I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical podcast.

By Brian McDowell & Troy Waller

Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

What's I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical podcast. about?

Brian and Troy used to be loyal Christian megachurch leaders. They’re not anymore. This podcast explores life after fundamentalism.

https://linktr.ee/iwatf

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I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical podcast. episodes:

04.26.2024
098 - What About Progressive Judaism? with Michel Laloum
In this episode, we explore Progressive/Reformed Judaism with Michel Laloum, Cantor at Temple Beth Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia. He was ordained as a Cantor at the Progressive Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and completed Rabbinic studies...
04.12.2024
097 - What about Progressive Christianity? with Tim Costello
Tim Costello is an Australian social justice advocate, community leader, and a prominent figure in the Christian faith, albeit a progressive form. He is known in Australia for his public commentary on political and ethical matters, often offering a perspective...
03.29.2024
096 - What About Near-Death Experiences? with Dr Eben Alexander
In this episode, we talk with Dr Eben Alexander, an American neurosurgeon and author. In 2008, he suffered a coma caused by a rare and mysterious bacterial meningo-encephalitis of unknown causes. We talk with him about his own near-death experience...
03.19.2024
Bonus: Sexvangelicals - The Sex Ed We Wish We Had: Consent, Part 1 of 2,
We recently stumbled upon a podcast we thought you'd love. Sexvangelicals is a sexual health podcast and education platform with the mission to support relationships in reclaiming sexuality following adverse religious experiences. This is one of their episodes, The Sex...
03.15.2024
095 - What About Progressive Islam? with Ani Zonneveld
We talk with Ani Zonneveld about Progressive Islam and the life she lives as a Progressive Muslim. Ani is a writer, singer/songwriter, and founder & President of Muslims for Progressive Values, an international human rights organization that advocates for social...
03.01.2024
094 - What About Certainty? with Bernard Warnick
In this episode, we talk with writer Bernard Warnick about humanity's obsession with certainty and ask, is certainty attainable? Bernard spent nineteen years as a judge of the trial division and later the Appeal Division of the Family Court of...
02.17.2024
093 -What About the Podcast?
We're back for Season 5! In this episode we review the highlights of Season 4, let you know about the changes we've made and where the podcast is heading in 2024. -- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Doubting your beliefs?...
02.16.2024
093 - What About the Podcast?
We're back for Season 5! In this episode we review the highlights of Season 4 and let you know about the changes we've made and where the podcast is heading in 2024. -- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Doubting your...
02.09.2024
Trailer: I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. Season 5
Brian and Troy used to be loyal Christian megachurch leaders. They’re not anymore. This new season explores life after Fundamentalism. Shortlisted for the 2022 Australian Podcast Awards. Find out more at iwasateenagefundamentalist.com/ and https://linktr.ee/iwatf --- Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about changing or leaving your...
01.26.2024
092 - Hitchhiking with Drunken Nuns with Emily John Garces
Emily John Garcés is an artist, poet, ex-missionary with YWAM, all-round creative enthusiast, and author of the memoir, Hitchhiking with Drunken Nuns. In this final episode of Season 4, we speak with Emily about her life as a YWAM missionary...
01.19.2024
091 - Sin Bravely with Maggie Rowe
Maggie Rowe is an author, writer, director, & producer. Her memoir, Sin Bravely: A Memoir of Spiritual Disobedience, was named to NPR's Best Books of 2017. In this episode, we speak to Maggie about her childhood where she describes being tormented...
01.12.2024
090 - Qanon and On with Van Badham
Van Badham is an Australian playwright, novelist, journalist and activist who writes regularly for the Guardian. In this episode we speak with Van about her 2021 book QAnon and On: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults in...
01.05.2024
(On Hiatus) Leaving My Father’s Faith with Bart Campolo
In 2021 we spoke with Bart Campolo, a secular community builder, counsellor and writer who served as the Humanist Chaplain at the University of Cincinnati. He is the son of Evangelical celebrity preacher and author, Tony Campolo, with whom he...
12.20.2023
(On Hiatus) God Told Me to Marry You
