For my IHOPKC friends, and evangelical & ex-vangelical friends, and anyone trying to make sense of the mess in the American church & wider society lately - here's my list of resources that have opened my eyes, then broken my heart, then given me hope for reform, redemption & reconciliation.
"If it can be wrecked by the TRUTH ... then, it should be."
BOOKS
Jesus & John Wayne - how white evangelicals corrupted a faith & fractured a nation by Kristin Kobes du Mez
- if you only have headspace to read ONE book to help you understand what the heck is going on in the American church, make it this one.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood - how the subjugation of women became Gospel truth by Beth Barr
Quiverful - inside the Christian Patriarchy movement by Kathryn Joyce
American Rule - how a nation conquered the world but failed its people by Jared Yates Sexton
- I encourage us "only drink milk from a Christian cow" evangelicals to read voices from outside our bubbles. Learned folks like Yates Sexton & Cox Richardson have important perspectives for us.
An Uncivil War: taking back our democracy in an age of Trumpism disinformation & thunderdome politics by Greg Sargent
Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right by Scott M. Coley
The Kingdom, the Power & the Glory - American evangelicals in an age of extremism by Tim Alberta
All and everything by Dr. Heather Cox Richardson Heather Cox Richardson
Read the books! All the books! And here's her podcast:
Losing Our Religion- an altar call for evangelical America by Russell Moore
It Was All a Lie - how the Republican Party became Donald Trump by Stuart Stevens
One Nation Under God by Kevin Kruse
"Sure, we used the prayer breakfasts and church services and all that for political ends," Nixon aide Charles Colson later admitted. "One of my jobs in the White House was to romance religious leaders …. and I found them to be about the most pliable of any of the special interest groups that we worked with.”
- Quote from “One Nation Under God,” by Kevin Kruse
The Family by Jeff Sharlet
Crimes of the Cross - the Anglican paedophile network of Newcastle and the man who fought for justice by Anne Manne
- my American friends will wonder why this book is on the list. I urge you to read it, if you can. It's like The Vow or Spotlight in terms of offering parallels to the rampant clergy sexual abuse in the leadership of the evangelical church. For example, it illustrates how keeping women focussed on & overwhelmed with home-making, hospitality, service & submission to untouchable hierarchies of male authority kept women corralled in order to create an environment where discerning, protective mothers were distracted & pre-occupied, jumping through impossible hoops, while the predators were placed on pedestals & had free reign.
The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump - 30 Evangelicals on justice, truth & moral integrity by Ronald J Sider
The False White Gospel - rejecting Christian Nationalism, reclaiming true faith & refounding democracy by Jim Wallis
The Exvangelicals - loving, living and leaving the white evangelical church by Sarah McCammon
Exvangelical & Beyond - how American Christianity went radical & the movement that's fighting back by Blake Chastain
The Woman They Wanted - shattering the illusion of the good Christian wife by Shannon Harris
(yes, the Shannon who was married to home-school poster-boy Josh Harris who wrote purity culture trope, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". Josh has since stepped down as pastor and deconstructed from Christianity).
Disobedient Women - how a small group of faithful women exposed abuse, brought down powerful pastors and ignited an evangelical reckoning by Sarah Stankorb
Preparing For War - the extremist history of white Christian Nationalism and what comes next by Bradley Onishi
The Shift - surviving & thriving after moving from conservative to progressive Christianity
She Deserves Better by Sheila Wray Gregoire
Unfollow - a journey from hatred to hope, leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper
Educated - a memoir by Tara Westover
Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation by David French
Check out the work of conservative political commentator David French on all the platforms. He's one of the good ones. His wife Nancy French rocks, too.
Crazy for God: how I grew up as one of the elect, helped found the Religious Right, and lived to take all (or almost all) of it back by Frank Schaeffer
All My Knotted Up Life - a memoir by Beth Moore
Qanon & On - a short & shocking history of internet conspiracy cults by Van Badham
- what's Qanon got to do with anything, well may you ask. Well, a bunch of prominent evangelical leaders fell for this scam & passed it off as "revelation from God" - including Sid Roth, Benni Johnson of Bethel, Johnny Enlow, Robin Bullock and Greg Locke. I hate to say that the Qanon LARP is part of the puzzle of how the white evangelical church went so wrong, but it is.
