Michelle’s Story / IN

Bodies Behind The Bus

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Documentary, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Mental Health

4.2 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2026

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michelle shares her story of serving on staff at a church in Indiana, where subtle control, blurred pastoral authority, financial pressure, and spiritual manipulation slowly became clear over time. Her story names the confusion of being labeled, silenced, and pushed to question herself while navigating deep personal and family crisis. Through telling the truth, Michelle begins reclaiming the voice she was told to bury. Support the show

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode was made possible by our incredible donors. Their faithful support allows us to
0:06.3	continue the work of amplifying the voices of religious abuse survivors. We committed early on never
0:11.9	to monetize any of the stories, so we rely solely on donations from people like you. If you
0:18.0	value the work and are able to contribute, you can become a monthly donor
0:21.9	at the link in our show notes. Another way to support bodies behind the bus is by following,
0:27.3	rating, and reviewing the podcast. It only takes a moment, but has a tremendous impact on our reach.
0:34.1	Thank you for daring to listen.
0:39.2	Today we are honored to share Michelle's story with you. Michelle is such a kind, steady person,
0:45.9	and we have loved getting to know her over our time working on this story. I think something that
0:52.1	you guys will appreciate as you listen to it is how subtle and
0:57.0	confusing her situation was with her boss and pastor.
1:02.4	It was very much a situation where it took a long time for her to really understand what was
1:09.7	happening to her and to see it for what it is.
1:13.1	I did want to give you a brief note that there is discussion of suicide in this episode.
1:18.5	So if that's something that's tender for you right now, you may want to take this one slow or skip this episode altogether.
1:24.9	With that, I'm Johnah Harris and this is The Bodies Behind the Bus
1:28.1	podcast. I am all about blessed subtraction. There is a pile of dead bodies behind the
1:40.3	Marseville bus. And by God's grace, it'll be a mountain by the time we're done.
1:46.2	You either get on the bus or you get run over by the bus.
1:49.2	Those are the options.
1:50.7	But the bus ain't going to stop.
1:54.4	You either get on the bus
	...

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