We continue our series on Ex-Pastor’s wives and daughters with Bex. How Religion Lowers our Expectations The World I Want to Live In What Kind of Father is the Christian God? Treasure Trove of Trauma Resources Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Fait…

Sarah Caton grew up in a small Mormon town in Utah. Her family wasn’t Mormon, though. Her parents were there on a mission to convert Mormons into fundamentalist Baptists. As a young child, she whole heartedly believed in the family faith and even wanted to become a missionary when she grew up. She taught Sunday School, played the piano for church, …

Jessica is a DV survivor and advocate, as well as a recovering people pleaser (still working on that one). She is currently homeschooling her three kids and is in the beginning stages of becoming a birth doula. Jessa is passionate about advocacy for women, especially survivors of abuse within the church. In her spare time she loves to play volleyba…

Former Pastor’s Wife An Open Letter to Christians In Honor of my Friend A Prescription for Healing Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart, The Tea Shop and Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Au…

I was in ministry from age 5- 35. I was raised in the independent fundamental baptist cult. Went to Bible college at Pensacola Christian College for a year. Was married at age 19 and have been married for 26 years. We moved to NY state to help start a church. We were assistant pastor and wife for 9 years and head pastor for 3 years. We have four ki…

ATN has grown into the VOICE for traumatized children and their families, schools, and communities. With a membership that reaches around the world, we are proud to be the premier support, education, and advocacy system for those raising or educating traumatized and attachment-disordered children. Remaining true to the vision of our founder, Nancy …

Podcast Jennifer Knapp is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, author, speaker, and advocate, known for her musical talents and commitment to social causes. With a rich history spanning over two decades, Knapp has left an indelible mark on the music industry. Her career includes the remarkable achievement of selling over one million albums with he…

Rick Pidcock is a writer, poet, musician and speaker who creates new worlds of awareness that foster converging love. He approaches every article, book, album, or presentation as a conversation to cultivate awareness of the complexity, depth, and union within and among us. After twenty years of leading worship in churches, Rick embarked on a season…

Anonymous Andrew Anonymous Andrew Podcast: Life and the Choices We Make! A personal journey podcast. Focusing on dating and relationships. After leaving a three year relationship that I endured deception, infidelity, gaslighting, co-dependency and more, I find myself wandering alone in the desert of empty romance. Needing to break a pattern of dati…

Podcast https://www.facebook.com/bradyhardin/ Treasure Trove of Trauma Resources Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart, The Tea Shop and Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. He is …

JoBeth Roberts is a spiritual entrepreneur. She’s a lifelong seeker, Mom, Hairstylist, Podcaster, and Fitness Instructor who’s naturally inclined toward optimism. She started sharing her relational travels in 2023 on her Podcast JoBeth on the Journey. She gains inspiration for forward motion by stories that are empathic fuel during these times. JoB…

From her website: Hi, I’m Liz. I live in the Seattle area with my husband Ken, our gorgeous black cat Athena, and our many plant babies. When not writing, you can find me swimming, jogging, hiking, baking, attempting to grow vegetables, and/or drinking a lot of tea. In another life, I was a Christian minister working with college students. I also s…

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, Becky Garrison has been covering this region’s craft culture including food, beer, wine, spirits, cider, coffee, and cannabis/CBD, as well as the regional festival scene, and the rise of secular spiritual communities. Her eight books include her latest release Distilled in Washington: A History (The Hi…

Marla Taviano (she/her/hers) is into: books, love, justice, globes, anti-racism, blue, gray, rainbows, poems (and a hundred other things). Reads and writes for a living (and a life). Mom to some freaking awesome kids. Wears her heart on her t-shirts. On a mission/ quest/ journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). (Big fan of parenthesis-and em dashe…

My PhD is in Comparative Religion. I focus on dispelling the hate and exclusivity caused by religion, addressing the misinformation, and healing religious trauma. The “Religious Right” is very wrong. My upcoming book, “We Have Ruined God: My Journey Out of Religion and Into Unconditional Love” addresses the patriarchal deception and agenda-driven d…

Chris Morehouse holds a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, where he focused on economic and social development in Africa. He has long admired the way that African proverbs encapsulate profound wisdom in vivid ways. A legacy for all, African proverbs often accord with Judeo-Christian teachings. He serves …