Trust the Plan - the rise of Qanon and the conspiracy that reshaped the world by Will Sommer
Black Church White Theology: How White Evangelicalism Controls the Black Church by Theron D. Williams
How to Fight Racism - courageous Christianity and the journey towards racism justice by Jemar Tisby
- John Collins & his research on William Branham revealed to us just how deep the roots of white supremacy go in the evangelical church. To reckon with this & truly heal, we need to listen to our Black & Indigenous sisters & brothers.
PODCASTS
- former insiders Dan & Bradley give it to you straight. Especially check out the series Charismatic Revival Fury.
Tent Talks with Stephen Backhouse
Heaven Bent with Tara Jean Stephens
Christians Against Christian Nationalism
IHOPKC Secrets
Hillsong: a megachurch shattered
- remember Keith Green, Last Days Ministries & YWAM? Sharon & Tracey were senior staff through it all.
Preacher Boys - shedding light on decades of abuse within the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church, with Eric Skwarczynski.
The New Evangelicals - pushing the church forward together, with Tim Whittaker.
- Australians Brian & Troy were once loyal megachurch members (yep, it's Hillsong). They're not anymore. They chat with others who've had similar experiences with 'power Christianity'. American friends, you'll want to listen in - they interview loads of folks from over your way, but hearing about the parallels right here in Australia will be validating for you.
Hillsong, a Megachurch Shattered with Dan Johnstone
YOUTUBE
Politics Chat with Dr. Heather Cox Richardson
Leaving the Message with John Collins
Wake Up & Win - with former IHOPers, Blaise & Christina
The Holy Post with Phil Vischer (yep, the Vege Tales guy) & Skye Jethani
Politics Girl with Leigh McGowan
WEBSITES
- this is my website. In true "spectrummy" fashion, it's exhaustive. My back story is there, too.
William Branham Historical Research by John Collins
- a former member of The Message cult, who deep-dives into the appalling racist, sexist, homophobic and white supremacist roots of this 'founding father' of the charismatic movement.
Freedom of Mind with Steven Hassan, who exited the Moonies cult.
ON CULTS
Cults to Consciousness with Shelise Ann Sola
Let's Talk About Sects with Sarah Steele
Sarah is Australian, and if you thought 'Down Under' was immune to culty, charismatic crazy ... well, turns out we're just as susceptible to the charmer/grifter/predator playbook. Sarah interviews people from all over the world, not just Australia, but if you're tracking religious extremism in Australia, you may find the episodes on The Twelve Tribes, Brisbane Christian Fellowship, Two By Twos, The Logos Foundation, Outreach International, and Synanon (the model for almost all the abusive, authoritarian "troubled teen" industry institutions) particularly interesting.
A Little Bit Culty - with Sarah & Nippy, who exited the NXIVM cult. They interview people with similar tales, and yes, a heap of them are (or were) evangelicals.
DOCOS
- examines the infiltration of the religious right into the arena of politics, and the insidious devices of camouflage they used to influence the American social and political landscape.
- the Duggars are known for their reality show, "19 Children & Counting" and the fact that their eldest son Josh, who molested his sisters and was exposed in the Ashley Madison scandal as an adulterer, and who ran for office with the far-right Family Research Council, is now in prison serving a 12 year sentence for CSAM (child sexual abuse material).
However this show is more about sexual predator Bill Gothard and his hyper-fundamentalist
"Institute for Basic Life Principles", the racist and sexist doctrines of which were spread widely throughout fundamentalist & evangelical churches in USA - and beyond.
"Institute for Basic Life Principles", the racist and sexist doctrines of which were spread widely throughout fundamentalist & evangelical churches in USA - and beyond.
- Uncovering more than 400 cases of clergy sexual abuse in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church. See the Preacher Boys podcast for more on this.
- about the FLDS church, but the parallels are neon. See the podcast Cults to Consciousness for more on this.
- you know all those queer worship leaders they shipped off to conversion therapy? Yeah. Nah, it didn't stick. And other horrible things the church, in its abject hypocrisy, has done to our LBGTQI+ brothers & sisters.
- this is vital, because you know those "troubled teen industry" facilities? That's how the religious theocrats want the whole country to be run.
Hillsong - A Megachurch Exposed - Features several ex-members of the church who share harrowing allegations of the trauma, abuse, homophobia and financial and labor exploitation that created a culture of chaos at Hillsong.
ARTICLES
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