meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
PRETEND

S310: The Prophet – Matthew Fenner vs. the Word of Faith Fellowship Cult Part 1

PRETEND

Javier Leiva

True Crime, Society & Culture, Technology

4.72.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2018

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jane Whaley recently turned 80-years-old. Obviously, the Word of Faith Fellowship can’t go on forever. At least not the way we know of it today. So, who’s taking over? Can it go on without Jane Whaley’s vision and authority? Or will it all just fall apart? John Huddle, a former member, says that Jane’s biological daughter Robin Webster is believed to take over the church. But he suspects that, when Jane Whaley dies, there will be a power struggle within the church.The case against the Word of Faith Fellowship We’ll talk more about this alleged attack in the next episode. Today, we’re going to focus on how we got to this point. Before Brooke Covington was charged with kidnapping and beating Matthew Fenner, she was actually the person who recruited him into the church. How did she go from being his spiritual leader, to being charged with beating him? In order to understand the case against Brooke Covington and the Word of Faith Fellowship ministries, you first understand how Matthew Fenner joined the church. Cults recruit the vulnerable The biggest questions I get all the time is, how do people get sucked into a cult. Everyone says that they would never fall for it, so how did Matthew and his family become one of them?   Before Matthew Fenner joined the Word of Faith Fellowship, he thought they were freaks. He heard rumors of the demonic possessions and members vomiting in buckets to evil spirits. Let’s just say that he wasn’t exactly a perfect candidate. And on top of that, Matthew was openly gay and considered himself an atheist. So, how does someone like him get sucked into a ultra conservative Christian cult? The Word of Faith Fellowship found Matthew Fenner, and his family, when there were at their lowest point. Matthew’s family rejected his sexuality, his mother was in a bad marriage, and they were running out of money. These were desperate times. Matthew attended his first service in February 2010. During this time he had friends, was a member of a dance troupe, and attended public school. By December of that same year, he cut ties with everyone he knew, quit dance, and enrolled in the church’s private school. How did it happen? How can someone go from gay atheist to a god-fearing cult member? Matthew Fenner describes his journey into the Word of Faith Fellowship. Listen to episode 10 of the Prophet on Apple podcast, Google Play, Spotify, or Stitcher. 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. Jane Whaley's birthday was last week. She just turned 80 years old.

0:45.0

Obviously, the Word of Faith Fellowship can't go on forever,

0:50.0

at least not the way we know of it today.

0:52.0

So who will take over? at least not the way we know of it today.

0:52.8

So who will take over?

0:54.7

Can it even go on without Jane Whaley's vision and authority?

0:58.8

Or will it all fall apart?

1:01.4

I asked John Huddle, a former Word of Faith Fellowship member, this same question.

1:06.7

You know, this is a question I asked Sam and Jane, but I'm going to ask you first and I'll tell

1:11.6

you what they said. I asked them, do you have any secession plans?

1:16.4

Like, do you have somebody lined up to kind of take your place and what do you think?

1:21.6

What's the future of Word of faith fellowship without Jane or without

1:25.5

Sam?

1:26.5

I've been told by a distant relative that there are papers drawn up to hand over the leadership of the ministry whether that's property

1:36.9

succession or whatever her daughter Robin but depending on how the next couple years go, it's not out of the possibility to think there could be a power struggle and I don't believe Robin, the daughter of Jane, has the severe character nature.

1:55.2

She's got more of her father in her to say it.

1:58.0

I don't believe she'll abuse people like her mother does.

...

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.