Worldwide: The Unchosen Church

When the police fail to turn up leads in missing persons cases, families sometimes get desperate and ask psychic detectives to “help.”  In the case of Jim Thompson, his sister, Eleanor, hired the world’s most famous psychic celebrity at the time – Peter Hurkos – to locate her brother when the police could not. But psychic detectives are rarely helpful, and we sit down with professional skeptic and former psychic entertainer, D.J. Grothe, to discuss the dangers of  psychic detectives and the tactics they employ to convince grieving people to depart with their money. Information for this series was taken from William Warren's book, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery (1999); Joshua Kurlantzick's book, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War  (2012);  and a variety of popular newspaper and magazine articles about the Thompson case. Have little podcast listeners and want to discover another podcast from Thirteen Media?  Check out ABC Story Sisters, a story time podcast bringing classic children's literature to life for kids, and kids at heart! Worldwide listeners will recognize a familiar voice as one of season five's special guests!

In 1967, well-known fashion tycoon Jim Thompson went on vacation in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia and  vanished without a trace. His disappearance resulted in the largest manhunt ever conducted on land in Southeast Asian history. But who exactly was Jim Thompson? In this episode, we will walk you through the life and legacy of this charismatic millionaire, adventurous intelligence officer, and founder of a renowned fashion empire that still exists today. Information for this series was taken from William Warren's book, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery  (1999); Joshua Kurlantzick's book, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War (2012);  a variety of popular newspaper and magazine articles, and Lew Toulmin's extensive report on the Thompson case, which can be found here:  http://www.themosttraveled.com/The%20Disappearance%20of%20Jim%20Thompson%20FINAL%20redacted.pdf Have little podcast listeners and want to discover another podcast from Thirteen Media?  Check out ABC Story Sisters, a story time podcast bringing classic children's literature to life for kids, and kids at heart! Worldwide listeners will recognize a familiar voice as one of season five's special guests!

In 2013, former CIA officer Barry Broman received a phone call from someone claiming to know who killed Jim Thompson. Join us as we follow that lead from Thailand to Singapore and evaluate whether Jim was killed by a communist plot to eliminate him. To watch Broman's short film, Who Killed Jim Thompson The Thai Silk King?, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cic9Wh-MSw Information for this series was taken from William Warren's book, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery  (1999); Joshua Kurlantzick's book, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War (2012);  a variety of popular newspaper and magazine articles, and Lew Toulmin's extensive report on the Thompson case, which can be found here:  http://www.themosttraveled.com/The%20Disappearance%20of%20Jim%20Thompson%20FINAL%20redacted.pdf  Have little podcast listeners and want to discover another podcast from Thirteen Media?  Check out ABC Story Sisters, a story time podcast bringing classic children's literature to life for kids, and kids at heart! Worldwide listeners will recognize a familiar voice as one of season five's special guests!  

In the mid-2010s, Dr. Lew Toulmin, a search and rescue operations specialist, went to Malaysia and Thailand to research the Jim Thompson case extensively and to evaluate the possible causes of his death. Was Jim Thompson the victim of foul play?  Was he attacked and eaten by a tiger?  Was he caught up in a communist conspiracy?  Or did he simply stumble upon something in the jungle that sealed his fate? Listen and make your own conclusions. Information for this series was taken from William Warren's book, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery  (1999); Joshua Kurlantzick's book, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War (2012);  a variety of popular newspaper and magazine articles, and Lew Toulmin's extensive report on the Thompson case, which can be found here:  http://www.themosttraveled.com/The%20Disappearance%20of%20Jim%20Thompson%20FINAL%20redacted.pdf Have little podcast listeners and want to discover another podcast from Thirteen Media?  Check out ABC Story Sisters, a story time podcast bringing classic children's literature to life for kids, and kids at heart! Worldwide listeners will recognize a familiar voice as one of season five's special guests!

In this last episode, we examine the story of Jim’s associate, who swears he spotted Thompson in a hotel lobby in Tahiti weeks after he disappeared, as well as the still unsolved murder of Jim Thompson’s sister, Katharine, five months after Jim vanished.   We'll also explore the  legacy of Jim Thompson and how it continues today.  Join us for the final twists and turns in the Thompson tale. Information for this series was taken from William Warren's book, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery  (1999); Joshua Kurlantzick's book, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War (2012);  a variety of popular newspaper and magazine articles, and Lew Toulmin's extensive report on the Thompson case, which can be found here:  http://www.themosttraveled.com/The%20Disappearance%20of%20Jim%20Thompson%20FINAL%20redacted.pdf Have little podcast listeners and want to discover another podcast from Thirteen Media?  Check out ABC Story Sisters, a story time podcast bringing classic children's literature to life for kids, and kids at heart! Worldwide listeners will recognize a familiar voice as one of season five's special guests!

