse girls vs bad ones?), real life is much more complicated than all that. What we end up with is a very gray story with a lot of problematic white women centering themselves in it. Which you can hear more of while your ghostie hosts do a little of that too, hopefully in a helpful way.
Just when you think you’ve had your fill of problematic white women, Renee Bach comes along. Look, your Murder of MILFs (hey! It stands for “Mom I’d Like to Friend,” get your head out of the gutter!) watched “Savior Complex,” a documentary detailing the ascent of a young missionary, Renee Bach and Serving His Children, the organization she founded and operated in Uganda. At the wise and totally reasonable age of 19, she discovered she had “a heart for Africa” and was called by God.
What started out as a feeding program rapidly mushroomed into an unlicensed medical clinic. Renee herself, homeschooled horse girl with no medical training or credentials took it upon herself to conduct medical procedures on malnourished children with disastrous results.
We watched this horror so you don’t have to! The docu-series is on HBO Max and is 3 episodes in total - in this episode, we tackle the first episode and part of the second. (Part 2 will be out soon!)
Know this: you’re going to need to gird your loins (or ears), because the conversation includes extremely ill and malnourished children, infant and child death, white supremacy, and Renée’s mom, Laurie Bach, who might be the biggest trigger of all…
The podcast currently has 61 episodes available.
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