Shows
The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 24 Fellowship with MakoToday we’re chatting with Mako! In this episode, Mako shares his experience traveling the world as a (white, male) Christadelphian before spending the years following his baptism serving in Jamaica as a missionary. After marrying his (Jamaican) wife and settling in America, his eyes were opened to racism & sexism among the Christadelphians when it became directed towards his family and as Christadelphians grappled with the Black Lives Matter movement. Mako also shares the story of how his small ecclesia split, how white Christadelphians online refused to even acknowledge racism in the Christadelphian community, and how he struggled to ge...2025-03-301h 58The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 23 Fellowship with ChloeToday we’re chatting with Chloe! In this episode, Chloe shares her experience being raised to be homeschooled by Christadelphians and sent to a Canadian Christadelphian Heritage College before being discouraged from pursuing higher education and having to learn how to navigate the “outside world” once she hit adulthood. We also discuss mental health issues she experienced while she was a Christadelphian, how the Arranging Brothers refused to accept her resignation, and her method of using note taking to lure in a godly man. Chloe also shares her childhood ghost stories, discusses the anxious thoughts she had about the “Kingdom...2025-03-232h 22The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 22 Fellowship with SylviaToday we’re chatting with Sylvia! In this episode, Sylvia tells us about growing up in a family that read (and debated) the Bible together every day as ‘a little hippie kid’. She discusses her ‘radical’ experience as a Christadelphian starting in the 1960’s and ‘70’s in Canada where she helped found a new ecclesia, create a new bible school, and push for women to teach. She also turned heads in her meeting when her parents approved her underage marriage to an unbaptized First Nations “outsider”. Zinnia and Sylvia also discuss how her ideas were plagiarized for exhortations, the beliefs of First Nat...2025-03-161h 45The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 21 The History of Christadelphian Bible Prophecy with ZinniaIn today’s episode, Zinnia does a deep dive on the history of Christadelphian “prophecies” and apocalyptic predictions! She starts with the origins of the “prophetic arithmetic” methods by a rather infamous American in the 1840’s, follows the early prophecies by John Thomas and Robert Roberts, and leads into conversations around prophecies, high control groups, and cognitive dissonance in the modern era. Ready to learn some Christadelphian history? Let's get into it!
Listener Discretion Advised.
Resources and References: Toy Story (1995) “The Claw”
William Miller and the Great Disappointment
The Great Disappointment of William Miller
2025-03-091h 48The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 20 Bible Prophecy with Rob and SteveToday we’re chatting about Bible Prophecy! In this episode I’m joined by Rob, a Professor of Statistics & Statistical Forecasting, and Steve, a Professor of Biblical Studies to explore the prophecies they learned (and even taught!) from their time as Christadelphians. Now as ex-Christadelphians, we discuss what they’ve learned about history, statistics, and biblical literature to explore non-Christadelphian perspectives on some common prophecies related to the Bible and Christadelphian culture. We explore prophecies that were supported by a selective view of history, unfulfilled prophecies, and even prophecies that were wrong in the Bible! In this episode we also l...2025-03-021h 14The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 19 Religious Trauma with BrianToday we’re chatting with Brian about religious trauma! After hearing so many guests discuss traumatizing events that they experienced within the Christadelphian community, we decided to bring in a licensed religious trauma therapist to explore what religious trauma is and what we can do about it. We started with discussing some key definitions and concepts to understand, exploring what modalities Brian uses with clients, and talking about some things to consider when trying to find a therapist to work with, including knowing the difference between searching for a therapist with a specialty in “spirituality” compared to “religious trauma”. We also as...2025-02-232h 09The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 18 Fellowship with KelliToday we’re chatting with Kelli! In this episode, Kelli shares her experience preparing for what she thought would be the hardest test in her life (the baptismal exam!), learning that playing hymns on guitars would qualify as “stumbling blocks” for some sisters in Christ, and sharing her experience as a woman who was able to have more of a role when growing up associated with the COGAF group. She also shares some funny stories of sleeping in a pool floaty at a Bible weekend, an unexpected insect encounter during a church service, and shares the joke that ended her in...2025-02-161h 30The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 17 Fellowship with VanessaToday we’re chatting with Vanessa! Vanessa shares her experience of growing up feeling supported as a neurodivergent child in the Christadelphian community with her family. Over