Want to support Worldwide? Visit buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod and tell us whether you'd rather "host it or toast it" - or both!  You can also support the show by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or other directories, and sharing it with your friends, family and followers. 

In this brief introduction to season  two of Worldwide, host Tricia Jenkins and guest Glynn Washington (host of the  Snap Judgement podcast)  explain how travel helped lead them out of the Worldwide Church of God. Tricia also  shares how her travels led her to the subject of our next series – a multi-layered mystery that she can't put to rest. Welcome to season two of Worldwide: The Disappearance of the Thai Silk King. Have little podcast listeners and want to discover another podcast from Thirteen Media?  Check out ABC Story Sisters, a story time podcast bringing classic children's literature to life for kids, and kids at heart! Worldwide listeners will recognize a familiar voice as one of season five's special guests!

Cults almost never admit error or de-radicalize themselves, but that is exactly what happened in the Worldwide Church of God.  Hear our interview with Joseph Tkach Jr - the last pastor general of the WCG - who helped take this doomsday cult from "the fringe to the fold" at great economic, emotional and personal costs. Worldwide: The Unchosen Church is hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins; sound design and editing is done by Thirteen Media; and music is licensed by SoundStripe. Instagram @worldwidepod Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11 Email: Worldwidepod11@gmail.com If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can visitwww.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod and tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so that you and others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to say thank you for the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you. Audio clips from the documentary Called to be Free used with permission. 

In this series finale, we hear from listeners about their own WCG experiences, what listeners took away from the series, and how listeners can share their own stories through www.igotout.org. Worldwide: The Unchosen Church is hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins; sound design and editing is done by Thirteen Media; and music is licensed by SoundStripe. Instagram @worldwidepod Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11 Email: Worldwidepod11@gmail.com If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can visitwww.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod and tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so that you and others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to say thank you for the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you.

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Church hurt, women’s roles in ministry, and pastor worship are all topics that we discuss with Pastor Dave on this week’s episode. Dave grew up in a legalistic, authoritarian church that preached you had to earn your salvation by works. Today, he’s a non-denominational pastor at the Life Church in Texas that preaches salvation by grace.  Learn why, unlike a lot of our guests who gave up on religion after leaving the Worldwide Church of God, Dave went the opposite route, attending seminary and then later becoming a pastor.  Learn, too, how his time in a high-demand religious group informs the way he ministers today. You can reach out to Dave at DaveThePastor7@gmail.com. Worldwide: The Unchosen Church is hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins; sound design and editing is done by Thirteen Media; and music is licensed by SoundStripe. Instagram @worldwidepod Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11 Email: Worldwidepod11@gmail.com   If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can visitwww.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod and tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so that you and others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to say thank you for the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you.

LaNisa Frederick is a comedic actress with credits in The Goldbergs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Young Sheldon. In this episode, she describes what it was like to be raised in a high demand group with one parent in the church and one outside of it and why cults are not just a white people thing. LaNisa also talks about her efforts to develop a single-cam television comedy called Church Candy based on her experiences growing up in the Worldwide Church of God. If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to appreciate the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you. You can support us at: www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media. Instagram @worldwidepod Facebook and Twitter: @worldwidepod11 Email: Worldwidepod11@gmail.com