In this flashback to Season 2, Troy and Brian remember how dating and marriage within fundamentalism weren't often egalitarian and were usually controlled by the pastors and leaders. Warning: This episode touches on issues concerning rape and domestic violence. If you...
12.08.2023
(On Hiatus) Leaving Christian Fundamentalism with Dr Josie McSkimming
Continuing our hiatus series, we revisit one of our most downloaded episodes where we talked with Dr Josie McSkimming, author of Leaving Christian Fundamentalism and the Reconstruction of Identity. She shares her own story as a teenage fundamentalist within Sydney Anglicanism...
11.24.2023
092 - (On Hiatus) Did You Ever See a Real Healing or Miracle?
Continuing with our series of hiatus repeat episodes, we revisit our 2021 Season 2 discussion on miracles and healings. Brian and Troy asked, did you ever see a real or verifiable miracle or healing when you were still a Christian? -- Transcript...
11.10.2023
091 - (On Hiatus) Narcissists and Psychopaths in Church
In this hiatus repeat episode, we revisit our 2021 Season 2 discussion on the prevalence of narcissists and psychopaths in Pentecostalism and our experiences with these kinds of people. We asked why the Church attracts these people and if Pentecostalism...
10.27.2023
090 - (On Hiatus) Christian Contemporary Music
In this hiatus repeat episode, we revisit our 2021 Season 2 kick-off where we remembered some our favourite CCM artists, Brian's time as support crew for DC Talk's Australian tour, and a few songs that used to really move us....
10.13.2023
089 - Divorcing Religion with Janice Selbie
We talk with Janice Selbie, a former fundamentalist Evangelical Christian of over 40 years and now a counsellor and specialist in the area of religious trauma. Janice shares her own story and the work she does with others in helping...
09.29.2023
088 - I was a Teenage Christian Nationalist with April Ajoy
We talk with April Ajoy, a well-known viral TikToker, YouTuber and podcaster. She describes herself as a “recovering conservative, humorously detoxing religion.” Raised as a pastor's kid, April was deep in Evangelicalism to the point of working for The 700...
09.15.2023
087 - God Hates Divorce
Brian & Troy take a look at how divorce is presented in the New Testament and how the Church has handled it over the last 2000 years. Our hosts also reflect on their own experience and ask, do Jesus and...
09.01.2023
086 - I was a Teenage Preacher But Now I’m an Atheist with Dan Barker
Dan Barker served as an evangelical Christian preacher and composer for 19 years before leaving Christianity in 1984. He and his wife Annie Laurie Gaylor are the current co-presidents of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and he is co-founder of...
08.18.2023
084 - God is a Narcissist with Catherine Quiring
Catherine Quiring describes herself as a reformed people-pleaser, Exvangelical and an aspiring advocate for anti-oppressive spirituality. She is a licensed Mental Health Counsellor, and Self-Trust Coach. Catherine tells Brian and Troy why she believes the Evangelical god is a narcissist...
08.03.2023
083 - Troy Deals with his Religious Trauma in Singapore (Our Stories Part 31)
Picking up where he left off in Episode 79 - Troy Deals With His Religious Trauma in Korea, Troy journeys to Singapore in search of his next adventure. In this episode, he continues to unsuccessfully park his religious trauma and...
07.20.2023
082 - Cult Hacking with Stephen Mather
After Troy and Brian appeared on Stephen's podcast, Cult Hackers back in 2021, Stephen now brings his expertise to talk about cults from an organisational psychology perspective. He shares how organisational models help us understand cult leadership, coercive control dynamics...
07.06.2023
081 - I was a Published Christian Author with D.L. and Krispin Mayfield
Krispin and D.L. Mayfield are a husband-and-wife team and hosts of the Prophetic Imagination Station. Both were missionaries and published Christian writers who have recently been very public about their deconversion from Christianity. Brian and Troy talk with them about...
06.22.2023
080 - Marc Fennell Wasn’t a Very Good Teenage Fundamentalist (Leaving Part 18)
Marc Fennell is an award-winning Australian journalist and documentary maker who was once a teenage fundamentalist...but he claims he was not a very good one. He has just released a documentary about Australian Pentecostalism called The Kingdom where he confronts...
06.08.2023
079 - Troy Deals with His Religious Trauma in Korea (Our Stories Part 30)
Picking up where he left off in Episode 64 - Troy Story II, Troy left the Church & his Christian marriage and headed off to live & work in South Korea. In this episode, he recounts his largely unsuccessful attempts...
05.25.2023
078 - Oh No, Ross & Carrie Were Teenage Fundamentalists
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...
05.11.2023
Trailer: I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical Podcast.
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...
