Overview
The Bodies Behind the Bus is a podcast centering on the voices of spiritual abuse survivors. We began with stories out of the Acts 29 network and have branched into many organizations since our launch.
We are the discarded few. We have been abused, gaslit, ignored, slandered, deceived, intentionally hurt, and betrayed. Our stories were manipulated and our voices were stolen. We were left alone with all the confusion, grief, hurt, and pain but today we begin to reclaim our stories and find our voices once again because we matter, and being a body behind the bus is not the gospel.
122 Episodes
DACA Family Support Fund In this episode of Bodies Behind the Bus, hosts Johnna and Jay sit down with author and pastor Caleb Campbell, author of Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor. Together, they discuss faith, justice, and compassion in the face of political division, as well as their joint fundraiser supporting a DACA recipient fighting to stay with their family in the U.S. The conversation explores Christian nationalism, the role of the church in justice work,...
Transcribed - Published: 3 November 2025
In this episode of Just Calling, hosts Johnna and Jay continue their conversation with author and justice advocate Joash Thomas about his book The Justice of Jesus. Together, they unpack what it means to “decolonize our budgets” exploring how faith, money, and justice intersect within the modern church. The discussion challenges listeners to reimagine generosity, confront systems of privilege, and practice a faith rooted in tangible care for the marginalized. Get you a copy of The Justice of ...
Transcribed - Published: 29 October 2025
In this Just Calling episode, the hosts talk about empire, power, and how faith communities are being influenced by political systems. The conversation unpacks a recent government filing showing efforts to target U.S. churches through digital campaigns and explores what faithful resistance looks like today. FARA filingAcross The Divide PodcastThe Justice of JesusSupport the show
Transcribed - Published: 17 October 2025
In this episode, Cameron shares his powerful story of serving for sixteen years at one of Arizona’s largest megachurches, a place where faith, control, and fear collided. From witnessing the enforcement of “alignment” policies to experiencing personal retaliation and deep spiritual betrayal, Cameron opens up about what it meant to lose his community while finding his voice. His courage sheds light on how systems of power can twist spiritual language to maintain control and how healing begins ...
Transcribed - Published: 15 October 2025
Introducing Just Calling — In this first episode of the series, Bodies Behind the Bus sits down with author and advocate Rev. Joash Thomas to talk about his new book The Justice of Jesus. Together, we explore what it means to move from diagnosis to a hopeful prognosis for the church, diving into themes of justice, decolonization, and the everyday choices that shape faithful living. www.joashpthomas.com Pick Up "The Justice of Jesus" By Rev. Joash P. Thomas HERE Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2025
In this episode of At the Bus Stop, we sit down with David and Margaret Bronson to uncover the dangers of Theonomy, Christian Reconstructionism, and the influence of leaders like Doug Wilson. The Bronsons share their personal experiences, explain how these teachings shape churches and politics, and discuss the lasting impact on survivors. They also highlight their work with Deconstruction Doulas and their efforts to build a Survivor Care Network that provides safety, healing, and hope for tho...
Transcribed - Published: 8 September 2025
In this episode of Bodies Behind the Bus, we sit down with Dr. Camden Morgante, a licensed psychologist, author, and speaker. Dr. Camden is the author of Recovering from Purity Culture, a book that helps individuals move beyond harmful teachings and begin the journey of healing. She shares insights from her work with clients, her own experiences, and her research into purity culture, offering a compassionate perspective on how people can begin to reconnect with themselves and their faith. Ins...
Transcribed - Published: 21 August 2025
https://julieroys.com/alleged-victim-worship-pastor-aaron-ivey-speaks-out-megachurchs-prior-statement/ Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 31 July 2025
In this episode of the Bodies Behind the Bus podcast, Kenny shares his experience in the worship residency program at The Austin Stone. He recounts his initial passion for ministry, his transition from law school ambitions to church work, and the realities of support-raising, manual labor, and lack of mentorship during his time in the program. Kenny also reflects on his concerns with the church’s culture of celebrity and financial practices, the exploitation he witnessed, and the broader syst...
