This episode would not have been possible without the efforts of Dear Vision Baptist and their work documenting the allegations surrounding Vision Baptist Missions. For more info, visit DearVisionBaptist.com. In this episode of the Preacher Boys Podcast, host Eric Skwarczynski provides an update on the sexual abuse allegations against Austin Gardner, founder of Vision Baptist Missions (VBM). To watch the original episode, visit: https://youtu.be/2-3JaMqPYjk He discusses a compilation of Marco Polo videos sent amongst VBM leaders, in which VBM President Jeff Bush expresses concern about the scope of the investigation. The videos also reveal the dismissive tone of VBM leaders, including Pastor Trent Cornwell, towards the abuse allegations directed towards Gardner. The videos raise serious questions about the leadership of VBM. 
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241: Leaked Messages Reveal VBM Scrambling to Control Investigation of Allegations

Join your host, Eric Skwarczynski, as he sits down with brave survivors who are shedding light on decades of physical, mental, and sexual abuse within the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement.

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Purchase a copy of Baptistland: https://amzn.to/3R6MzP2 
 About the Book: It began with just wanting to tell the truth. But truth-telling has a way of snowballing. When Christa Brown first spoke out about the sexual abuse she endured in her Texas childhood church, she never imagined it would expose the ethical chasm at the core of the Southern Baptist Convention: male religious leaders so focused on institutional protection that they sacrifice the safety of children. A book about speaking out and speaking up, Baptistland weaves together Christa’s revealing story of hope amid Southern patriarchy and religious fundamentalism. You’ll meet the young Christa who endures family dysfunction, the trauma of bodily desecration, and the death blows of a gaslighting church and faith community. Then you’ll meet the Christa transformed who finds her voice and rises above the limited expectations of her given culture, becoming a successful attorney and earning the title of advocate for clergy sex abuse survivors. 
 Ultimately, Christa Brown grows into a vivid tree of life, rooted in love, individuality, beauty, and goodness. But it was unrelenting honesty, to herself and others, that guided her to this ordinary paradise. Baptistland speaks to the power of truth-telling—to ourselves, our relationships, and our institutions. 
 ✖️✖️✖️ Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys ✖️✖️✖️ If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help ✖️✖️✖️ CONNECT WITH THE SHOW: preacherboyspodcast.com https://www.youtube.com/@PreacherBoys https://www.facebook.com/preacherboysdoc/ https://twitter.com/preacherboysdoc https://www.instagram.com/preacherboysdoc/ https://www.tiktok.com/@preacherboyspod 
 To connect with a community that shares the Preacher Boys Podcast's mission to expose abuse in the IFB, join the OFFICIAL Preacher Boys Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1403898676438188/ 
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308: Surviving Abuse and Betrayal by the Southern Baptist Convention | Christa Brown

Grab a copy of Cait's book, Rift: https://amzn.to/4dMIoBN 
 Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing and to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be hers. Until she escaped. In her gripping memoir, Rift, Cait West tells a harrowing story of chaos and control hidden beneath the facade of a happy family. Weaving together lyrical meditations on the geology of the places her family lived with her story of spiritual and emotional manipulation as a stay-at-home daughter, Cait creates a stirring portrait of one young woman's growing awareness that she is experiencing abuse. With the ground shifting beneath her feet, Cait mustered the courage to break free from all she had ever known and choose a future of her own. Rift is a story of survival. It's also a story about what happens after you survive. With compassion and clarity, Cait explores the complex legacy of patriarchal religious trauma in her life, including the ways she has also been complicit in systems of oppression. A remarkable literary debut, Rift offers an essential personal perspective on the fraught legacy of purity culture and recent reckonings with abuse in Christian communities. 
 ✖️✖️✖️ Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys ✖️✖️✖️ If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help ✖️✖️✖️ CONNECT WITH THE SHOW: preacherboyspodcast.com https://www.youtube.com/@PreacherBoys https://www.facebook.com/preacherboysdoc/ https://twitter.com/preacherboysdoc https://www.instagram.com/preacherboysdoc/ https://www.tiktok.com/@preacherboyspod 
 To connect with a community that shares the Preacher Boys Podcast's mission to expose abuse in the IFB, join the OFFICIAL Preacher Boys Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1403898676438188/ 
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307: Escaping Christian Patriarchy | Cait West

Joe Nucci is a psychotherapist and writer whose content contextualizes mental health misinformation, pop-psychology facts and fallacies, and culturally misconstrued ideas. Joe’s debut book will be released in 2025.  
 ✖️✖️✖️ Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys ✖️✖️✖️ If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help ✖️✖️✖️ CONNECT WITH THE SHOW: preacherboyspodcast.com https://www.youtube.com/@PreacherBoys https://www.facebook.com/preacherboysdoc/ https://twitter.com/preacherboysdoc https://www.instagram.com/preacherboysdoc/ https://www.tiktok.com/@preacherboyspod 
 To connect with a community that shares the Preacher Boys Podcast's mission to expose abuse in the IFB, join the OFFICIAL Preacher Boys Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1403898676438188/

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306: Avoiding The Cult of Trauma | Joe Nucci

On today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Meg Applegate, the CEO of Unsilenced Project Inc., a non-profit on a mission to stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to promote lasting social change. 
 At the age of 15, Meg was abducted by two strangers in the middle of the night from her California home and was told that “she was coming with them.” 8 hours later, she found herself at a lockdown treatment facility in Boise, Idaho. Then, 6 months later, she found herself in an additional behavioral modification program in northern Montana, where she spent the next 3 years. 
 After graduating college with a degree in psychology, completely oblivious to the abuse she had experienced, Meg spent the next 17 years dedicating her life to serving on various non-profit boards to help them with board development and recruitment and expanding their programs to further their impact. It wasn’t until she was well into her non-profit career that she woke up to the abuse and brainwashing that plagued her childhood and the effect it had on her entire adulthood. It was then that she became determined to pair her love of giving back and helping those in need with her dedication to empowering other survivors of institutional abuse. 
 Meg brings to Unsilenced an extensive background in non-profit management, board development, and fund development. She is currently the Vice President, Trustee, and Managing Director at the Gochnauer Foundation. In addition, she is actively involved with and serves on the Board of Directors at Laura’s House in Aliso Viejo, CA, and The Shea Center in San Juan Capistrano, CA. When she doesn’t find herself fully immersed in new ideas for fundraising and development, Meg loves traveling to see new places with her husband and 4 children. 
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 Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys 
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 If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help 
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305: Surviving the Troubled Teen Industry and Becoming Unsilenced | Meg Applegate

Joe Nucci is a psychotherapist with thousands of hours of experience working with psychological and personal development issues. He specializes in treating anxiety, depression, complex trauma, couples, families, and adult children of dysfunctional families. 
 I wanted to share this 8-minute sneak peek of our full interview – which will be released on May 12, 2024. 
 In this clip, Joe reacts to a clip from megachurch pastor John MacArthur in which he said PTSD, ADHD, and OCD are not real but rather “noble lies.” 
 Joe gives a thoughtful, informed response that should help listeners understand how to deal with mental health misinformation. Please have a listen, and be sure to check out the full episode when it becomes available. 
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 Support the Show: Patreon.com/PreacherBoys 
 ✖️✖️✖️ 
 If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, visit courage365.org/need-help 
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 preacherboyspodcast.com 
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 https://www.tiktok.com/@preacherboyspod 
 To connect with a community that shares the Preacher Boys Podcast's mission to expose abuse in the IFB, join the OFFICIAL Preacher Boys Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1403898676438188/

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241: Leaked Messages Reveal VBM Scrambling to Control Investigation of Allegations

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