05.11.2023
077 - I Blew the Whistle on my Dad’s Church with Kit Kennedy (Leaving Part 17)
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...
04.27.2023
076 - Keith Green Arranged My Teenage Marriage (Keith Green Part 2)
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...
04.13.2023
075 - Brian Walks Away from his Marriage...and Jesus (Our Stories Part 29)
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...
03.30.2023
074 - Armageddon Isn’t Coming with Bart Ehrman
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...
03.16.2023
073 - I was a Pentecostal Theologian with Shane Clifton (Progressive Christians Part 5)
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...
03.02.2023
072 - Was Keith Green a Cult Leader? (Keith Green Part 1)
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...
02.16.2023
071 - Fear of Hell (The Afterlife Part 2)
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...
02.02.2023
(REPEAT) - Jobs for the Boys! Nepotism in Megachurches
If there's one thing that characterises megachurches in Australia and around the world, it's nepotism. Brian & Troy cite some tangible examples of nepotism in the Australian Christian Churches and Hillsong, discuss why this needs to change and what members...
01.19.2023
(ON HIATUS) - Elle Hardy and the Pentecostals Who Want to Take Over the World
Elle Hardy is an accomplished Australian journalist who wrote Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is taking over the world. Brian and Troy chat with Elle about how and why she undertook this project and what she discovered about the global...
01.05.2023
(ON HIATUS) - I Left Great Big CCC aka c3
C was in full-time paid ministry at Christian City Church (now known as c3) in the mid to late-90s. In this episode she shares how she joined, the culture of the organisation, and why she eventually walked away. We'll be back...
12.25.2022
070 - Falling Out with a Teenage Fundamentalist
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...
12.22.2022
(ON HIATUS) - Geoff Bullock Leaves Hillsong
In this, the podcast's most downloaded episode to date, Brian and Troy talk with Geoff Bullock, one of the founding pastors of Hills Christian Life Centre, which later became Hillsong. Geoff talks frankly about how and why he left Hillsong...
12.08.2022
069 - Season 3 Q&R Finale
This is it, the end of Season 3! Troy & Brian reflect on 2022 and some of the milestone episodes they released. They also field listener questions from social media and reveal what they have planned for Season 4 in...
11.24.2022
068 - The Graceful Atheist (Leaving Part 16)
David Ames is an American secular humanist who hosts a podcast promoting the idea of 'secular grace' after deconstruction and deconversion. An Assemblies of God Bible College graduate and a former AOG youth leader, David now gives a platform to...
11.17.2022
067 - Cheers to Leaving with Molly & Rachael (Leaving Part 15)
This is a special crossover episode with Molly & Rachael of the Cheers to Leaving Podcast. They are both children of the house church movement, purity culture survivors, ex-Jesus Freaks and now Exvangelical podcast hosts. Join us as we swap...
11.10.2022
066 - Protesting Christian Hierarchies with Dave Andrews (Progressive Christians Part 4)
When journeying through the Progressive Christian scene, Brian was deeply impacted and influenced by Chrisitan Anarchist, Dave Andrews. Dave is particularly interested in radical spirituality, incarnational community and the dynamics of personal and social transformation. He is also the author...
10.27.2022
065 - Heaven Bent Season 3 with Tara Jean Stevens
Tara Jean is the creator and host of one of Troy and Brian's favourite podcasts, Heaven Bent. She has just released Season 3 which is a mix of religious history and true crime. She gives a behind the scenes look at...
10.13.2022
064 - Troy Story II: Leaving My Marriage...and Church (Our Stories Part 28)
Following on from our previous episode, Troy Story, Troy recounts leaving his Christian marriage and his final exit from Church and Evangelicalism. It's a really heavy episode, so be warned. Trigger warning: This episode touches on issues concerning depression and suicide....
09.29.2022
063 - Troy Story: I was an Urban Missionary (Our Stories Part 27)
In this episode, Troy continues to recount his journey away from Pentecostalism. He remembers packing up his church-plant and joining a self-proclaimed post-modern inner-city Church of Christ. --- Transcript of the episode is here. Podcast links: https://linktr.ee/iwatf Email: [email protected] Doubting your beliefs? Have questions about...
09.15.2022
062 - Gay at Great Big AOG with Andrew (Leaving Part 14)
In this episode, Brian & Troy catch up with Andrew, a fellow traveller from their time at Great Big AOG. Andrew recounts his struggles being deep in the closet at church and how he later came to accept his sexuality...

