Advertise on podcast: Women Beyond Faith

Alaine is a Gen-X former evangelical raised in the Deep South who found out the hard way that the unconditional love of Jesus had more than a few conditions.   When her world began to crumble following a difficult divorce, her strict, conservative family and Southern Baptist community were not there for her the way she expected. Their shunning pushed her to question all the beliefs she’d clung to her whole life.    A support group for women of faith showed her how many verses in the Bible had been mistranslated and misappropriated through the years to support patriarchal theologies detrimental to women—and if this was possible, what ELSE in the Bible might not be the literal “Word of God”?    Alaine’s intense journey of deconstruction has led her down new roads away from almost everything and everyone in her former world. Today, identifying as an atheist/humanist, she is rebuilding her life and career as a paralegal in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Support the show

Bess is back from rural Pennsylvania to share with us the rest of her story – at least up to current day Spring of 2022.  In her mid 20s and wise beyond her years Bess talks university, working through anxiety and panic attacks, therapy, finding the love of her life, managing relationships with still believing family members, and finding community with other out of the box thinkers in her small town.  Bess is an animal lover and her gentle, soft spoken connection with these non-humans offers some calm and serenity during these difficult days -- these days of discovery – these days of redefining the dreams of her youth – these days of finding freedom outside the confines of a religious order – these days of post pandemic uncertainty –  you’ll even her rooster crowing in the background! Damn! Bess is a badass!! If you'd like to reach out to Bess, she’d love to chat with you. You can reach her at [email protected]. Bess is learning how to use her voice. She is Speaking Up. And Speaking Out. And in so doing, she is Finding Freedom. On the Other Side. One Story at a Time.  #WereSpeaking #WomenBeyondFaith #FindingFreedom #OneStoryataTime #SpeakingUp #SpeakingOut Support the show

Reagan's back! In this conversation she talks specifics regarding the multiple small businesses she runs here in the Greater Cincinnati area.  Reagan is a career coach, professional photographer, CEO of a Nature Preschool, blogger, AND does speaking engagements. Whew! That makes me tired just typing it all out!!   Reagan continues to inspire me -- she's changing the world by being herself!  Here's Reagan --  sharing more of her journey -- from evangelical homeschool kiddo to earth loving, tree hugging inspirational homeschool mama and entrepreneur.  Enjoy the conversation. I’m pretty sure you, too, will continue to be inspired by Reagan’s moxie.  Find out more about Reagan at the links below: https://www.playfulacre.com https://www.instagram.com/playfulacre/ https://www.facebook.com/playfulacre https://twitter.com/playfulacre Support the show

Reagan is a mom and owner of multiple small businesses here in the Greater Cincinnati area. She grew up in the church. She and her family frequented the same homeschool circles as my family. Her people played on the same homeschool sports teams as my people. Her sister actually dated one of my favorite human’s brother. We knew, and -- still know—a lot of the same people. I’m not sure how or when I was first introduced to Reagan’s Instagram page. I don’t think I realized at the time that she was someone from our homeschool past, I was just attracted to the passion and pizzazz she oozed.  I loved what she was saying about preserving the magic of childhood and getting kids out in to nature.  She inspired me. Reagan was raising her kid the way I wished I would have raised my kids. She was teaching me things.  One day last fall I put two and two together and realized our families used to do life in the same Cincinnati homeschool circles. And I wanted to know more. So -- I reached out and asked Reagan if she’d be interested in sharing her journey -- from evangelical homeschool kiddo to earth loving, tree hugging inspirational homeschool mama and entrepreneur. Luckily, for me and you, she said yes.  Enjoy the conversation. I’m pretty sure you, too, will be inspired by Reagan’s moxie.  You can find out more about Reagan at the links below: https://www.playfulacre.com https://www.instagram.com/playfulacre/ https://www.facebook.com/playfulacre https://twitter.com/playfulacre ​     Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

Trigger warning:  This episode contains material that may be difficult for some of our listeners to hear.  Conversations cover porn, body shaming, Josh Harris, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, statutory rape,  purity culture and abortion.  #porn  #bodyshaming #JoshuaHarris #JoshHarris #IKissedDatingGoodbye #statutoryrape #purityculture #abortion #sexuallycurious #shamed #dating #relationships #courting #courtship #exvangelical #boymeetsgirl #findingfreedom #onestoryatatime #speakingup #speakingout Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

Bess is in her mid 20s. She lives in a small rural Pennsylvania town. As you'd expect, she's been surrounded by conservative christians as far as the eye can see for the entirety of her life.   Raised in the church and educated in christian schools, Bess never fit in. Everyone around her was exactly the same – same beliefs, same hobbies, same skin color, same EVERYTHING!   Sure, she made attempts to fit in, but as a young teen, Bess determined she could no longer pretend to be someone she wasn't. This authenticity and independence created turmoil within her family of origin -- particularly in the relationship with her father. It wasn't appropriate for a young girl to ask questions and think for herself.  As an older teen, Bess and her dad came to an understanding that they'd just have to agree to disagree. However, as Bess' faith continued to erode, the conflict returned and this time not only with dad but  into the larger circle of Bess' immediate family.   Living authentically hasn't been easy.  Bess at times wishes she could just turn off her hunger for truth switch. But for some of us, this is impossible to do!! We are learning how to use our voices. We’re Speaking Up. And Speaking Out. Finding our Voices. And in so doing, Finding Freedom. On the Other Side. One Story at a Time.  Enjoy Bess. She’s pretty f*&ing incredible! #WereSpeaking #WomenBeyondFaith #FindingFreedom #OneStoryataTime #SpeakingUp #SpeakingOut Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