Bobby Fischer was the Muhammad Ali of chess. He became the youngest person to ever win the US chess championship at the age of 14 and the only American-born player to ever win the World Chess Championship. But after defeating the Soviet Boris Spassky in 1972, Bobby Fischer never played another professional match for over thirty years. Instead, he became a recluse, preferring privacy over prize money.  Not much is known about Bobby’s life after his 1972 win, but this episode premieres newly discovered tapes of Fischer, discussing his time in the Worldwide Church of God – the doomsday apocalyptic cult this series is devoted to. In these tapes, which were made in Dec 1976 and Jan 1977,  Bobby discusses his views on god, sex, and chess and, especially,  how he came to resent Herbert W. Armstrong and his son Garner Ted, the church’s leaders.  These tapes provide a riveting snapshot of Bobby’s mental state during the time when he had essentially disappeared from public view and has great crossover appeal between those interested in cults and those interested in chess. The original tapes were about 5 hours long, and the best highlights are featured in this 30+ minute episode, which also features commentary from David Edmonds, co-author of Bobby Fischer Goes to War.  I would like to extend a special thank you to David Edmonds, Bill Hughes, and Dixon Cartwright for their commentary in this episode, and to Hughes and Margaret and Len Zola for speaking to me on background about these tapes. If you would like to read the Ambassador Report interview with Bobby that is mentioned in this episode online, you can check it out here: https://hwarmstrong.com/ambassador.report/ambassador/ar2.html If you would like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, you can tell us to host it or toast it.  Support will go to either hosting this show on Buzzsprout so others can find it for years to come (host it), or if you just want to appreciate the show, tell us to toast it and our team will gladly drink a beer and cheers to you. You can support us at: www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

In 2022, Armstrongism isn't dead. It's alive and well, and in Wadsworth, Ohio, it's on steroids. Meet The Restored Church of God, headed by new cult leader Dave Pack. In this explosive episode, we talk with Kevin Denee, Pack's son-in-law and a former high-ranking member in the RCG who left the church in 2016. He talks publicly for the first time about Pack's church, ready to blow the whistle on its nefarious nature. You definitely don't want to miss this one! While this podcast is a labor of love, if you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, we would gladly accept  a coffee or beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.

DJ Grothe is the former host of the podcasts Point of Inquiry and For Good Reason and the past president of the James Randi Educational Foundation.  While he has interviewed hundreds of skeptic and scientific leaders, he rarely tells his own story of how he attended a little Bible college in the piney woods of East Texas, called Ambassador University.  In this episode, I sit down to ask DJ why he joined the homophobic Worldwide Church of God when he was 14 years old - the same year that he came out as gay and the same year he started getting into magic. We also talk about how his background in magic and a magazine housed in Ambassador University's library helped to lead him out of the doomsday apocalyptic cult he had once joined, and why today, he says he's grateful for the entire experience. If you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, feel free to buy us a beer. It's  super easy:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod

In this brief bonus interview, we're joined by American religion scholar Dr. J. Gordon Melton.  

In this episode, we talk with Heather, Dawn and Lisa about how the expectations set for women by the WCG and its offshoots affected their future careers, marriages, parenting, and relationship to sex. An honest and authentic look at how conservative churches often affect women, this show is not to be missed.  If you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, feel free to buy us a beer. It's  super easy:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod   Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media. A special thanks to these women for contributing to this episode.    

A special  message  for our listeners. 

Before Joel Osteen, Brian Houston, or even L. Ron Hubbard, there was Herbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide Church of God (WCG).  A doomsday apocalyptic cult active in roughly 70 countries around the globe, the WCG lured its members in with the promise of protection from an impending World War III and a place of leadership in the utopia to follow.   Who exactly was Herbert Armstrong and who were his followers? What was it like to grow up believing that you were one of only 144,000 people that God called in all of human history to lead his new world order?  And how has Armstrongism survived in the 2020s? Find out these answers – and so much more -  in this introductory episode, “God Speaks to Us,” narrated, written and produced by a former member of the church itself, Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.  If you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, feel free to buy us a beer. It's  super easy:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod Special thanks to Dr. Steven Hassan, Lisa Metzel Bonnet, Nathanael O’Reilly and D.J. Grothe for their contributions to this episode and to Joel Kramer, who gave us permission to use clips from his documentary Called to be Free, which can be viewed on YouTube.

What is it like to watch your three-year-old sister succumb to leukemia, while your family relies on prayer, rather than doctors, to save her? How does being raised by an authoritarian father, who is also a minister in an authoritarian church, add to that trauma? And how might those experiences connect to your being sentenced to both the death penalty and a life sentence as an adult in a Thai prison?  Jesse Moskel answers these questions in episode two of Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, offering listeners a tough but uplifting look at the costs of high demand religious groups and the power of perspective and perseverance in our most dire days.   If you'd like to support Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, feel free to buy us a beer. It's  super easy:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod Hosted, written and produced by Dr. Tricia Jenkins.  Sound design and editing by Thirteen Media.   Special thanks to Jesse Moskel for his participation in this episode. Jesse has his own podcast