Worldwide

Church hurt, women’s roles in ministry, and pastor worship are all topics that we discuss with Pastor Dave on this week’s episode. Dave grew up in a legalistic, authoritarian church that preached you had to earn your salvation by works. Today, he’s a non-denominational pastor at the Life Church in Texas that preaches salvation by grace.  Learn why, unlike a lot of our guests who gave up on religion after leaving the Worldwide Church of God, Dave went the opposite route, attending seminary and then later becoming a pastor.  Learn, too, how his time in a high-demand religious group informs the way he ministers today. You can reach out to Dave at [email protected].

Worldwide: The Unchosen Church is hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins; sound design and editing is done by Thirteen Media; and music is licensed by SoundStripe.

Instagram @worldwidepod
Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11
Email: [email protected]

If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can visitwww.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod and tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so that you and others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to say thank you for the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you.

LaNisa Frederick is a comedic actress with credits in The Goldbergs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Young Sheldon. In this episode, she describes what it was like to be raised in a high demand group with one parent in the church and one outside of it and why cults are not just a white people thing. LaNisa also talks about her efforts to develop a single-cam television comedy called Church Candy based on her experiences growing up in the Worldwide Church of God.

If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to appreciate the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you. You can support us at: www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Instagram @worldwidepod
Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11
Email: [email protected]

Bobby Fischer was the Muhammad Ali of chess. He became the youngest person to ever win the US chess championship at the age of 14 and the only American-born player to ever win the World Chess Championship. But after defeating the Soviet Boris Spassky in 1972, Bobby Fischer never played another professional match for over twenty years. Instead, he became a recluse, preferring privacy over prize money.  Not much is known about Bobby’s life after his 1972 win, but this episode premieres newly discovered tapes of Fischer, discussing his time in the Worldwide Church of God – the doomsday apocalyptic cult this series is devoted to.

In these tapes, which were made in Dec 1976 and Jan 1977,  Bobby discusses his views on god, sex, and chess and, especially,  how he came to resent Herbert W. Armstrong and his son Garner Ted, the church’s leaders.  These tapes provide a riveting snapshot of Bobby’s mental state during the time when he had essentially disappeared from public view and has great crossover appeal between those interested in cults and those interested in chess. The original tapes were about 5 hours long, and the best highlights are featured in this 30+ minute episode, which also features commentary from David Edmonds, co-author of Bobby Fischer Goes to War.

I would like to extend a special thank you to David Edmonds, Bill Hughes, and Dixon Cartwright for their commentary in this episode, and to Hughes and Margaret and Len Zola for speaking to me on background about these tapes.

If you would like to read the Ambassador Report interview with Bobby that is mentioned in this episode online, you can check it out here: https://hwarmstrong.com/ambassador.report/ambassador/ar2.html

If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to appreciate the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you. You can support us at: www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Instagram @worldwidepod
Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11
Email: [email protected]

In 2022, Armstrongism isn't dead. It's alive and well, and in Wadsworth, Ohio, it's on steroids. Meet The Restored Church of God, headed by new cult leader Dave Pack. In this explosive episode, we talk with Kevin Denee, Pack's son-in-law and a former high-ranking member in the RCG who left the church in 2016. He talks publicly for the first time about Pack's church, ready to blow the whistle on its nefarious nature. You definitely don't want to miss this one!

While this podcast is a labor of love, if you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, we would gladly accept  a coffee or beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Instagram @worldwidepod
Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11
Email: [email protected]

DJ Grothe is the former host of the Point of Inquiry and For Good Reason podcasts and the past president of the James Randi Educational Foundation.  While he has interviewed hundreds of skeptic and scientific leaders, he rarely tells his own story of how he attended a little Bible college in the piney woods of East Texas, called Ambassador University.  In this episode, I sit down to ask DJ why he joined the Worldwide Church of God - a biblical cult - when he was 14 years old - the same year that he came out as gay and the same year he started getting into magic. We also talk about how his background in magic and a magazine housed in Ambassador University's library helped to lead him out of the doomsday apocalyptic cult he had once joined, and why today, he says he's grateful for the entire experience.

While this podcast is a labor of love, if you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, we would gladly accept  a coffee or beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Instagram @worldwidepod
Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11
Email: [email protected]

In this brief bonus interview, we're joined by American religion scholar Dr. J. Gordon Melton.  

In this episode, we talk with Heather, Dawn and Lisa about how the expectations set for women by the WCG and its offshoots affected their future careers, marriages, parenting, and relationship to sex. An honest and authentic look at how conservative churches often affect women, this show is not to be missed. 

While this podcast is a labor of love, if you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, we would gladly accept  a coffee or beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Instagram @worldwidepod
Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11
Email: [email protected]

A special thanks to these women for contributing to this episode.

A special  message  for our listeners. 

Glynn Washington is a highly successful podcaster, hosting shows such as Snap Judgment, Spooked and Heaven’s Gate. But I bet you didn’t know that his storytelling style is highly influenced by cult leader, Herbert W. Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God. How did Glynn end up in this cult?  What did he take from Armstrong? And what was it like to be in a black family that joined a “white supremacist Jesus cult?” Glynn Washington takes us through the answers to these questions on episode three of Worldwide: The Unchosen Church. 

If you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can help us continue to host it on Buzzsprout by "buying  us a beer". It's  super easy:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Special thanks to Glynn Washington for his participation in this episode. Glynn is the host of his own podcast Snap Judgment, which can be found on Apple podcasts, or wherever podcasts are hosted.

What is it like to watch your three-year-old sister succumb to leukemia, while your family relies on prayer, rather than doctors, to save her? How does being raised by an authoritarian father, who is also a minister in an authoritarian church, add to that trauma? And how might those experiences connect to your being sentenced to both the death penalty and a life sentence as an adult in a Thai prison?  Jesse Moskel answers these questions in episode two of Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, offering listeners a tough but uplifting look at the costs of high demand religious groups and the power of perspective and perseverance in our most dire days. 

 If you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, feel free to buy us a beer. It's  super easy:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

Special thanks to Jesse Moskel for his participation in this episode.