Let's Talk About Sects

Gloriavale Christian Community is recognised around New Zealand for the distinctive dress of its members, especially the women, who wear headscarves to denote submission to men, and a neck-to-ankle garment designed by the group’s Australian founder, Neville Cooper. Some say the community represents a pious life set up around ideals of sharing everything, but others say the way it’s set up is breeding predators.

Guests: Hannah Harrison, Liz Gregory

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Gloriavale Christian Community — official website, accessed March 2021
• Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust — official website, accessed March 2021
• The Christian Church Community Trust Charities Services Investigation — 22 December 2016, supplied under the Official Information Act to Newsroom and published 28 March 2017
• Lilia Tarawa — official website, accessed March 2021
• Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale? — by Brad Flahive, Stuff, 15 May 2018
• Gloriavale: A World Apart — directed by Amanda Evans, 2016
• Gloriavale: The Return — directed by Amanda Evans, 2018
• Gloriavale leavers describe fear, oppression in community — Logan Church, Checkpoint, RNZ, 14 November 2019

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Gloriavale Christian Community has found itself in the New Zealand media headlines on multiple occasions. Its founder was once jailed for sexual abuse, but community members were convinced that it he was jailed for preaching the gospel. Followers claim that their way of life is all about the common good and nobody having more than anyone else. Former members say their time there was dominated by endless work and an overriding sense of fear.

Guests: Hannah Harrison, Liz Gregory

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Gloriavale Christian Community — official website, accessed March 2021
• Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust — official website, accessed March 2021
• The Christian Church Community Trust Charities Services Investigation — 22 December 2016, supplied under the Official Information Act to Newsroom and published 28 March 2017
• Lilia Tarawa — official website, accessed March 2021
• Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale? — by Brad Flahive, Stuff, 15 May 2018
• Gloriavale: A World Apart — directed by Amanda Evans, 2016
• Gloriavale: The Return — directed by Amanda Evans, 2018
• Gloriavale leavers describe fear, oppression in community — Logan Church, Checkpoint, RNZ, 14 November 2019

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Violet Pryor told her followers that she was God. They gave up their money and possessions to keep her in comfort. David Ayliffe became one of her key Pillars, a right-hand man. After her death, he became the leader of the cult she had created in Sydney, Australia – the Zion Full Salvation Ministry.

Guest: David Ayliffe

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• My Brother’s Eyes — by David & John Ayliffe, John Garratt Publishing, 2009
• David Ayliffe’s website — with links to the audiobook of My Brother’s Eyes
• The development of, and opposition to, Healing Ministries in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, with special reference to the Healing Ministry at St Andrew’s Cathedral 1960-2010 — by Paul Francis Egan, PhD thesis for Macquarie University, 2012
• Full Salvation Fellowship — Peter and Verlie Hobson’s website, accessed February 2021
• Omegaman Internet Radio Station — accessed February 2021
• Violet Dorothy Pryor — gravesite listing, Kangaroo Valley Cemetery
• Wedding Bells: Wills-Pryor — Sunshine Advocate, 25 February 1944
• Violet Dorothy Wills — Victorian marriage listing with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, accessed February 2021

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As he was about to turn 17, Remy Attig was keen to get away from his parents’ fracturing marriage, and ready for something to give his life purpose. The Master’s Commission program seemed like just the thing to set him up for a life of travel and spreading the word of God. Instead, it ran him ragged, instilled fear, built on his internalised homophobia, and set him up for unhealthy relationships and trust issues. In hindsight, he believes that the Master’s Commission was a cult.

Guest: Remy Attig

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Master’s Commission International Network (MCIN) — official website
• Athletes International Ministry — official website
• Phoenix Megachurch Hosting Trump Rally Says It Has Special Coronavirus-Killing Air System — by Ray Stern, Phoenix New Times, 22 June 2020
• AG Warns Phoenix Megachurch and Air-System Firm About Fraudulent COVID Statements — by Ray Stern, Phoenix New Times, 26 June 2020
• Without a Vision, You Perish — Trivita profile of Larry Kerychuck, unknown date
• Lloyd Zeigler — Jim Bakker Show profile, accessed January 2021
• Statement of Fundamental Truths — Assemblies of God
• My Cult Life — blog by Lisa Kerr, archived January 2014

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lindy Jacomb was born into the Exclusive Brethren in Auckland, New Zealand, and was told there was no longer a place for her there in 2008. Her family cut off all communication with her and she was forced to start a new life at the age of 20, without any of the people she knew and loved.

Guests: Lindy Jacomb and Michael Bachelard

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Behind the Exclusive Brethren — by Michael Bachelard, Scribe Publications, 2008
• Separation from Evil - God's Principle of Unity — by John Nelson Darby, 1853
• BIG JIM TAYLOR, LEADER OF SECT — James Taylor Jnr. obituary, The New York Times, 17 October 1970
• "The Aberdeen Incident" July, 1970 — a compilation of material including a transcription of the Aberdeen Tapes, from the 25 July 1970 meeting following the incident
• The closed-door church: Inside the secretive and strict Plymouth Brethren sect in Manitoba — by Bill Redekop, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 2014
• Howard defends meeting the Exclusive Brethren — by Peta Donald, PM, ABC Radio National, 22 August 2007
• OneSchool Global NSW Enrollment Policy — accessed December 2020
• OneSchool Global — official website, accessed December 2020

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lindy Jacomb was born into the Exclusive Brethren in Auckland, New Zealand, and was told there was no longer a place for her there in 2008. Her family cut off all communication with her and she was forced to start a new life at the age of 20, without any of the people she knew and loved.

