Worldwide
Season One, Worldwide: The Unchosen Church, shares first-hand accounts of growing up inside of a doomsday apocalyptic cult called The Worldwide Church of God. It's a series about the costs and rewards of high-demand religious group, dispels many of the myths about what types of people join cults, and showcases the beauty, comedy, and tragedy of life inside Herbert W. Armstrong's WCG.
Season Two of Worldwide travels to Southeast Asia to explore one of the most captivating, unsolved mysteries of the 20th century: the disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai silk king. Join us as we delve deep into the extraordinary life of Thompson and the fateful weekend when he vanished without a trace, leaving behind a perplexing mystery that has confounded investigators, armchair detectives, and conspiracy theorists alike. Through research, expert interviews, and compelling storytelling, we piece together the fragments of evidence to explore the most popular theories about what happened to Jim and shed light on the newest developments in the case.
Worldwide
Ep 1.1. “God Speaks to Us:” An Insider’s Guide to the Worldwide Church of God (Worldwide: The Unchosen Church)
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.
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 to help continue to host our show in podcast libraries: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/worldwidepod
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Email: Worldwidepod11@gmail.com
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.