Are you questioning the church of your upbringing but want to maintain your faith? Do you want to cut ties with your denomination, but fear abandonment by God? Are you struggling with spiritual anxiety—fear of hell, obsessive religious ritual, or feelings of never measuring up? Tiffany Yecke Brooks first explored reconstructing faith in Gaslighted …

Christa Brown has been described as “the public face” of Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors. She talks openly about the minister who molested and raped her when she was a kid. She wrote about her experience in her book, Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation. She was the first Baptist clergy sex abuse survivor to directly addr…

Brittney Hartley is an Atheist Spiritual Director, Author of No Nonsense Spirituality, and has a Masters Degree in Theology with a focus on the Future of American Religion. https://nononsensespirituality.com/ Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith…

Pride month finale’. https://thedesertsanctuary.org/treasure-trove/ Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart, The Tea Shop and Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. He is the creator o…

Parenting in the Desert – Part 2 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Laura Validating Our Child’s Emotions I started teaching later in life, but I have refined my classroom management skills, so I always feel like I am in control and moving towards valuable objectives. I teach second grad…

Parenting in the Desert – Part 1 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Karl Parenting is a daunting endeavor. I always felt like it was the most monumental task I ever attempted, yet I had the least training of anything else. There were classes and books available, but they were all over th…

SUSAN COTTRELL is an international speaker whose TEDx talk has 1.6 million views. OutSmart magazine called her “The Mother of All MamaBears.” The Advocate dubbed her “our favorite affirming matriarch.” She is a prominent voice for the LGBTQ community and their faith parents who has been featured on ABC’s 20/20, Nightline and Good Morning America, o…

Thriving Outside Religion (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) I went to church for most of my life. Much of that was in conservative, evangelical congregations. There were some positive aspects of being in a community with loving people. But I also understand that there are deep, systemic problems with religious organizati…

A 30 year music industry veteran, Derek Webb has sold millions of albums while ruffling political & spiritual feathers alike as both a solo artist and a founding member of Texas-based folk/rock band Caedmon’s Call. https://www.derekwebb.com/על ידי Karl Forehand

Darkness and Shadow – Part 2 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th)) Listen to Audio – AI-Generated Laura Leaving organized religion has opened many opportunities to heal that were not encouraged inside the church. Do not get me wrong, when I was hurting inside the church, people offered some ideas to help relieve my sufferin…

Award-winning and Billboard-charting artist Flamy Grant is a shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen from Asheville, North Carolina. Her 2022 debut record, Bible Belt Baby, reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Christian Charts (the first drag performer to achieve this feat), was nominated for Best Pop Album at the San Diego Music Aw…

Going Inside & Trusting Myself (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th)) Listen to Audio – AI-Generated Laura There are two reasons that my portion of this chapter may not be exceptionally long: 1) I said most of what I wanted to say on the topic of this chapter in the last chapter, and 2) Karl did a respectable job of explaini…

Being and Becoming – Part 2 From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Laura IMPOSTER SYNDROME!! Sitting down to write this chapter seems to be more challenging than the rest. Karl and I have been going back and forth discussing my feelings on “being and becoming.” I think my writer’s block is du…

Going Inside & Trusting Myself (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th)) Listen to Audio – AI-Generated Karl For most of my life, religion told me not to trust myself, especially my feelings. We were taught what to believe based on the accepted belief systems and encouraged to trust that we were correct even when it did not fee…

Rick Gregory is a former pastor turned spiritual life coach after experiencing a spiritual awakening. Through battling years of active alcoholism and undergoing a process of religious deconstruction, Rick has arrived at a profound realization: that the essence of truth, power, and the Kingdom of God—by whatever name one chooses to call God—resides …

Why Trump is in Our Deconstruction Stories by license from freepik.com Listen to this blog – AI-Generated In the 2016 election, I couldn’t vote for either candidate, Hillary or Trump. So, I voted for the third party, and I can’t even remember his name. I was following my convictions that there had to be a better person to be the leader of our count…

Being and Becoming – Part 2 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Laura IMPOSTER SYNDROME!! Sitting down to write this chapter seems to be more challenging than the rest. Karl and I have been going back and forth discussing my feelings on “being and becoming.” I think my writer’s block is d…

This week we decided to have a vulnerable conversation about a chapter in our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. We are not licensed therapists, so we rely a lot on the experts. I sometimes say, “Do your research and consult a professional.” Somatic therapies are a helpful tool to help us take control of our healing and make progress on our …

