I was a Teenage Fundamentalist

As Pentecostals, both B&T crossed paths with sexual predators in church. This episode recalls those meetings and also some of the scandals that have plagued Pentecostalism in recent years.

The articles mentioned in this episode are:

• Findings released into Australian Christian Churches and affiliated Pentecostal churches
• Royal Commission sex abuse inquiry censures Hillsong head Brian Houston
• Assemblies of God leaders alleged to have abused children
• Hillsong leader Brian Houston was charged over the concealment of alleged child sex offences

Warning: This episode touches on issues concerning rape, sexual abuse and the sexual abuse of minors. If you are in Australia and require support, please reach out to 1800RESPECT by phone or online at www.1800respect.org.au/ or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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As you might have guessed, dating and marriage within Fundamentalism wasn't often egalitarian and was usually controlled by the pastors and leaders. 

Warning: This episode touches on issues concerning rape and domestic violence. If you are in Australia and require support, please reach out to Rape and Domestic Violence Services via: https://www.rape-dvservices.org.au/ or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Dr Josie McSkimming, author of Leaving Christian Fundamentalism and the Reconstruction of Identity, shares her own story as a teenage fundamentalist within Sydney Anglicanism and her ongoing clinical work with those leaving Fundamentalist Christianity. To contact Josie, please visit her website: https://mcskimming.com.au/ 

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Did B&T ever see a real and verifiable miracle while in the Pentecostal scene? Listen in to find out.

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B&T discuss the prevalence of narcissists and psychopaths in Pentecostalism and their experiences with these kinds of people. They also ask why the church attracts these people and if Pentecostalism helps to create them.

Warning: This episode touches on issues concerning psychological abuse. If you are in Australia and require support, please reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14.

The articles mentioned in todays episodes:

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• 7 Characteristics of the Modern Psychopath

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Tara Jean Stevens, the host of the amazing Heaven Bent podcast shares her own history as a teenage fundamentalist and some of the backstories behind her two podcast seasons on the Toronto Blessing and Bethel Church.

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We kick-off Season 2 by remembering our favourite CCM artists and a few songs. We invite you to clap along at home.
The links to the songs mentioned in this episode are:

• Living in Laodicea - https://youtu.be/g_8Pas8qoWc 
• Asleep in the Light - https://youtu.be/7XeEL0mRBHo 
• Creed - https://youtu.be/jy4JA5uStB0 
• Maranooka - https://youtu.be/7f-JdFPazMo 

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In this extended episode, B&T take questions from podcast listeners and reflect on Season 1.

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B&T talk about how they saw the the supposed Son of God as Pentecostals, and their 'relationship' with this first-century Jew.

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Ultimately, fundamentalist Christianity really centres around God. In this episode, B&T look back on how they saw God as good Pentecostals.

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B&T have ‘a word’ for you as they share their stories around the use of prophecy in their time as Pentecostals.

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"Take your partner by the hand, speak in tongues and understand."  - Debbie Harry

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It isn't enough to be a Teenage Fundamentalist yourself, Pentecostals are expected to bring others into the fold. In this episode, B&T remember their times as evangelists and short-term missionaries. 

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B&T remember their time believing the unique claims of the Faith Movement/ prosperity gospel (Spoiler Alert: it didn’t deliver and it messed them up a bit).

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In part three of this special three-part episode, we interview former AOG evangelist/pastor and now #GayAmbassador, Anthony Venn-Brown.  

TRIGGER WARNING: If you find that some of the material in this episode disturbing, we encourage you to talk with a close friend who will understand or contact your local help/crisis/support telephone line. 

• Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ 
• Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ 
• LGBT https://qlife.org.au/ 

“A Life of Unlearning – a preacher’s struggle with his homosexuality” is available at all online booksellers. Reviews, endorsements, readers’ comments here: www.ALifeOfUnlearning.com 

Resources and further information about Anthony and his organisation Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International are here:

• www.abbi.org.au
• https://www.facebook.com/abbi.org.au,
• https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvennbrown
• Twitter: @gayambassador
• Instagram: @gayambassador

If you want to comment on this episode or interact with us then visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3188989997871128 
You can support the podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/IWATF 
Grab our merch here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/79379858 

In part two of this special three-part episode, we interview former AOG evangelist/pastor and now #GayAmbassador, Anthony Venn-Brown.  

TRIGGER WARNING: If you find that some of the material in this episode disturbing, we encourage you to talk with a close friend who will understand or contact your local help/crisis/support telephone line. 

• Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ 
• Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ 
• LGBT https://qlife.org.au/ 

“A Life of Unlearning – a preacher’s struggle with his homosexuality” is available at all online booksellers. Reviews, endorsements, readers’ comments here: www.ALifeOfUnlearning.com 

Resources and further information about Anthony and his organisation Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International are here:

• www.abbi.org.au
• https://www.facebook.com/abbi.org.au,
• https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvennbrown
• Twitter: @gayambassador
• Instagram: @gayambassador

If you want to comment on this episode or interact with us then visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3188989997871128 
You can support the podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/IWATF 
Grab our merch here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/79379858 

In part one of this special three-part episode, we interview former AOG evangelist/pastor and now #GayAmbassador, Anthony Venn-Brown.  

TRIGGER WARNING: If you find that some of the material in this episode disturbing, we encourage you to talk with a close friend who will understand or contact your local help/crisis/support telephone line. 

• Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ 
• Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ 
• LGBT https://qlife.org.au/ 

“A Life of Unlearning – a preacher’s struggle with his homosexuality” is available at all online booksellers. Reviews, endorsements, readers’ comments here: www.ALifeOfUnlearning.com 

Resources and further information about Anthony and his organisation Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International are here:

• www.abbi.org.au
• https://www.facebook.com/abbi.org.au,
• https://www.facebook.com/anthonyvennbrown
• Twitter: @gayambassador
• Instagram: @gayambassador

If you want to comment on this episode or interact with us then visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3188989997871128 
You can support the podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/IWATF 
Grab our merch here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/79379858 

B&T go to fundamentalist Bible College and would like to bring you along.

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T tells his story of being excommunicated from God's one true Church at 17 and how this impacted him both then and now.

If this episode has raised issues for you and you require support and counselling around cults in Australia, please contact:  https://cultconsulting.org/

For information on the Revival Centres and their various splinter groups please see: https://revival.aimoo.com/

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B&T remember how it felt to be a part of the AOG/ACC fold.

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B&T reflect on what it meant to be a leader in both the Revival Centres and the AOG/ACC. 

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This episode, we talk about the church's relationship to, and use of, music, for both good and evil.

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B & T talk about their experiences with the devil, demons, exorcisms and deliverance.

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B&T talk about sex and religion. There seems to be little doubt that fundamentalism warped their views and early sexual experiences.

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Since the very beginnings of Christianity, believers thought they were in the very last days and a cataclysm was imminent. It was no different for B & T when they were teenage fundamentalists. In this episode they reminisce about how the end-times message was presented to them.

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T talks a little about his pre-conversion home life and his experience of two Christian camps. It was at the second camp where he found himself speaking in tongues and started to wear the label, 'born-again'.

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"No bibles, no preaching, no god-bothering!" These were the conditions B put upon his two brothers, who had recently converted to Pentecostal Christianity, if he were to visit them while on holidays. What happened next would change the course of his life and still continues to impact who he is today.

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If you are new to this podcast, then we'd love to let you know a few things upfront. Please listen to this brief intro before diving into the full episodes.
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