What's I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical podcast. about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical podcast. episodes:

098 - What About Progressive Judaism? with Michel Laloum

097 - What about Progressive Christianity? with Tim Costello

096 - What About Near-Death Experiences? with Dr Eben Alexander

Bonus: Sexvangelicals - The Sex Ed We Wish We Had: Consent, Part 1 of 2,

095 - What About Progressive Islam? with Ani Zonneveld

094 - What About Certainty? with Bernard Warnick

093 -What About the Podcast?

093 - What About the Podcast?

Trailer: I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. Season 5

092 - Hitchhiking with Drunken Nuns with Emily John Garces

091 - Sin Bravely with Maggie Rowe

090 - Qanon and On with Van Badham

(On Hiatus) Leaving My Father’s Faith with Bart Campolo

(On Hiatus) God Told Me to Marry You

(On Hiatus) Leaving Christian Fundamentalism with Dr Josie McSkimming

092 - (On Hiatus) Did You Ever See a Real Healing or Miracle?

091 - (On Hiatus) Narcissists and Psychopaths in Church

090 - (On Hiatus) Christian Contemporary Music

089 - Divorcing Religion with Janice Selbie

088 - I was a Teenage Christian Nationalist with April Ajoy

087 - God Hates Divorce

086 - I was a Teenage Preacher But Now I’m an Atheist with Dan Barker

084 - God is a Narcissist with Catherine Quiring

083 - Troy Deals with his Religious Trauma in Singapore (Our Stories Part 31)

082 - Cult Hacking with Stephen Mather

081 - I was a Published Christian Author with D.L. and Krispin Mayfield

080 - Marc Fennell Wasn’t a Very Good Teenage Fundamentalist (Leaving Part 18)

079 - Troy Deals with His Religious Trauma in Korea (Our Stories Part 30)

078 - Oh No, Ross & Carrie Were Teenage Fundamentalists

Trailer: I was a Teenage Fundamentalist. An Exvangelical Podcast.

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

076 - Keith Green Arranged My Teenage Marriage (Keith Green Part 2)

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

074 - Armageddon Isn’t Coming with Bart Ehrman

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

072 - Was Keith Green a Cult Leader? (Keith Green Part 1)

071 - Fear of Hell (The Afterlife Part 2)

(REPEAT) - Jobs for the Boys! Nepotism in Megachurches

(ON HIATUS) - Elle Hardy and the Pentecostals Who Want to Take Over the World

(ON HIATUS) - I Left Great Big CCC aka c3

070 - Falling Out with a Teenage Fundamentalist

(ON HIATUS) - Geoff Bullock Leaves Hillsong

069 - Season 3 Q&R Finale

068 - The Graceful Atheist (Leaving Part 16)

067 - Cheers to Leaving with Molly & Rachael (Leaving Part 15)

066 - Protesting Christian Hierarchies with Dave Andrews (Progressive Christians Part 4)

065 - Heaven Bent Season 3 with Tara Jean Stevens

064 - Troy Story II: Leaving My Marriage...and Church (Our Stories Part 28)

063 - Troy Story: I was an Urban Missionary (Our Stories Part 27)

062 - Gay at Great Big AOG with Andrew (Leaving Part 14)

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