Responding to your questions -- Leah talks  work, Covid family relations, homeschool mama days and the kids subsequent trauma, as well as the movie Captain Fantastic with one of her crushes -- Viggo Mortensen.  #WereSpeaking #SpeakUp #SpeakOut #FindingFreedom #OneStoryataTime #BraveAssBeauties #WomenBeyondFaith You can reach us at [email protected], Instagram or Facebook.  New graphic by Dara Paul. Thanks, girlfriend!  Special thanks to my personal assistant and editor @emmacatherine09 Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

She's back!!  Catch the rest of Andrea's deconstruction story here at Andrea B. Part 2! Born the 4th of 5 children to strict young earth creationist parents in the Midwest, Andrea B. was at church every Sunday. At the age of 9, she began attending summer camp at Kanakuk (think “Jesus Camp” Documentary) in Branson, Missouri. Attempting to grow in faith, confidence, and Christian characterAndrea buckled down intensifying her commitment to the faith.   Sold out for Jesus, Andrea was rebaptized. Attending purity retreats, See You at the Pole events and before school prayer study groups became her standard. She purchased an ichthys bumper sticker for a high school boyfriend. She was a Jars of Clay fangirl.   However, while still in high school Andrea took a world religions and philosophy course which revived her natural curiosity. While away at college, her fundie boyfriend insisted she grow her hair long and wear skirts.  Slowly, she began to break away intellectually from fundamentalism. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

Born the 4th of 5 children to strict young earth creationist parents in the Midwest, Andrea B. was at church every Sunday. At the age of 9, she began attending summer camp at Kanakuk (think “Jesus Camp” Documentary) in Branson, Missouri.  Attempting to grow in faith, confidence, and christian character Andrea buckled down intensifying her commitment to the faith.   Sold out for Jesus, she was rebaptized. Attending purity retreats, See You at the Pole events and before school prayer study groups became the standard. She even purchased an ichthys bumper sticker for a high school boyfriend. However, while still in high school Andrea took a world religions and philosophy course which revived her natural curiosity. Slowly, she began to break away intellectually from fundamentalism.   Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

Alyssa is a 27 year old spouse & momma of two who is still adjusting to the freedom of "life on the other side" after recently deconstructing her beliefs from the Evangelical Church. After her parents divorced at the age of 8, she and her two brothers were primarily raised by their mom in Wichita, Kansas in a very right-winged conservative household.  She currently lives in the Kansas City area, but is hoping to move down south at some point next year. She has been working tirelessly throughout the last year or so to unlearn and dismantle all of the toxicity that she was raised to believe was "love" within the church and her religious family.  She enjoys drinking coffee, blasting punk music on long car rides, and isn't the least bit ashamed of her potty mouth. She is dedicated to healing her religious and childhood traumas and living her life as authentically as possible :)  Find her on TikTok at @alwaysauthenticalyssa where she posts very real and raw parts of her healing journey in hopes to connect with people who are on a similar path. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

Deconversion Therapy is a comedy podcast about religion. Bonnie and Karen punch up at charlatans like Jim Bakker or Jerry Falwell Jr. They don't discuss real trauma rather they point listeners to other spaces for that. They have fun with old church memories and cover recent and past scandals and debacles. They've been at it for 3 years now! Growing up in the Southern Baptist church in South Florida Bonnie and Karen "met" when we they 1 year old (1969 or 70!). Both became Christians. Bonnie was always a bit more skeptical than Karen who grew up in a fully-Christian household. Bonnie left, went back and then finally called it quits. Karen became a missionary and seeds of doubt didn't arise until she was on the mission field in Thailand. It was a painful decade as things began to unravel. Bonnie worked in Hollywood and has lots of stories. She now works in real estate.  Karen taught English at a university and still does mentors students online.   Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)

 Kimberly Poovey is the founder of The Exvangelical Parent, a community of misfits, questioners, and wanderers, sharing our stories and navigating ethics, morality, and spirituality in parenting. We come from a wide variety of backgrounds and religious traditions, but we are all on a journey of deconstructing, reconstructing, and decolonizing our faith, (or lack thereof.) We aspire to raise good humans without religious baggage who will make the world a better, more just, and more loving place. For the last several years, I’ve been in the process of deconstructing and reconstructing my faith, and I don’t yet know where I’ve landed. (Perhaps landing at all isn’t the point.) Now, as parents, my husband and I are trying to impart morality, ethics, empathy, compassion, and social justice to our child without making those things irrevocably interwoven with a conservative faith tradition. It’s a journey, and we are figuring it out as we go. I’m a writer, artist, wife, and over-caffeinated mom. Enneagram 9. INFP. After spending over a decade in the ministry world, I now write and create full-time. You can find my work on Scary Mommy, The Mighty, The Huffington Post, The Natural Parent, Parent Co, and Her View From Home. You can find Kimberly at https://theexvangelicalparent.com/ and on Instagram: @theexvangelicalparent Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=8739294)