Guests: Lindy Jacomb and Michael Bachelard

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Behind the Exclusive Brethren — by Michael Bachelard, Scribe Publications, 2008
• Separation from Evil - God's Principle of Unity — by John Nelson Darby, 1853
• BIG JIM TAYLOR, LEADER OF SECT — James Taylor Jnr. obituary, The New York Times, 17 October 1970
• "The Aberdeen Incident" July, 1970 — a compilation of material including a transcription of the Aberdeen Tapes, from the 25 July 1970 meeting following the incident
• The closed-door church: Inside the secretive and strict Plymouth Brethren sect in Manitoba — by Bill Redekop, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 2014
• Howard defends meeting the Exclusive Brethren — by Peta Donald, PM, ABC Radio National, 22 August 2007
• OneSchool Global NSW Enrollment Policy — accessed December 2020
• OneSchool Global — official website, accessed December 2020

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a disaffected youth, Shannon Bundock was drawn to progressive ideas. In her late teens she moved into the city, to a poor neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada, where she became hyper aware of the inequality all around her. The activists who were trying to do something about this in the early 2000s ignited her passion for radical politics. At 19, Shannon was ready to dedicate herself wholeheartedly to doing her part to change the world for the better. Five and a half years later, she’d find herself flat broke and unable to make life decisions about the simplest things, like what to wear.

Guest: Shannon Bundock

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• That revolution thing? My bad — by Erin Millar, Maclean’s, 12 March 2008
• No Fire No Time — Ivan Drury’s blog archive of materials around his and other ex-members’ experiences in FTT, accessed November 2020
• Cuba Solidarity in Canada: Five Decades of People-to-People Foreign Relations — edited by Nino Pagliccia, FriesenPress, 2 December 2014
• Battle of Ideas Press website — accessed November 2020
• Fire This Time website — accessed November 2020, including Derrick O’Keefe’s private emails still online
• “The Movement,” Mullahs and Liberal Muddleheads: From MAWO to Revolutionary Marxism — by Andrew Malieni, Spartacist Canada, No. 152, Spring 2007

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natasha Tiku wrote for Gawker in 2013, “Everyone is interested in doing fun things with their bodies. But the impulse to systematize, replicate, package, sell, and build an ideology around it is uniquely Silicon Valley.” She was writing about an organisation that was monetising the female orgasm. And they weren’t the only ones doing so.

Guests: Christine Talbott Acosta, Ruwan Meepagala, Sasha Nelson

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. For sexual assault resources in Australia, visit www.1800respect.org.au, and in the USA, visit www.rainn.org.

Links:

• The Pleasure Principle — by Patricia Leigh Brown and Carol Pogash, New York Times, 13 March 2009
• Lafayette Morehouse — official website, accessed October 2020
• Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. The Chronicle Publishing Co., No. A067522. — 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46, California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 5, 9 August 1995
• Sgt. Bilko Meets The New Culture — by Robin Green, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1971
• Inside The Purple People House, The Freaky, Stand-Offish Sex Cult In Northern California — by Anna Lindwasser, Ranker, 7 November 2018
• The Truth about RJ Testerman — Christine...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natasha Tiku wrote for Gawker in 2013, “Everyone is interested in doing fun things with their bodies. But the impulse to systematize, replicate, package, sell, and build an ideology around it is uniquely Silicon Valley.” She was writing about an organisation that was monetising the female orgasm. And they weren’t the only ones doing so.

Guests: Christine Talbott Acosta, Ruwan Meepagala, Sasha Nelson

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. For sexual assault resources in Australia, visit www.1800respect.org.au, and in the USA, visit www.rainn.org.

Links:

• The Pleasure Principle — by Patricia Leigh Brown and Carol Pogash, New York Times, 13 March 2009
• Lafayette Morehouse — official website, accessed October 2020
• Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. The Chronicle Publishing Co., No. A067522. — 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46, California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 5, 9 August 1995
• Sgt. Bilko Meets The New Culture — by Robin Green, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1971
• Inside The Purple People House, The Freaky, Stand-Offish Sex Cult In Northern California — by Anna Lindwasser, Ranker, 7 November 2018

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura McConnell was born into a fundamentalist Christian sect that claims it has no name. Former member Elizabeth Coleman told Nathan Jolly for news.com.au earlier this year that, “It is of utmost importance to them that they do not have an official name or headquarters or centrally identifiable presence anywhere on earth.”

From his investigative reporting in 2013, journalist Chris Johnston estimated there were 20,000 members in Australia, and hundreds of thousands around the world. Sometimes referred to as The Truth, the Two by Twos, or the Friends and Workers, the sect has seen multiple leaders face accusations of child sexual abuse, some of which are currently in court. Laura and many former members believe that this highly secretive group should certainly be considered a cult.

Special Guests: Laura McConnell, Chris Johnston

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Wings for Truth — support site for sexual assault survivors of the Two by Twos
• Laura McConnell’s website — including various blog posts and Links & Articles Related to The Truth Sect
• Friends and enemies, truth and lies — by Chris Johnston, The Age, 23 September 2013
• Secrets, lies and sex abuse as ex-sect leader chooses life on the inside — by Chris Johnston, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2014
• The Truth Church: Inside the nameless church cult where TV and dancing are "the devil's work" — by Amy Clark, Mamamia,...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.