Being and Becoming – Part 1 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Karl I started recycling about three years ago. It always seemed like a promising idea. One company I worked for recycles about 95% of its material. They have obviously done it for years and have become very proficient at it.…

(From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Karl As a former pastor, I remember the faces of people visiting for the first time. They were always more attentive than the other members. They were more hesitant to be demonstrative, but they looked hopeful in a cautious way. This always made me opti…

Listening (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Several years ago, we started a group called The Desert Sanctuary. We wanted it to be a home for spiritual nomads questioning their faith, struggling with their spirituality, or taking a break from organized religion. Eventually, it also inclu…

Blondes and Boos started in 2020 with Krista Tweedy and Erin Eck during the Covid lock down. We added Brandi Butcher to the mix in September of 2022. We are friends on the outside of the shows, and get together when we can. We are all based out of Missouri. Erin has recently stepped out to spend more time with her family. We are friends who love to…

Carmen and Loren of Night Owls Paranormal #2 visited our home Saturday night and conducted an investigation of our house. It’s a little frightening to be vulnerable like that because we believe the narratives that we are “opening ourselves up to something…” But we decided that we wanted to know for sure, so we invited them in for an evening of fun.…

This is a special episode that we want to do about once or twice a month. It is with my son, Jordan, who we used to call J.D. My middle name is Joseph and they used to call me Joey. I hope you will enjoy this episode! This episode covers the latest viral social media frenzy about whether women would prefer to face a bear or a man in the woods. But,…

In Search of a Grown-up Audio version of this blog! AI Generated In real life, I’m a fairly low-key, go-with-the-flow person who occasionally gets emotional about something. When I feel like someone has to say something, I say it quite strongly. Those who know me know that I’m soft-hearted but also occasionally come out swinging when I notice injus…

(From her website) To most who know me, I’m a Shark Tank-winning, self-taught carpenter & furniture designer who built an internationally-known kids’ furniture company out of my LA garage. What many don’t know; however, is that I’m also an ordinary, science-minded mom of two who was thrown into extraordinary circumstances at the age of 36 when I su…

The Four Existential Concerns (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Audio version of this blog! AI Generated Healing religious trauma and embarking on a journey of discovery can be terrifying! Many assumptions about the dangers of setting out on our own exist, but there are also the very real fears that all of us have. For s…

I have a degree in broadcasting from Webster University here in STL. I had to give it up for family reasons but have recently been getting back into it. Been doing podcasts for almost 5 years now. It started with a fitness show called Shed It and several sports shows called St Louis Sports Scene and St. Louis High School Sports Scene. I did a gener…

What is Trauma? (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI Generated When I first started to learn about trauma, it wasn’t very clear to me. We didn’t talk about trauma; we talked about sin. We certainly believed that there were things in life that were traumatic. Still, we ignored all the symptoms that a…

(From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th)) Listen to Audio – AI Generated So, here we are, out in the Desert! That’s what we call it when people start asking questions, challenging their long-held beliefs, and evaluating the worldview they inherited. We call it The Desert because that’s what it feels like. It can be lonely and d…

Leaning Forward is the title of a book by Karl and Laura Forehand about moving beyond the confines of organized religion. It is also the title of an online conference we have hosted for several years. This year, we decided to host a series of podcasts primarily to help us understand religious trauma and how to move forward. We are also hosting an o…

Leaning Forward is the title of a book by Karl and Laura Forehand about moving beyond the confines of organized religion. It is also the title of an online conference we have hosted for several years. This year, we decided to host a series of podcasts primarily to help us understand religious trauma and how to move forward. We are also hosting an o…

The Jezebel Scapegoat Shuffle Listen to this blog – AI-Generated It’s been a while since I read the Bible. I sometimes search for verses online to help me remember what I learned a long time ago. I used to be in love with systematic theology until I wasn’t. But considering all the talk these days of the Jezebel Spirit, primarily by evangelicals, I …

This is a special episode that we want to do about once or twice a month. It is with my son, Jordan, who we used to call JD. My middle name is Joseph and they used to call me Joey. I hope you will enjoy this episode! This episode covers the the “fools gold” of Josh Howerton’s nugget of stupidity, the Toddlers on stage at the “Stronger Man” conferen…