Transcribed - Published: 22 July 2025
James shares his experience with the Austin Stone church, including his early motivations for moving to Austin, the challenges he faced as a Mexican American in a predominantly white evangelical institution, and the barriers to leadership he encountered despite his qualifications. He discusses his experience raising support, internal cultural tensions, tokenism, health struggles tied to workplace stress, and the events that led to his departure from staff. The conversation highlights systemic...
Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2025
Kelley joins the podcast to share her experience as both a former member of the Austin Stone church and staff member of its affiliated nonprofit, For the City. She discusses the church’s culture, internal power dynamics, financial mismanagement, and the challenges of working within a complementarian system. Kelley reflects on her personal story of spiritual and emotional harm, organizational dysfunction, and the long-term impact of abusive structures masked by ministry language. Her story hig...
Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2025
Ben joins the Bodies Behind the Bus podcast to share his experience at Austin Stone Church, a large SBC-affiliated church in Austin, Texas. He reflects on his decade-long involvement, including leadership roles and the creation of a ministry for LGBTQIA+ individuals. The conversation explores church culture, leadership dynamics, personal transformation, and the challenges of reconciling faith with identity. Ben also discusses his departure from the church and the emotional and relational cost...
Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2025
In this episode of Bodies Behind the Bus, B shares her deeply personal story about the emotional toll of navigating immigration, identity, and faith. B recounts her years at the Austin Stone Church in Austin, Texas, where she joined a residency program to serve the local Latino community, only to face institutional racism, cultural insensitivity, and burnout. Her story highlights the disconnect between church rhetoric and practice, especially around issues of justice, immigration, and diversi...
Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2025
In this episode, Johnna & Jay introduce a new four-part series investigating The Austin Stone Church in Austin, Texas. Joined by Board member Emily, they discuss the church’s influential role in evangelical culture, its connections to Acts 29 and the SBC, and a troubling pattern of abuse, cover-ups, and systemic harm within its leadership and programs. The episode highlights the church’s public image versus its internal realities, and previews the survivor stories that will follow in the ...
Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2025
In this episode, Jay and Johnna debrief the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. They discuss why Johnna chose to attend alone, the deaths of two high-profile survivors—Jennifer Lyell and Duane Rollins—and the emotional and physical toll survivor advocacy has taken. They reflect on the SBC’s failure to follow through on promised reforms, the lack of accountability, and the ongoing harm caused by the institution’s refusal to meaningfully address abuse. The episode also explores the...
Transcribed - Published: 21 June 2025
This episode examines the legacy of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and draws a clear line from that policy to other moments of systemic injustice in American history—slavery, Japanese internment, discriminatory policing, and modern ICE raids. Through historical analysis and personal reflection, Jay challenges the narrative of American exceptionalism, exposes the role of the white church in reinforcing inequality, and confronts the systems that sustain white supremacy. Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2025
Mollie Callahan, spiritual director and seminary student, joins to discuss the misuse of church discipline, its harmful impact, and how scripture has often been misapplied in these situations. She examines 1 Corinthians 5, Matthew 18, and stories like the woman caught in adultery, Zacchaeus, and the woman at the well to reframe church discipline through the lens of Jesus’ compassion, agency, and pursuit of the hurting. Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025
In this episode, Joyce shares her story of involvement in a PCA church in Florida and how her experience of marriage, faith, and community unfolded over more than a decade. She describes the early support her family received, her deep investment in church life, and how that shifted when she began raising concerns about her marriage. Joyce outlines the church’s response, her efforts to seek counseling, the process of pursuing divorce, and the consequences that followed, including church discip...
Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2025
In this “At the Bus Stop” episode, Dr. Jared Stacy, a theologian and ethicist, joins Johnna and Jay to unpack the link between conspiracy theories, Christian nationalism, and the culture of abuse within white evangelical spaces. Drawing from his personal experience and academic research, Jared explores how storytelling shapes power, how conspiracy theories thrive in religious communities, and why many churches prioritize maintaining societal structures over faithful witness. The conversation ...
Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2025
Be sure to listen to episode 79 “Alicia’s Story” to hear about her experience with this same pastor. Alicia’s Story: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alicias-story-columbus-oh/id1601586078?i=1000663185044 Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2025
In this community conversation, the team from Bodies Behind the Bus responds to recent events involving The New Evangelicals and the release of a NetGrace investigation. They share their perspectives on accountability, integrity, and the responsibility of platforms in survivor spaces. Allegations against Tim Whitaker and The New Evangelicals show how hierarchy transfers to progressive ministries | BAPTIST NEWS GLOBAL Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 21 March 2025
Buy the book here! Becoming the Pastor's Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman's Path to Ministry by Beth Allison Barr, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® In this episode of The Bodies Behind the Bus Podcast, we welcome Beth Allison Barr, historian, professor, and author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood and her latest book, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife. Beth shares her insights on the historical roots of patriarchy in the church, the erasure of women in ministry, and the complex r...
Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2025
This episode of Bodies Behind the Bus features Margaret Bronson and Eric Isaac discussing the rise of Christian nationalism and its intersection with fundamentalist cult beliefs. Margaret shares insights from her experience in a high-control religious group, highlighting issues of female subjugation, the quiverfull movement, lack of education, and financial entrapment. Eric connects these experiences to broader patterns of spiritual abuse, coercion, and religious power structures. The convers...
Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2025
Subscribe to Jemar’s Substack Here: Footnotes by Jemar Tisby | Jemar Tisby, PhD | Substack Buy “The Spirit of Justice” https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-spirit-of-justice-stories-of-faith-race-and-resistance-jemar-tisby/20859536?ean=9780310144854 “I Am the Spirit of Justice” for kids ages 4-7 https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-am-the-spirit-of-justice-jemar-tisby/21291875?ean=9780310145561 “Stories of The Spirit of Justice” for kids ages 8-12+ https://bookshop.org/p/books/stories-of-the-spirit-of-...
Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2025
Firefly Report Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2025
Walker contact: [email protected] Crissie contact: [email protected] Link to Transcript from Concerned Congregant meeting (200 in attendance) - October 2021https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MUJ_ri2nuRP2vnAf6oU1iXIGljSVFHu3/view?usp=sharing Congregant Feedback Survey (leadership stated they didn't think there were any concerns following the October meeting, and then refused to start the GRACE survey (which was ready) in December 2021 so congregants did their own survey) ...
Transcribed - Published: 30 January 2025
Walker contact: [email protected] Crissie contact: [email protected] NDA document -https://drive.google.com/file/d/11mn6mrHTZ4VVvEQAUHZnqwCgRd5IHlaS/view?usp=sharing Find more information, and future stories here - https://chapelillbiblechurch.org/ Keep up with all things on X @CHBConfidential Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2025
Chapel Hill Bible Church: Pastor Eric McKiddie Is Gone and Pastor Jay Thomas Is Under Fire - thewartburgwatch.comChapel Hill Bible Church: A Petition Signed by 78 and the Use of NDAs to Keep Things on the Down Low. What’s Going On With the Leaders? - thewartburgwatch.comProminent North Carolina Church Embroiled in Controversy Following Alleged Abuse & 3 Investigations - julieroys.comChapel Hill Bible Church leaders face allegations, investigations over abusive behavior - dailytarheel.comC...
Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2025
Support the podcast HERE, and thank you for daring to listen. We are 100% funded by donations. We committed early on never to monetize survivor stories, and your financial contribution allows us to continue this work. Please consider becoming a monthly donor and joining us in our mission to amplify the voices of those dedicated to transformation toward greater inclusivity, justice, and compassion. We are a recognized 501(c)(3), and all donations are tax-deductible. Support the...
