Covenant Community Kids

Jesse grew up the son of a handmaid and a head coordinator in Ann Arbor, contracting a nasty case of Word-of-God-itis in households and clusters and at HVS, Pine Hills Camp, & more. He feels much better now, though, and is hard at work on a vaccine, which is currently being tested by his three kids.

Sophia was born and raised in Dexter, Michigan and was part of the Word of Life Community. She is the last of 6 kids and her parents met whilst in UCO. On this episode Sophia dives into her experience getting involved in a small group called the Healing Team which formed after a Word of Life member got connected with a priest in Wisconsin with “psychic abilities”.

Paul Turner is a former member of the Lamb of God covenant community in Baltimore, Maryland. He talks about how he was brought into the community by his parents, the dysfunctional relationships between men and women in the community, the sense of loss when he left in the early 90s, the love of his parents, and his decision to remain in the Catholic Church with the Traditional Latin Mass. Originally from Baltimore, he now lives in Reno, Nevada with his wife Sandy whom he met in Lamb of God. He recently retired from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and is a progressive rock aficionado and avid "wild swimmer.

Emmet was born and raised in Ypsilanti in the Word of God/Christ the King branch of community. The 9th child of 11 in an (obviously) large homeschooling family. Emmet  happily drifted from the community and now focuses his time on more fulfilling pursuits.

Becky Colson has been happily married to Brad for 28 years. They have four amazing kids together, none of whom are afraid to be the people who God made them to be. They are ex-members of The People of God in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. They are current members of their local Catholic Church, and are excited to see what their spiritual lives will hold as they explore the “corners” of Catholicism.

Tim Rauch grew up in the Ann Arbor Word of God Community as the youngest of six kids born to Gerry and Marla Rauch. The Rauch family left Community around the time of the schism, with Gerry expressing misgivings about the direction of the group he co-founded. A lifelong non-believer, Tim is now an animation director & producer living in Pasadena, CA with his wife, Sharlene, and their two boys.

Hannah (Gornik) Wohlfert was born in to the Word of God community in a “baby boom” of the early 1980s. Over the years she was involved in UCO Ann Arbor, Campus Fellowship of the People of Praise at Notre Dame, Koininia (UCO equivalent) and Antioch in London, and made her public commitment to the Word of Life in 2011. She has not been involved in community since 2016, and has learned that a lot of the leaders she grew up respecting were not as holy as she thought…

The oldest Jones kid! I grew up in the Ann Arbor community and Catholic Church. Right after high school, I moved to Lansing to be a part of a UCO household… which did not end well. I talk about some differences between Lansing and Ann Arbor communities, my experience with household, and how to provide a support network and stability for my kids outside of community and church. I now live with my boyfriend and three boys in Ann Arbor.

Anna was born and raised in the Ann Arbor charismatic renewal, and spent her childhood and teenage years within the community milieu. After coming out as transgender, she was put through conversion therapy and deliverance prayer to “fix” her gender identity. In the process of living authentically, she lost most of her friends, family, and connections. She started a new life from scratch, and is now a mental health worker, author of fiction, and spiritual explorer.

Isaac Kosel is a husband, father, and nurse. He grew up nondenominational and his relation to covenant community was primarily through Mission Christ and Pine Hills Summer Camp.

Jules went to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in 1982 and quickly became a part of University Christian Outreach (UCO). Despite undergoing a targeted conversion therapy designed to suppress her queer sexuality, ultimately she was unwilling to adhere to the homophobic UCO/Word of God Community expectations, resulting in her being unceremoniously kicked out.

Jess Blatchley was recruited into the Antioch Community in London with her parents in 1979 and left around 1998 with her husband Peter and 3 children. She has since carved a career as a singer, singing teacher and writer. She writes about her experiences in covenant community on her blog site MY WASHED BRAIN as well as the process of healing since leaving. https://jjccbg.wixsite.com/website Jess and Peter live in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in the UK.

Marie is a practicing Catholic living in Seattle. She grew up in Washtenaw County and discovered that community she had heard about all her life was still active. She happily joined in college and was suddenly barred after 4 years of devotion to Word of Life in Ann Arbor for marrying outside of the community.

Rachel Montgomery comes on the podcast to discuss personal experiences with consent and sex education, and how different educational approaches on these topics effect young children. Rachel is an early childhood educator, artist, mom and partner. She lives with her husband, 2 sons, 2 kitties and 4 chickens. She loves watercolor painting and power tools. She was involved in community all through childhood and young adulthood and today she leans on her close friend/family community and her Catholic faith. She wants to share that it’s possible to learn autonomy and boundaries within relationships without shame and with abundant love.

Simon (Nic) Mishler was born into the Word of Life Community and remained there until shortly after high school. He is a voice teacher living in South Carolina with his husband and their two huskies. Simon shares that he always felt stuck in community, and yet never felt like he belonged. He hopes that anyone hearing his story will know that they do not have to feel trapped, and they are not alone.

And we're back!! Evie (left) and Jacquie (right) kick off the second season by checking in with each other about what doing the podcast has been like, and how our thoughts around covenant community have evolved from speaking with all of you. We're extremely grateful and excited to continue having these conversations and are excited to be back!

Richard was born in Ypsilanti and raised in the Washtenaw Covenant Community, now called the Word of Life community. He was a third generation community member, and remained a part of the community until high school.

Hope Yarrington was born into the Work of Christ Community in Lansing, MI, and left community soon after her gap year in Dublin, Ireland, in 2018. She is currently pursuing a social work degree from Central Michigan University, aspiring to work alongside families and individuals struggling with addiction. She hopes that her story will be encouraging and enlightening to those who have left community, to know that there is hope of healing from hurt it may have caused. Everyone’s story is different, everyone deserves to be understood and seen as an individual, and everyone deserves healing.

Ellen Sellstrom grew up in the Work of Christ in Lansing and was an active member serving in youth ministry as well as women's leadership til her early 30s. She currently lives in Detroit with her husband and two rescue pups and works in corporate leadership. She shares her experience of growing up immersed in community and serving heavily in leadership, and eventually transitioning out of community life. Hers was an experience of reflection, therapy and learning how to live married life outside of the rules she grew up with.

Mark grew up in and around Glasgow and is just shy of 42 years old. For around 12 years from adolescence to his early twenties he was involved with youth groups attached to an ecumenical, charismatic covenant community called Community of the Risen Christ that he also eventually became a member of. CRC is part of the Sword of the Spirit global network of covenant communities.