time though, she had a feminist awakening and found that her views on women's roles within the ecclesia didn’t quite fit. Eventually she began studying psychology and realized that she was in a high control religion! After pressure to bring her children in for instruction and hearing explicitly that they wanted to brainwash the children, she decided she wanted better for her family and left the group. Since leaving, Vanessa’s found...2025-02-092h 25The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 16 Fellowship with SteveToday we’re chatting with Steve! Steve’s story takes us from his childhood reading the works of Dr. Thomas and Robert Roberts through his slow departure from the Christadelphians and finally into his current position teaching Biblical Studies! Steve shares the important lessons his father taught him about character and standing up for your beliefs (even if that includes refusing to hide the Christmas tree), the punitive response of his former ecclesia when he asked questions about Revelation and ultimately joined another ecclesia, and his ultimate realization that some members of the Christadelphians “were prepared to lie in defens...2025-02-021h 36The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS2 Ep. 15 Fellowship with BrianToday we’re chatting with Brian! Brian is our first guest to come on the podcast from the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (COGAF). While they technically have a different name than Christadelphians, the groups were founded by former associates at about the same time. Members of COGAF hold the same beliefs as Christadelphians, fellowship with them, and even attend Christadelphian activities, camps, and bible schools! In today’s episode, we hear about Brian’s former ecclesia using pancakes to convince people to attend services, about that time he was brought to Jamaica for a school project to lea...2025-01-262h 16The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 14 Fellowship with ZinniaToday we’re flipping the script and Heather is chatting with Zinnia! Zinnia shares her story of growing up as an undiagnosed neurodivergent child and being bullied during her childhood inside and outside of the ecclesia. The first half of this episode is a bit heavy as Zinnia discusses how her environment contributed to severe depression and how growing up in a high control environment among other factors may have groomed her for domestic violence in her relationships. However, things took a turn for the better when Zinnia chose to leave the group, shut down their harassment, reported perpetrators to...2024-12-224h 22The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 13 Hypnosis, Telepathy, and Ghosts: The History of Spiritualism and the ChristadelphiansToday we’re chatting about ghosts! More specifically, about how the Christadelphians have historically tried to disprove the existence of ghosts and the beliefs of Spiritualists to their followers! It’s time for science class with John Thomas as he explains the (now considered pseudoscience) "science" of odology, explains how Jesus Christ (electric medium) used hypnosis on his disciples, speculates on whether followers will be able to be invisible and teleport when they’re resurrected (sorry, you can only hold eyeballs), and how God’s Holy Spirit is actually… electricity. We discover the story of a Christadelphian with psychic abilities...2024-12-222h 42The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 12 Fellowship with PaulToday we’re chatting with Paul! In this episode, Paul shares his story of joining the Christadelphians with his parents as a young convert, to stirring up trouble in the capital city as a young man handing out pamphlets on the Holy Spirit, to eventually not only leaving the Christadelphians, but eventually becoming an atheist studying theology! Paul also shares his controversial experience giving his one and only public lecture as a Christadelphian, his time as part of a group of Christadelphians nicknamed “the four horsemen of the apocalypse”, and about his thesis project on the roots of Christianity which...2024-12-151h 28The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 11 Fellowship with LukeToday we’re chatting with Luke! Luke shares his experience growing up in a small, insular ecclesia disconnected from the wider community of Christadelphians and singing the same hymns every week. In this episode, we’ll hear about his process of trying to fit into the wider Christadelphian world after growing up in isolation, about his first experience attending an ecclesia that drank Christ’s blood from a shared cup (ew), and on the pressure to leave his new ecclesia and to end his relationship with a non-Christadelphian. We also speculate on his prospects of an American speaking tour, argue...2024-12-081h 56The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 10 The Bearded Wisdom of Christadelphians: Talking Masculinity and Facial Hair with MakoToday we’re chatting with Mako in this “mini-episode” on beards and their cultural history within Christadelphia. Mako and Zinnia discuss the experiences shared by some ex-Christadelphians about beards and compare it to the historical views of Christadelphians during the time of Doctor John Thomas and Robert Roberts. We also joke about drag names, the British slang for penis, and moustaches on firemen! Please join us for a chat about this hairy topic!