Transcribed - Published: 13 December 2024
Watch the video of this episode HERE Support the Podcast HERE In this episode, the Bodies Behind the Bus board gathers to discuss the heavy realities of navigating faith, justice, and advocacy in a fractured America. They explore the impact of systemic religious abuse, the emboldening of harmful rhetoric, and the personal toll of continuing to fight for marginalized communities. The episode is a candid look at grief, exhaustion, and the fire that drives change, while also honoring the voice...
Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2024
FOR OUR DAUGHTERS Official Film Link Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 1 November 2024
Eric Isaac Bio Eric’s Thesis Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 18 October 2024
Fire In The Whole Book Link Robert Callahan's Linktree Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2024
Episode Resources: https://www.netgrace.org/resources/to-suffer-in-silenceMale Survivor Stories - DAVID PITTMANhttps://together-we-heal.orghttps://www.netgrace.org/independent-investigationsSupport the show
Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2024
Wartburg Watch: https://thewartburgwatch.com/2024/07/19/an-sbc-and-9-marks-church-edgefield-nashville-appeared-to-allow-a-violent-convicted-pedophile-michael-brake-considerable-freedom-in-the-church-for-years-could-there-be-other-victims/ Simon’s blog: https://cheapgrace.substack.com/ Dave Pittman NetGRACE video: https://youtu.be/26E4bRweK6E?feature=shared Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2024
Ep Resources: Mental Health/Psychology Parenting from the Inside Out by Dan Siegel and Mary HartzellOn Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David KesslerShe Deserves Better by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna SawatskyWorthy by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher (this is the book I couldn’t remember in the podcast!)The Body Keeps the Score by Bessell van der KolkRedeeming Power by Diane LangbergSet Boundaries, Find Peace and Drama Free by Nedra Glover...
Transcribed - Published: 3 September 2024
What is Clergy Sexual Abuse? (Video) clergysexualmisconduct.com Contact Stephanie: [email protected] Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 16 August 2024
Event w/ Emily Maynard Registration Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 15 August 2024
https://clergysexualmisconduct.com Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 14 August 2024
https://clergysexualmisconduct.com Contact Stephanie: [email protected] Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 7 August 2024
Alicia’s Socials: Twitter / X - @thepersistentdr Threads - @thepersistentdr Instagram @thepersistentdr TikTok @achey90 Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 24 July 2024
Episode show notes / source material Roberts Book - Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger with White Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness Past Relevent Episodes: The Village Church is SBC, TooATBS “The Village Hired a Law Firm” w/ Robert CallahanATBS “Ask More Questions” w/ Jay & JohnnaATBS “MinistrySafe & Austin Stone” w/ Christi BraggStatement from bodies behind the bus Support the podcast Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2024
Episode show notes / source material Past Relevent Episodes: The Village Church is SBC, TooATBS “The Village Hired a Law Firm” w/ Robert CallahanATBS “Ask More Questions” w/ Jay & JohnnaATBS “MinistrySafe & Austin Stone” w/ Christi BraggStatement from bodies behind the bus Support the podcast Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 10 July 2024
The Wartburg Watch Post - I Was 12 Years Old and Wearing My Pink Pajamas When Robert Morris, Now of Gateway Church, Began to Molest Me. The Alleged Abuse Lasted for 4 1/2 Years. The Roys Report Post - EXCLUSIVE: Former Staffers Expose Bullying, Abuse of Rick Warren’s Successor Andy Wood A World of Difference PodcastSupport the show
Transcribed - Published: 28 June 2024
Dr. Peri’s Website: www.peridotreed.comResources/BooksPatreon Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 26 June 2024
Dr. Peri’s Website: www.peridotreed.comResources/BooksPatreonSupport the show
Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2024
Resources/BooksPatreon Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2024
Johnna and Jay provide an update on the future of Sacred Wilderness & Bodies Behind the Bus. Support the show
Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2024
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