meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
PRETEND

S301: The Prophet - Word of Faith Fellowship Cult Revisited

PRETEND

Javier Leiva

True Crime, Society & Culture, Technology

4.72.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2018

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Season 3: The Prophet - Word of Faith Fellowship Revisited I’m back with a whole new season of Pretend Radio. But this time it’s going to be a little different. Instead of telling you a different story each episode, I decided to do a serialize season where I tell you a single story, one episode at a time. So what is it about? It’s about the first episode I aired on this show—the Word of Faith Fellowship church. Back in season one, I met up with a man who says he escaped the cult. His name is John Cooper. I contacted him and asked "Hey, do you want to meet up? I’m thinking about starting a podcast and would like to tell your story." So, we just met up at a park in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At this point, I didn’t know what this podcast was all about. All I knew was that he was part of a religious sect. And what he told me that day in that park blew my mind. But in the end, I feel like I didn’t do that story justice. It was one guy’s story. I needed to go out to the other side of the state, where the Word of Faith Fellowship is located, and do a little more digging. So, I got in my car and drove west. After I spending the whole day in Spindale, North Carolina, I thought to myself, there is no way I keep everything I just learned in one episode. If season one was about John cooper, season 3 is all about the town of Spindale. The episode you’re about to listen to is my first 3 episodes rolled into one. And I’m going to stitch them together by playing some ads for some non-profits organizations. And at the end of the episode there’s a preview of the new season. Now many of you have already heard this story, but trust me, even I had to go back and listen to these episodes. Once the season starts, I’m not going to spend a lot setting things up. We’re just going to get right to it. If you’re new to Pretend Radio, well this is a great place to start. Let me tell you, it’s pretty crazy. I got deeper into this story than any other journalist. The BBC has tried and failed. The Associated Press tried and they couldn’t get in. Even A&E is producing a documentary on the WOFF and they didn’t get the access I got.   So enjoy this flashback episode and revisit The Prophet from season one. And get ready for the season because it’s coming out very soon.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Creative Battle.

0:07.0

This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max.

0:10.0

Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better, like sneaking some

0:15.9

chili into the gravy for some extra oint, or building a playlist that will even

0:20.6

get your none up on the table, or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max.

0:27.0

Christmas, Better with Pepsi Max. Hey guys, it's me, Javier.

0:36.8

And I'm back with a whole new season for you.

0:39.8

But this time, it's going to be a little different.

0:42.8

Instead of me telling a different story each week,

0:45.9

well, I decided to do a serialized season instead,

0:49.9

where I tell you a single story over multiple episodes. So what is it? It's actually

0:56.2

about the very first episode I ever aired on this show. It's about the Word of

1:01.4

Faith Fellowship.

1:03.0

You know, back in my first episode,

1:05.0

I met up with a man who lived near me

1:07.5

who says he escaped a cult.

1:09.5

His name is John Cooper.

1:11.3

So I contacted him and said, hey, do you want to meet up? I told him I'm thinking

1:15.6

about starting a podcast and would like to tell your story. But I didn't want to meet him at

1:20.3

his house. I mean, he is a former cult member and I didn't want him to come to my house so we

1:26.5

just met up at a park in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At this point I didn't know

1:32.1

what Pretend Radio was about. I honestly didn't.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Javier Leiva, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Javier Leiva and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.