Holy Ghosting

Hi Ghosties! What's your summer been like? Ours were wild! Your hosts, Lindsay, Meg and Sarai start this episode by sharing our summer experiences, personal growth and big news about the podcast. AND THEN!!!! Ekkk! We celebrate Amy Grant. We talk about her legacy and her influence on our lives, discussing our favorite album art, our desert island song and the controversies surrounding her divorce. We get into the scandal and the redemption of our favorite crossover pop star on the newest episode of Holy Ghosting

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.

• From Repression to Expression: Join us as we navigate the choppy waters of deconstructing religious beliefs around sex. Our guests share their transformative journeys from sexual repression to embracing full, joyful expression.
• Shedding the Shame: We'll unravel the threads of shame and outdated gender scripts that high control religions often weave around our desires and relationships.
• Rediscovering Pleasure: Discover how therapies like sensate focus can help us explore touch and intimacy without the pressure of performance, paving the way for a healthier connection with our bodies.
• Challenging Norms: Why is monogamy the default? We’re discussing how expanding perspectives on relationships can lead to a more fulfilling sexual life.
• Embodiment and Healing: We wrap up with powerful insights on embodying pleasure, the therapeutic power of yoga, and making our bodies a safe haven for our souls.

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:

• 🌍 Travel Bugs and Belonging: Karen dives into why YWAM's promise of adventure lured her in.
• 💸 Financial Storms: Unpack the dicey ethics of fundraising in missionary work.
• 🙏 Deconstruction Lifelines: How humor can be your life jacket when navigating the heavy currents of faith questioning.

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.