As a friendly reminder, please be advised that the humor in today’s episode is pretty “worldly” and this podcast is marked “explicit” acros...2024-12-0144 minThe Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 9 Fellowship with MikeToday we’re chatting with Mike! Mike shares his story of growing up in the Brotherhood with many surprises including sourcing bootleg copies of the Simpsons for the Christadelphian youth group, finding a wife at the Christadelphian nursing home, and about his path to eventually becoming “unequally yoked” before leaving the group. Mike also shares his experience of unintentionally framing the Editor of the Christadelphian magazine for vandalism (whoops) and answers whether or not he saw any unattached beard hair in the Christadelphian Magazine Archives. And of course, he asks the hard hitting questions such as ”...have you got a hat?”...2024-11-242h 03The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 8 Robert Roberts and the Fandom of John ThomasToday we’re learning about the unofficial president of the John Thomas fan club, Robert Roberts. In this episode, we’ll be taking a critical look at whether this famous Christadelphian leader was actually just a follower. I’ll be sharing with you “respectable heathens” stories about Robert Roberts’ childhood, his quirks, and the chance he missed to leave behind the drama of the Christadelphians forever. I hope you’re as surprised as I was to learn the bizarre ways that he honored John Thomas throughout his lifetime, and even in death. I’ll also share a Christadelphian exhortation drinking game, a...2024-11-172h 08The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 7 Fellowship with LeahToday we’re chatting with Leah! Leah shares her story of pushing the boundaries of respectable behavior for a Christadelphian woman by saying prayers at the podium, giving exhortations, and pushing the community to support the fair-trade movement. Leah wasn’t about to let gender roles get her down and now she’s living her best life re-enacting Sister Act, voting in elections, and saying farewell to her good enemies in the ecclesia. Leah also shares her one rule that sets her new standard when visiting and evaluating a church. Please also enjoy a special guest appearance by Leah’s cats…...2024-11-101h 41The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 6 Christadelphian True CrimeToday we're chatting with Keturah about true crime stories from the Christadelphians! History certainly isn't always boring with Zinnia sharing the history of five notorious Christadelphians from around the world. Just in time for spooky season, let's talk about body snatchers, poison, and even murder...
TW: domestic violence, child abuse, pedophilia, incest, violent murder
References mentioned in this episode:
Story One: John Thomas Story References:
John Thomas: His Life and His Work by Robert Roberts
John Thomas: His Friends and His Faith by Peter Hemingray, Pag...2024-10-272h 06The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep.1 Fellowship with HeatherToday we're chatting with Heather! Let's cozy up by a babbling stream with our favorite transcendental books for this one!
You can visit Heather's blog at:
https://callunararis.com/category/religion-spirituality/
2024-10-241h 57The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 5 Harbingers of Destruction! Talking with Amy about Women in ChristadelphiaToday we're chatting with Amy! She has a master's degree in Religious Studies, and wrote her thesis using the Christadelphians as a test case for theories of conservative women.
There's no need to don a skirt or headcovering this Sunday morning! Join us as we delve into the reason why nothing ever changes in Christadelphia; talk about the limited roles for women in the ecclesia; reminisce on the dramas of headcoverings and pants-wearing (that's trousers for the Brits); and much, much more.
Resources:
Amy’s thesis is not publicly available, but if you're inte...2024-10-242h 16The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 4 Fellowship with RobToday we’re chatting with Rob! Rob had reached the pinnacle of success as an international Christadelphian lecturer and prominent leader in his ecclesia before his journey to explore the root of his faith took him on an unexpected “reverse road to Damascus” and to leaving religion for good. This episode is the perfect accompaniment to a leisurely Sunday morning spent sleeping in, enjoying a fresh cup of coffee, and savoring not having to rush to the Sunday morning meeting anymore. Pull on your most colorful underwear for this episode and enjoy!
Resources:
Unbelievable: A journey...2024-10-241h 34The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 3 Fellowship with KeturahToday we're chatting with Keturah! There are some heavy topics in today's episode but this was still so much fun! We wonder, why do Christadelphians love one room schoolhouses so much? What is the proper gender neutral term for a baptized Christadelphian? Why did tights have such a chokehold on Christadelphian women for so long? The world may never know but we can laugh about it anyway!
TW: domestic violence, child abuse, incest, depression
Resources:
The youtuber that Keturah mentions in this episode is linked below:
https://www.youtube.com/@jezebelvibes...2024-10-241h 22The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastS1 Ep. 2 John Thomas: The Man, the Myth, the Founder of the ChristadelphiansToday we're diving into the origin of the Christadelphians and taking a look at their founder/rediscover-er Doctor John Thomas! Let's count how many times he got baptized and see what lengths he went to in order to get away from the priest-ridden society of England. This story is probably a little different than the Christadelphian origin story you thought you knew...
Works Cited:
Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889- Dr. Thomas entry on page 84
Dr. Thomas: His Life & Work By Robert Roberts 1873
https://www.thedailybeast.com...2024-10-241h 20The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian PodcastWelcome, Start Here!Welcome to the Life After Leaving Podcast! Check out this episode to learn about who we are, what we plan to do, and get some background on who the Christadelphians are before listening to our full episodes.
2024-09-2215 min